In tribute

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Friends and family of the late Michael J. Lavoie, a longtime attorney with Butzel Long who died last fall at age 63, were on hand Monday, Aug. 21, when he was posthumously honored at the 2017 Governor’s Service Awards program for the Michigan Community Service Commission. The event, which took place at the Detroit Opera House, included a special tribute to Lavoie, who was appointed to the MCSC by Governor Rick Snyder in October 2011. An honors graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Lavoie served in the Peace Corps in the West African nation of Burkina Faso and worked tirelessly for decades to improve the lives of citizens there. An alumnus of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and a former assistant U.S. attorney, Lavoie also was a dedicated mentor to youths in Pontiac, the city in which he was raised. Among those on hand for the awards ceremony were (left to right) Lavoie’s niece, attorney Allison Lavoie; retired U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Rosen; John Slevin, retired chief of warrants for the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office; Dr. Kristin Lavoie, his wife; Tom Cranmer, an attorney with Miller Canfield; WJR Radio’s Guy Gordon, who helped emcee the program; and retired Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Fred Mester.

– Photo by John Meiu