www.wcers.org January 2017 Hidden History: The Story of Willis Ward In Wayne County, The Honorable Judge The Grand Park Centre Building Willis Ward is known as the first African American 28 West Adams Suite 1900 Probate Judge in Wayne County. While his role as Detroit, MI 48226 Judge was very important, his true legacy began far before he earned that title. Judge Ward was an Phone: 313-224-5890 Fax: 313-224-1917 athlete and a champion. He competed in track and E-mail: field and played football at the prestigious Univer- [email protected] sity of Michigan between the years 1932-1934. There, he met his close friend and teammate, and We’re on the Web! our former president, Gerald Ford. He was a very WCERS.org talented athlete and was later inducted into the University Of Michigan Athletic Hall Of Honor in 1981. When Judge Ward attended University of Michigan, segregation was still greatly in effect. Ward would be only the second African American @WCERS Ward from the 1934 to play football for the University, the first being 40 Michiganensian Inside this issue: years earlier. Despite how well he played football, Ward is best known for the game in which he was not allowed to play, against Election Results 2 Georgia Tech in 1934. During this game, the Georgia Tech coach refused to Defined Benefit Plan 3 let his team take the field if Ward played. Ward was not allowed to play in Health (Continued on page 3) Retiree Stipends 4 A Letter from the Executive Director Fun Facts 5 Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday. As we welcome Direct Deposit Form 6 in the new year, let us take some time to reflect on what happened in the previous year. Last year, we saw an increase in the funded ratio of both the New Retirees 7 County Defined Benefit Plan and the Wayne County Airport Authority Plan. Obituaries 8 Both plans also experienced a significant decrease in unfunded liabilities. The county is headed in a positive direction and we are very proud of our achieve- Identity Theft 10 ments here at WCERS. There is more detailed information on the success of (Continued on page 4) Content: Sharron Seaton Editor: Kelly Tapper 1 The Messenger, January 2017 www.wcers.org 2017 Office Closures for Holidays Check Dates January 2nd The following are the dates of your retirement January 16th checks for the 2017 year: May 29th January 01/03/2017 July 4th February 02/01/2017 September 4th March 03/01/2017 October 9th April 03/31/2017 November 23rd May 05/01/2017 November 24th June 06/01/2017 December 22nd July 06/30/2017 December 25-29th August 08/01/2017 January 1st (2018) September 09/01/2017 October 09/29/2017 Health, Dental, Optical, and Life Insurance November 11/01/2017 December 12/01/2017 Health, optical, and life insurance questions should be directed to Cornerstone Municipal Ad- visory Group at: Deferred Compensation Plan Email: [email protected] (AXA, MassMutual, VOYA) Phone: (888) 989-8686 Dental Questions should be directed to TMR at: DON’T WAIT TOO LATE!!! Phone: (313) 963-1135 If you will be 70 1/2 by the end of 2017 and you Messenger Articles have not already begun to draw your required If you have any information you would like to in- minimum distribution, you MUST do so before clude in “The Messenger,” it must be submitted the end of the year as required by the IRS. in writing and received in our office. All writings Unless, you are still working after age 70 1/2. In are limited to 300 characters and are subject to this case, you may still be able to begin drawing review and may be denied or edited for any rea- benefits after this time. son deemed necessary by WCERS editors. THE RESULTS ARE IN As you may be aware, the Retirement System recently held an election for Retiree Commis- sioner, in which there were two candidates. Charles J. Bonza III, a recent retiree, ran against incum- bent Commissioner Elizabeth “Bettye” Misuraca. With a total of 1,351 votes out of 1,786, Bettye Misuraca won the election and has once again retained her seat on the Retirement Commission for another 4 year term. There was also an election for the Active Retirement Commission posi- tion. WCERS is pleased to report that Tina Turner has been re-elected. She was the only candidate to return petitions for the position of Active Commission member, and will return to her position for another 4 year term. Congratulations to both Bettye and Tina on their re-elections! All of the election details can be found on our