Jean Nicholas Tretter

Jean was born September 9, 1946, the fourth child of Nicholas J. and Murriel E. Tretter (nee Robison) in Little Falls, Minnesota. He attended school in Little Falls and Roseville, where he graduated high school. Upon graduation, Jean enlisted in the United States Navy, where he served as a linguist for seven years due to his remarkable talent for language. In the Navy he specialized in the Russian language, specifically the technical language of the Russian space program.

Upon receiving an honorable discharge from the Navy, Jean returned to Saint Paul where he attended school and worked for Ramsey County and for the University of Minnesota. Jean studied anthropology at the U of M in the early 1970’s, where he wanted to research the gay community but was told that wasn’t a legitimate course of study. In 1972, Jean was an organizer and attendee at the first Twin Cities Pride event (a march and picnic) held Minneapolis’ Loring Park. Jean had the foresight to collect historical materials from this event and others related to the GLBTQ community. Over time, Jean’s collecting became his passion, and the collection grew into one of the world’s largest collections of GLBTQ historical and scholarly materials.

In 2000 Jean gave his extensive collection to the University of Minnesota where it became The Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies. When Jean came out, he adopted the name Jean-Nickolaus as his gay name and felt that spelling better represented the collection. The Elmer L. Andersen Library, Archives and Special Collections Department, houses the collection.

Jean played an active role in the Twin Cities GLBTQ community for decades. He hosted “Night Rivers,” the only regularly broadcast Gay and Lesbian classical music show in the country, for 16 years on KFAI. He co-chaired Minnesota's Gay/Lesbian Olympic Committee and served on the board of Twin Cities Pride. However, of all his accomplishments, Jean was most proud of the Tretter Collection at the University of Minnesota.

He is survived by his beloved cat Maximillian, his niece Nicole Ringrose and her family, and many dear friends and colleagues throughout the world.

A Memorial Service will be held in June 2023 near the time of the Twin Cities Pride Festival. A private interment ceremony honoring Jean’s military service will be held at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection Fund at the University of Minnesota Foundation, PO Box 860266, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55486-0266. Donations may also be made on-line at https://www.lib.umn.edu/collections/special/tretter or the Humane Society of Minnesota.