Scenes from Jackson College's Heritage Center featuring a collection curated by students about the life of 2nd Lt. Roosevelt Stiger. He was from Jackson, played basketball at Jackson College and was on the University of Michigan track team. He was also a purple heart recipient and a Tuskegee Airman. He died in 1944 and the students worked to bring his story to light. (Chloe Miller/TNS)
JACKSON COUNTY, MICH. (Tribune News Service) — Second Lt. Theodore Roosevelt Stiger was a young athlete who attended Jackson College, which is where student athletes Brayden Pearson and Azyah Brown first learned of his story.
“Me and my friend were on the basketball team, so kind of finding out that Roosevelt Stiger was a student athlete as well was pretty huge to us,” Pearson said.
In February, State Rep. Kathy Schmaltz, R-Jackson, revived efforts to honor Stiger by renaming a portion of U.S. 127 after him. The Jackson veteran was a Tuskegee Airman and Purple Heart recipient.
Pearson and Brown had joined the college Heritage Center. Originally, Stiger was listed online as being from Jackson, Miss., which led a team of students in 2024 to begin researching more about his life. It took some time digging through documents, census records, newspapers and ancestry websites, but the students were able to prove he was from Jackson, Mich., and bring his story to the forefront.
“It’s just very humbling,” Pearson said. “Being able to gather research and information about a young man who was just very strong, courageous, studious, athletic…it’s one of those things that you don’t think you would get to do, something that’s very meaningful.”
Scenes from Jackson College's Heritage Center featuring a collection curated by students about the life of 2nd Lt. Roosevelt Stiger. He was from Jackson, played basketball at Jackson College and was on the University of Michigan track team. He was also a purple heart recipient and a Tuskegee Airman. He died in 1944 and the students worked to bring his story to light. (Chloe Miller/TNS)
Stiger was born in 1919 in Tennessee as the youngest of three children to William and Adlena Stiger, before moving to Jackson as a child.
His mom encouraged him and his siblings to dream, while pushing them toward excellence in school. This is evident in his perfect attendance at the former Helmer Elementary School in Jackson. He was on the honor roll and active in his church, said Professor Diana Agy, Heritage Center director.
Stiger ran cross country at Jackson High School and mentored ‘up-and-coming’ track athletes at the Withington Stadium Alumni Showing.
From 1937 to 1939, Stiger attended Jackson Junior College, now Jackson College, and was on the basketball team.
After graduating, Stiger commuted from Jackson to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan, hoping to earn a master’s degree in liberal arts.
At this time, very few African American students were allowed to attend the university, and he was one of two photographed in the 1943 yearbook, Agy said. He was also on the university’s track team, with the Jackson Citizen Patriot calling him an “outstanding member of the freshman team.”
As World War II thickened in Europe, Stiger enrolled in the Tuskegee Aviation Cadet Program, one of six schools that allowed African American men to participate in the Civilian Pilot Training Program. He graduated in March of 1944 and was deployed with the 302nd Fighter Squadron to Europe.
On Oct. 7, 1944, Stiger was flying a bomber escort mission over the Adriatic Sea when he reported oxygen issues. His aircraft was seen plummeting toward the water, and he remains classified as missing in action.
The students created a large scrapbook featuring images of the University of Michigan, Tuskegee Airmen, newspaper clippings, photos of Stiger and letters they wrote to him and his mother. The hope is that the scrapbook will be mobile and displayed in museums and nearby classrooms, Agy said.
Scenes from Jackson College's Heritage Center featuring a collection curated by students about the life of 2nd Lt. Roosevelt Stiger. He was from Jackson, played basketball at Jackson College and was on the University of Michigan track team. He was also a purple heart recipient and a Tuskegee Airman. He died in 1944 and the students worked to bring his story to light. (Chloe Miller/TNS)
After Schmaltz caught wind of what the students were doing, she was excited to learn about his story.
“I think any way we can bring to the forefront some of our historical figures, especially military members and veterans who have done so much to help shape our freedoms we have today is a good thing,” Schmaltz said.
The reintroduced House Bill 4145, would rename U.S. 127 from mile marker 39 to 40 — a stretch near the I-94 interchange on Jackson’s east side – as the 2nd Lt. Roosevelt Stiger Highway.
The bill has been referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for consideration. It would need approval from the state House and Senate, Schmaltz said.
“We are so honored to be part in a small way of having his story remembered and having his name always seen by people passing by on the road,” Agy said.
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