website, www.wcers.org. 2 The Messenger, January 2017 www.wcers.org Visit Us at WCERS.org (Continued from page 1) COUNTY OF that game but he received a lot of support from his teammates, including Gerald WAYNE Ford, and other U of M students in opposition of the decision. Although 1934 was a bad season for Michigan, they did win that game against Georgia Tech. While Ward was among the best athletes of his time, even beating Jesse Sign Up Today! Owens in a few track and field events, he was never able to reach his full potential. Ward admits that the Georgia Tech game killed his morale and competitive drive. Wayne County Re- He took part in the Olympic trials in 1936, but he feared that his hard work may tirement encour- yet again be for nothing and that he would not be able to compete because of the ages the use of di- color of his skin. Because of that fear, he was unable to train to his fullest ability rect deposit to re- and he failed to make the US Olympic team. ceive your monthly Despite his many adversities, Judge Ward still managed to become one of pension. It’s Fast, the University of Michigan’s most successful athletes in history, winning Big Ten it’s Safe and it’s titles 3 years in a row for track and field, and being a dominant force on the foot- Reliable. If you ball team. But he was not just an incredible athlete; he was a good student as well. wish to sign-up In 1933, Judge Ward was the first African American to ever be elected to Sphinx, please complete Michigan’s junior honor society. Judge Ward later attended Detroit College of the form on pg. 6 Law where he earned his law degree in 1939. He became a lawyer and was even- or at: tually elected Probate Judge in Wayne County MI. www.wcers.org and submit it to our We thank Judge Willis Ward for his outstanding achievements during his office. If you have lifetime and for his dedicated service to Wayne County. questions or would like a form mailed County and Airport Defined Benefit Plan Health to you, please con- tact our office at WCERS is pleased to report that the County Defined Benefit 313-224-5890. Plan has been very successful for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015. The funded ratio of the County Defined Benefit Plan as of Sep- tember 30, 2015 is 54%; this is an increase from 2014 when the ratio was 45%. The increase of 9% is a positive step towards securing the payment of pensions for the future. The County Defined Benefit Plan’s unfunded liabilities decreased from $818 million in 2014 to $636.5 mil- lion in 2015. This is the second year in a row the funding level in- creased. Did you know that The funded ratio of the Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA) WCERS is on Plan as of September 30, 2015 is 69%. This is the fourth year of in- Facebook AND creases for the WCAA Plan. In 2014 the WCAA Plan was 62% funded. Twitter? The WCAA Plan’s unfunded liability decreased from $52.4 million in Follow us: 2014 to $44.8 million in 2015. @WCERS The Retirement System continues to look for ways to be a better and more efficient system. For more detailed information on the health of the County Defined Benefit Plan and the Wayne County Airport Au- thority Plan, please see the Annual Financial Report, which can be found on our website at www.wcers.org under the reporting tab. 3 The Messenger, January 2017 www.wcers.org Message from the Executive Director continued (Continued from page 1) the retirement plans on page 3 and the full report can be found on the WCERS website at www.wcers.org. I also want to take some time to give special congratula- tions to Trudi Gizzi on her retirement. Trudi has been working at the County for 28 1/2 years and has been with WCERS for the last 11 of those years. Her retirement became effective as of 01/01/17. I have had the pleasure of working with her for several years and I wish her nothing but the best in retirement. From eve- ryone here at WCERS, you will truly be missed! —Robert J. Grden, Executive Director Retiree Stipends The Wayne County Employees’ Retirement System understands that there continues to be some confusion regarding healthcare stipends. There are two different retiree healthcare stipends issued un- der the County’s Retiree Stipend Program for those retirees and their spouses/dependents that qualify:* For Pre-Medicare individuals, monthly stipend payments vary based on the retirees household in- come and the number of eligible members (spouse/dependents).