Mike Ilitch, Little Caesars and Detroit Tigers owner, paid Rosa Parks' rent for years [View all]

Mike Ilitch, the late owner of the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings, paid the rent of civil rights icon Rosa Parks for more than a decade, a story that has reemerged after the businessman's death last week.

In 1994, Ilitch, a Detroit native who made millions as owner of pizza chain Little Caesars, heard that Parks needed safer housing after she was robbed and assaulted at her home in central Detroit. Parks, an Alabama native, had moved to the Michigan city shortly after the Montgomery bus boycott inspired by her decision not to give up her seat while using public transportation on Dec. 1, 1955.

Ilitch contacted Parks' friends, Judge Damon Keith and developer Alfred Taubman, and offered to pay her rent as long as necessary.

Parks, then 81, moved to Taubman's Riverfront Apartments, where she lived until her death in 2005 at age 92. It's not clear how long Ilitch paid the rent but Keith said it's just one of the contributions the businessman and sports team-owner made to the community.

"It's important that people know what Mr. Mike Ilitch did for Ms. Rosa Parks because it's symbolic of what he has always done for the people of our city," Keith said.

Ilitch died Feb. 10 at age 87. He was buried in Detroit in a private ceremony.