Bruhs Mero and Gean Harwood

The lives of Bruhs Mero (February 15, 1911 – August 10, 1995) and L. Eugene “Gean” Harwood (1909–2006) are recounted in the book by Harwood, The Oldest Gay Couple in America: A Seventy-Year Journey Through Same-Sex America. Gean Harwood L. Eugene “Gean” Harwood was born in 1909 in Auburn, New York, where he first studied music. On June 30, 1985, during the New York Pride celebration, Gean Harwood and Bruhs Mero were named “Grand Marshals”. In 1991 Mero moved to a nursing home, but Harwood continued to visit him constantly, even if Mero, affected by Alzheimer’s disease, no longer recognized him. After Mero’s death in 1995, Harwood remained active: he played the piano into his 90s and was active in the Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE). Bruhs Mero died from Alzheimer’s disease on August 10, 1995. Harwood died in 2006. Legacy Bruhs Mero and Gean Harwood are profiled in Silent Pioneers, a 1984 documentary by Lucy Winter, Harvey Marks, Paula de Koenigsberg, and Patricia G. Snyder, and For Better or for Worse, the musical chronicling their love affair, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1993. Bruhs Mero and Gean Harwood are profiled in Family: A Portrait of Gay and Lesbian Am