Daniel Overstreet, owner of The Old Miami bar in Detroit’s Cass Corridor known as welcoming place for veterans, has died.
A Vietnam War veteran himself, Overstreet died May 1, 2026, peacefully at his home surrounded by friends and family, according a May 4 post to the bar’s Facebook page written by his partner of more than 40 years Julie Flynn and author and actor Jimmy Doom. Overstreet was 78.
They described Overstreet, who was born in Detroit and raised in Garden City, as the “heart, soul and guts” of the venerable Old Miami, which he made into a haven for veterans. Vietnam War-era reminders, military medals and other memorabilia adorn the walls. The bar’s name carries a history of Detroit nightlife dating back to the 1920s. To Overstreet, Miami stood for “MIA-MI” or Missing In Action, Michigan.
“Vietnam vets feel at home here because I am one of them,” Overstreet told the Free Press in 2001. “When we came back from Vietnam, we became the smallest frat in the country, and now we’re quietly powerful.”
Overstreet, in a 2004 Free Press article about veterans’ opinions on presidential candidates’ military service under scrutiny, recalled the struggles he experienced as protests of the Vietnam war raged amid the call for young men to serve. When the call came for Overstreet, he served even when his father told him to flee to Canada. At the time, in the 1960s and 1970s, Michigan was a battleground over Vietnam, particularly in Detroit and Ann Arbor.
In Vietnam Overstreet served in the Army 101st Airborne Division, earned two Purple Hearts, Flynn said, and other honors. After spending a year in the jungle, Overstreet returned home and took part in anti-war demonstrations. Overstreet told the Free Press that most of the men in his unit died in Vietnam.
Overstreet died of cancer, Flynn said, related to exposure to Agent Orange.
Flynn on May 5, said she plans to tell mourners at Overstreet’s memorial to reach out to veterans. “Every veteran you see out there in the world, you need to talk to them,” she said. “If you see them, talk to them. Just say ‘hi'”
The Old Miami ‘has soul’
After a stint leading a Detroit-based union, Overstreet got into the bar business, buying The Old Miami in 1979.
The Old Miami at 3390 Cass Avenue is high on the list of Detroit dive bars. Well noted as a music venue, the Old Miami is a hangout for veterans, artists and musicians. Over the years The Old Miami has hosted countless local bands and notable artist musicians, including Mitch Ryder, Electric Six and the Detroit Cobras. Bands play inside and on its outdoor stage facing Old Miami’s huge sprawling backyard.
“There was (and continues to be) really magical energy in this venue,” said a post on the Facebook page for the band Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius. “It has soul.”
Chris Turner, a local painter and sculptor, called Overstreet his friend for more than 30 years. Turner said he will remember Overstreet for his “good nature, smiles and jokes.”
“He’s very jovial, very hilarious and good with people,” Turner said. He will also remember Overstreet for a favorite saying Turner heard often: “I, who have nothing, love you who have everything,” Turner said.
Flynn and Doom wrote that the area’s rebrand to “Midtown,” was one that Overstreet “loathed.”
“‘Why don’t you just put up tollbooths to get in and keep your undesirables out,’ he said, tongue firmly in often laughing cheek,” they wrote.
Flynn and Doom wrote that Overstreet could be thought of as Cass Corridor’s mayor.
“He was instrumental in restoring the neglected, often maligned and even feared community. His bar and his personality are gruff, gritty beacons bridging the Detroit of the Vietnam War era to the kinder, friendlier Detroit of today,” the pair wrote, noting that Overstreet bought shoes, dictionaries and Halloween pumpkins for students at nearby Burton International School.
Services for Overstreet are set for 11 a.m.-3 p.m. May 16, 2026, Armed Forces Day, at the James H. Cole Funeral Home, 2024 West Grand Blvd, Detroit. A “Celebration of Life” will follow at The Old Miami.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Danny Overstreet, owner of The Old Miami, dies at 78
Reporting by Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
