Detroit, MI
Services announced for Max Hardy, Detroit chef, restaurateur and community advocate
Arrangements for Detroit chef Maxcel Hardy who died unexpectedly Monday have been announced.
A celebration of life for Hardy, known as “chef Max,” is scheduled to place Friday and Saturday at Triumph Church, East Campus, 2760 E. Grand Blvd., in Detroit.
A repose/wake for Hardy is noon to 6 p.m. Friday, with special remarks expected from 3-4:40 p.m.
On Saturday, Hardy’s homegoing celebration is taking place and begins with a family hour at 10 a.m. followed by an 11 a.m. homegoing service.
Hardy, who was 40, was a well-known Detroit restaurateur known for his community advocacy and efforts to fight hunger. His unexpected death shocked Detroit chefs and its restaurant industry. He owned COOP Caribbean Fusion, inside the Detroit Shipping Co., Jed’s Detroit, a pizza and wings franchise on Seven Mile Road in Detroit, and now closed, River Bistro in northwest Detroit.
Last month, Hardy was one of two dozen Black chefs who gathered for the Black Excellence Culinary Symphony 2024 at Table No. 2 in Greektown, a charitable event supporting young culinarians.
In 2021, the New York Times named Hardy one of 16 Black chefs changing food in America. Hardy also co-authored the Marley Coffee Cookbook with Rohan Marley, the son of reggae artist Bob Marley. He was featured on the Food Network and participated in many events in Detroit and was a staunch leader in teaching Detroit’s youth.
A champion of Detroit, its culinary scene and efforts to uplift the community, Hardy also founded the One Chef Can 86 Hunger foundation, a nonprofit that works to fight hunger and raise awareness around food insecurity.
“We have lost one of the most celebrated and promising Black chefs from Detroit who was recognized nationally as one of the top Black Chefs changing food in America,” said local publicist David Rudolph.
A cause of death hasn’t been revealed.
Flowers and arrangements can be sent to Kemp Funeral Home, 24585 Evergreen Road in Southfield.
The family is also accepting charitable contributions and donations through Cash App at $chefmaxcelhardy| | | or Zelle using 813-992-0606.
Both generations on the ice Friday are intent on growing the game for today’s kids. Hartje and the Polar Bears believe an important step for women’s hockey in Michigan would be starting a Division I college team.
“I think if the PWHL establishes a team in Detroit, it will put a lot of pressure on the colleges to make sure there’s a D-I team in the state,” Hartje said. “Michigan has the second-highest number of players in the league, and it would have been a dream for us to be able to stay in the state to play.”
It’s been a problem for decades. Pierson had to turn down the offer from Boston University, because her family couldn’t afford to send her to New England for college. Hartje ended up at Yale University, and Megan Keller, who scored the gold medal winning goal for the U.S. in the 2026 Winter Olympics and plays for the PWHL’s Boston Fleet, went from suburban Detroit to Boston College.
Meanwhile, 2026 U.S. men’s Olympic team members and Michigan natives Dylan Larkin of the Red Wings and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets were able to stay in the state to play with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, then based in Ann Arbor, before moving on to the University of Michigan in the same town.
“Megan’s brother played at Michigan State, and I’m sure she also would have stayed here to play for a Michigan school,” Skarupa said. “It’s imperative that Michigan gets a college program.”
Skarupa is serious about growing the game. She is working with Keller and the NHL Foundation U.S. to identify recipients for its $100,000 Empowerment Grant Program for Girls Hockey.
“Every time I go back to a city, there are new teams, new girls and new faces,” she said. “It’s a testament to growth all over the world, but it is tremendous inside the U.S.”
Detroit, MI
Retired Detroit sergeant faces new sexual assault charge involving 14-year-old victim from 2002
An additional case, this one involving a victim who was then 14 years old, has been added to the sexual assault investigation against a former Detroit Police Department sergeant.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced the latest charges on Friday against Benjamin Martin Wagner, 68, who now lives in Greenville, N.C. He had retired from the Detroit Police Department in 2017.
The victim in the additional charges was 14 years old when the assault happened in October 2002 in Detroit, Worthy said. The prosecutor alleges that Wagner approached the victim, pointed a handgun at her, ordered her away from the location and then sexually assaulted her.
In this case, he faces charges of kidnapping, two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. An arraignment hearing took place Friday in the 36th District Court in Detroit. A probable cause conference is scheduled for April 7.
The woman is now 37 years old.
“She has lived with what happened to her for 23 years and has now bravely decided that she wants to be a part of holding him accountable,” Worthy said.
Wagner participated in a court hearing Thursday and was remanded to jail, one week after he was charged with 15 counts of kidnapping and rape in five separate sexual assault cases. All of those incidents happened between 1999 and 2003 in the northwest side of Detroit, with the victims being young women between the ages of 15 and 23.
The court dates for the earlier list of charges are April 7 for a probable cause hearing and April 14 for a preliminary exam.
Wagner joined the Detroit Police Department in 1989 as a police officer and was eventually promoted to sergeant. He retired in 2017 and moved to North Carolina.
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