Fifty years after the most horrific and deadliest fire in New Orleans history, the family of victim Ferris LeBlanc is still seeking answers.

— By Frank Perez

On June 24, 1973, Marilyn Downey went to bed in her San Jose, California, home and had a dream. In it, her doorbell rang and when she answered the door, standing there was her brother, Ferris LeBlanc, whom she had not seen or heard from in years. Forty-two years after the dream, she has still not seen or heard from Ferris and until 2015 she had no idea what became of her brother.

Originally from Michigan, Marilyn and Ferris grew up in a tight-knit family of thirteen siblings in California. Ferris fought for his country in World War II in the D-Day invasion and at the Battle of the Bulge. The family loved Ferris very much and never minded that he was gay. In fact, Ferris would often bring his lover Robert, and later Rod, to family gatherings. Such acceptance was highly unusual in the 1950s and 1960s.

But in the early 1970s that changed. Ferris first became estranged from his family and then suddenly disappeared, seeming to drop off the face of the earth. His partner at the time, a man named Rod, was controlling and abusive and the couple had incurred no small amount of financial debt. In 1973, Rod’s murdered body was found in a ditch in Oakland, California. When Ferris’s family learned of the murder, they theorized that perhaps Ferris had gone into hiding for fear of his own life. His nephew Skip Bailey also suspected he may have been embarrassed about his relationship with Rod and how he was manipulated into borrowing money from the family.

But these were merely guesses and suppositions. Marilyn and Skip and the rest of the family just didn’t know what happened to Ferris. They would wonder often about his fate for decades. Then, in January 2015, just before Marilyn went to Tucson, Arizona, to visit her son Skip, she received a call from her brother. He told her he had learned on the internet that Ferris died in a fire in New Orleans in 1973.

Upon arriving in Tucson, Marilyn informed her son Skip of what she had just learned. Skip began scouring the internet and discovered the horrible tragedy of the Up Stairs Lounge arson. On June 24, 1973, an arsonist set a fire at the Up Stairs Lounge, a gay bar on the edge of the French Quarter. As a result of the fire, 32 people died, including Ferris LeBlanc. An arrest was never made, and the case remains officially unsolved. It was the deadliest fire in New Orleans history and the deadliest crime against gays and lesbians in the 20th Century.

The bodies of three victims were never identified and several of the bodies were never claimed, most notably the Reverend Bill Larson of the local Metropolitan Community Church, whose family was ashamed of his sexuality and released his body to the MCC. Ferris LeBlanc was identified by a ring he was wearing but his body was never claimed. His and the other three unclaimed bodies were buried by the city of New Orleans in a potter’s field.

Skip continued gathering information. He ordered the only two books written about the fire at the time—Johnny Townsend’s Let the Faggots Burn (2011) and Clayton Delery- Edwards’ The Up Stairs Lounge Arson: Thirty-Two Deaths in a New Orleans Gay Bar, June 24, 1973 (2014). He also ordered a copy of Royd Anderson’s short documentary film The Up Stairs Lounge Fire (2013).

For decades, it had been assumed that Ferris’ family didn’t claim his body because they were ashamed of his sexuality, but this is not the case; they simply did not know what happened to him. As soon as Marilyn and her son Skip and his wife Lori digested all of this information, they immediately planned to claim Ferris’ body and bring him home. They had already planned a trip to New Orleans to celebrate Marilyn’s 85th birthday.

Their first order of business was determining exactly where Ferris was buried. This was difficult because the graves are unmarked. It had long been assumed that his and the other unclaimed bodies were buried at Holt Cemetery, but this turned out to be a false lead. Anderson’s documentary includes footage of the burial and after visiting Holt Cemetery, Skip, his wife Lori, and Marilyn began to suspect the burial took place in a different cemetery.

Skip began contacting City Hall to find out more information and immediately hit a brick wall. The bureaucrats were initially non-responsive and unhelpful. The City Cemetery Office told him they have no record of indigents, but the coroner’s office did keep such a record – records that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Skip persisted in his search and eventually learned that Ferris and the others were buried at Resthaven Cemetery. Skip recalls, “Finding out where he was buried was the biggest challenge.”

Upon visiting Resthaven, the family discovered that the six-acre area where indigents were buried was closed in with a fence, locked with a padlock. Skip’s wife Lori said the area resembled a cow pasture.

Skip contacted the city again to request the gate be unlocked so they could enter the area but once more he met resistance. Eventually, his persistence paid off. Mayor Landrieu’s Chief of Staff, Ms. Brooke Smith, agreed to have the gate unlocked and the grass mowed so the family could visit the burial site.

Although they were not able to bring Ferris home to California, his family was determined to not give up. For years they made no progress with the city. Then, things suddenly changed last year when journalist and author, Robert Fieseler, who wrote Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation, reached out to City Councilmember J. P. Morrell. Morrell was moved by the story of the fire and horrified at the city’s response to it – which was virtually non-existent, a reflection of the homophobia of the time.

Morrell was also deeply troubled by the saga of Ferris LeBlanc and the three other unclaimed victims. To mark the 49th anniversary of the fire in 2022, he introduced a resolution acknowledging the victims and apologizing on behalf of the city for its inaction in 1973. At the hearing, Fieseler, Clancy DuBos (who was a rookie reporter when he covered the story), and myself each testified about the fire specifically and the city’s history of homophobia generally. The resolution passed unanimously. Morrell vowed to resume the search for Ferris and the other three bodies.

Marilyn, Skip, and Lori want people to know that Ferris was loved deeply, and had they known of the tragic events that took his life, they would have claimed his body when he died. They are also looking for any information about Ferris’ life. If you knew Ferris, or have any information about him, please contact me and I will put you in touch with his family.

I interviewed Ferris’ sister Marilyn eight years ago and I’ve kept in touch with her since then. As I concluded my interview with Marilyn Downey recently, I asked her if there was anything else she wanted to add. She replied, “I’ve been waiting 42 years for my doorbell to ring and I’m glad I finally now know Ferris won’t be ringing my doorbell.”

Events Commemorating the 50th Anniversary

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the tragic arson. A coalition of local organizations spearheaded by the LBGT+ Archives Project of Louisiana will present a weekend of events to commemorate the 50th anniversary. The events will take place in various locations in the historic French Quarter on June 23, 24 and 25, 2023.

For full information about the events and to register in advance (space is limited for many of them), go to this Eventbrite page. Under Agenda, you’ll find each day’s activities.

The roster of events includes presentations and panel discussions, a memorial service, and a jazz funeral. An opening reception and informational presentation will be held at The Historic New Orleans Collection. The panel discussions and presentations will examine the event and response, a review of the many creative endeavors that have been produced to tell this gruesome story, and the present-day implications of the fire. Registration opened to the public in April.

The Up Stairs Fire 50th Anniversary commemorative program is made possible through the generous support of:

• Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities

• New Orleans & Co.

• Metropolitan Community Church of New Orleans

• The Faerie Playhouse family

• St. George's Episcopal Church

• National World War II Museum

• Crossing

• The New Orleans Culture and Tourism Fund

• Chez Nous

• Odyssey House

• Ambush Magazine

• The Corner Pocket

• The Historic New Orleans Collection

• Crescent City Leathermen

• St. Mark's United Methodist Church

• New Orleans Marriott

• David Campbell

• LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana

• American Townhouse

• PFLAG New Orleans

• The Big Easy Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

• National Alliance on Mental Illness

• French Quarter Journal

• Crescent City Tour Booking Agency