Those gathered to honor the life and legacy of former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick remembered the Detroit Democrat as a trailblazer and the strong leader of her family during a service Wednesday, Oct. 22 at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ, on the city's west side.

Cheeks Kilpatrick died at 80 years old on Oct. 7. The daughter of a father who worked as an autoworker and handyman and a mother who worked as a beautician, Cheeks Kilpatrick was a Detroit public schools teacher for almost a decade before entering politics. Her career in public office included service in the Michigan House of Representatives, from 1979-1996, and then the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1997-2011. In Washington, D.C., she also served on the Appropriations Committee and chaired th

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