Rob Cedar, a man who spent his life championing causes to protect the people, animals and lands of Hamtramck, passed away on March 5.

“He was a real fighter for environmental justice,” said Kathryn Savoie, environmental program manager for the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS). “But he was also just a really kind and generous person. He was truly committed to the community.”

Cedar is probably best known for founding the Hamtramck Environmental Action Team (HEAT), a MEC member group that worked for nearly a decade to shut down a medical waste incinerator in Hamtramck.

For years, Cedar doggedly pursued a shutdown of the incinerator that was responsible for releasing toxics, including mercury. It was the last commercial medical waste incinerator in the state. He made his arguments to state regulators by framing his case with science and law and took his case to the public and the media with impassioned appeals to fairness and common sense.

Cedar also worked toward other goals during and after HEAT’s successful campaign against the incinerator. He founded the Hamtramck Cat Assistance Team (H-CAT) to rescue homeless felines; served as a board member for the city’s own Preserve Our Parks organization; and was a third-term city councilman and the mayor pro-tem.

Scott Klein, who worked with Cedar on the Hamtramck City Council, said of his friend: “Hamtramck lost a leader who truly cared about all the residents of the city and worked tirelessly for them. He left big shoes for us to fill.”

Klein said he remembers the personal courage Cedar showed after surviving a traffic accident that left him with a permanent injury. “He was told he would never walk again, and he did. And when most folks would have resigned themselves to a lesser position, Rob stepped up,” Klein told the Hamtramck Star.

Cedar was 59 when he died of a heart attack in central Florida, where he was caring for his ailing father. According to the Detroit Free Press, Cedar is survived by his wife, daughter, two sons, a brother, three grandchildren and his father.

He is also survived by those people, animals and lands that he helped save as a dedicated community leader.

—Katie Coleman, MEC