The Michigan House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation to name a stretch of M-53 in honor of a Sterling Heights police officer who was killed in the line of duty in 1971.

If approved by the Senate and signed into law by the governor, the stretch of M-53 in Macomb County that runs north from the intersection with 17 Mile Road to the interchange at Hall Road will be known as the “Officer Leroy Imus Memorial Highway.”

State Rep. Tom Kuhn, R-Troy, co-sponsored the legislation.

“I was pleased to co-sponsor this bill in memory of Officer Leroy Imus,” Kuhn said. “Renaming this road will serve as a reminder of the risks law enforcement officers face every day to keep our community safe.”

Imus was born in Howell, Michigan in 1939 and married to Nancy in 1961. A Navy veteran, Imus joined the Sterling Heights police force in 1966 where he was awarded several merit and departmental citations, including “Policeman of the Month.” He was just 32 years old with four children on the night of Dec. 2, 1971, when he was struck and killed while returning to his patrol car during a routine traffic stop by an oncoming vehicle that swerved out of its lane.

M-53 runs from Detroit north to the tip of Michigan’s thumb at Port Austin. The portion that will be renamed, if House Bill 5151 is signed into law, includes the area where Officer Imus was killed.

Imus Park, on Dodge Park Road in Sterling Heights, is already named in his honor.