Lenawee County History: The mystery of Kenny Lytton
Sometimes, I get research requests from people about members of the community whose life, and photos, have proven elusive.
One of those requests is for someone I knew, and I, too, have been looking fruitlessly for years for the same.
I am probably asked once or twice a month by members of the community if I have any photos of Kenny Lytton or his store at Manitou Beach. The store and gas station was a staple at the lake resort for more than 40 years. Today, all that is left is a crumbling concrete pad approach on the curve near Chestnut Street. A heavily watermarked aerial photo of his store is for sale through an online store specializing in vintage pictures. It is the only picture I’ve seen in more than 20 years “on the hunt.”
I have also exhausted all my avenues in locating a picture of the man who lived quietly but who was described by many as a “character.”
Kenneth Edward Lytton was born Sept. 28, 1912, in Illinois, to Charles and Mary Lytton. He operated Lytton’s Shell Gas Station and Party Store at 291 Devils Lake Highway for more than four decades. He was a man of the community, but at the same time, he was low-key. He barely made the news, which is probably how he preferred. His store was famous for candy, for being piled high with everything under the sun, and he was equally famous on a local level for knowing where everything was among the boxes and stacks.
Some older people in the community also said he was known for his stash of “dirty magazines” for sale. It was those magazines that put him in the news in 1968.
Donald Bunka of Okemos had stopped by Lytton’s store and saw a selection of adult magazines for sale. Bunka called the police and filed a complaint. Two plainsclothes police officers went to the store and between them bought five magazines, two of which were entered as police evidence. Lytton was put on trial that fall on charges of “showing, selling or offering for sale obscene literature.” Lytton and his wife both testified they never had a complaint until Bunka filed a report with the police. At the time, the store had carried the magazines for five or six years. The magazines were stored in a box on a stand in the store, carrying the sign “for adults only.”
County prosecutor Harvey Koselka argued the magazines were “so obscene, no one can argue the point.” However, Judge Rex B Martin disagreed, and said “Our United States Supreme Court has said magazines worse than those in our case are not constitutionally obscene when sold to adults.”
At that, Lytton went back to living his unassuming life at Manitou Beach, pumping gas at his full service station, wearing a coin changer on his belt and having a smile for everyone who stopped by.
Lytton had a reprieve from making news for several years. In April 1976, though, Lytton was targeted by a group of women drifters, who came into his store and struck up a conversation. As quickly as they came in, they left, and Lytton went to his living quarters. It was there he found one of the drifters had taken $4,000 in cash and his silver coin collection.
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On Aug. 29, 1978, a teenager with a knife entered Lytton’s store and demanded money from his register. Lytton’s wife, Leona, was sitting behind a curtain in the family’s living quarters, heard the ruckus and grabbed a shotgun, pointing it through the curtain. That was enough to deter the would-be robber, who fled but was later caught along with his accomplices.
After closing the store around 1981, the Lyttons moved to what is known today as Tecumseh Apartments and Townhomes. The store contents were put up for auction, and people came out in droves to buy it up. Some of the stock was so old, the cellophane wrappings had yellowed. Lytton was admitted to Herrick Hospital in November 1984, and he died Nov. 22, 1984 — Thanksgiving Day. At his request, there was no visitation or funeral service.
Lytton had no children of his own. His stepchildren, a daughter and son born to his wife, Leona, died in 1994 and 2009. There were no funeral services. Leona Lytton died in 1987.
Perhaps someone has in a photo album or, in a box, a photo of Kenny Lytton or his service station. Many people would be happy to see such a photo, and I would be able to put to rest a 20-year quest.
— Dan Cherry is a Lenawee County historian.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Dan Cherry: The mystery of Kenny Lytton
