[ad_1]
Letitia Baldrige, 86, mighty manners maven who taught America everything from how to eat a salad tastefully to how to walk down the aisle gracefully. Baldrige emerged as an empress of etiquette during the Kennedy White House, as the first lady’s social secretary. Her impact endured for decades, as an author, columnist and all-around expert on civility, meting out manners with a side of humor. Osteoarthritis with cardiac complications, Oct. 29.
Jack Balestreri, 95, last surviving bridge worker who helped build the Golden Gate Bridge. Natural causes, April 21.
Peter Bergman, 72, founder of Firesign Theatre, the comic quartet that channeled the absurdist sensibility and chaotic impulses of the countercultural 1960s and ’70s into a popular radio show and several cult-classic albums. Complications of leukemia, March 9.
Anthony Bevilacqua, 88, Roman Catholic cardinal who was shepherd of the 1.5-million-member Archdiocese of Philadelphia whose legacy was darkened by an explosive sexual abuse crisis. Bevilacqua was not indicted, although a 2011 grand jury wrote that it had “no doubt” his actions, and inactions, “endangered thousands of children in the Philadelphia archdiocese.” Cancer and dementia, Jan. 31.
Tony Blankley, 63, conservative author and commentator who was press secretary to Newt Gingrich during the 1990s, when Republicans took control of Congress. Stomach cancer, Jan. 7.
Robert Bork, 85, legal scholar and jurist whose unsuccessful Supreme Court nomination made him a hero to conservatives and a touchstone in the culture wars over abortion and civil rights. The 58 “no” votes in the Senate were the most cast against a Supreme Court nominee. Bork first rose to prominence in 1973 as solicitor general, when he fired special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox on the orders of President Nixon. Attorney General Elliot Richardson had refused Nixon’s request and resigned, as did the next in line, William Ruckelshaus. Heart ailments, Dec. 19.
Wesley A. Brown, 85, retired lieutenant commander who was the first black midshipman to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1949. Metastatic cancer, May 22.
Wesley E. Brown, 104, U.S. district judge who was the nation’s oldest sitting federal judge in history. Brown was appointed in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy. Natural causes, Jan. 23.
Charles Bush, 72, first African American to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court page, in 1954, and later one of the first black graduates of the U.S. Air Force Academy. His admission to the Capitol Page School, run by the D.C. school system, represented the first implementation of Brown v. Board of Education. Colon cancer, Nov. 5.
Edna Milton Chadwell, 84, last madam of the Chicken Ranch brothel in La Grange, Texas, which inspired the movie and Broadway show The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. No cause given, Feb. 25.
Charles “Chuck” Colson, 80, the “evil genius” and “master of dirty tricks” of the Nixon administration who spent the better part of a year in prison for a Watergate-related conviction but claimed a religious conversion that led him to minister to prison inmates for 35 years. His proclamations that he was a new man redeemed by his religious faith were met with more than skepticism by those angered at the abuses he had perpetrated as one of Richard Nixon’s hatchet men. Brain surgery complications, April 21.
Lynn “Buck” Compton, 90, veteran whose World War II exploits were depicted in HBO’s Band of Brothers as a first lieutenant in Easy Company. Compton later headed the team that prosecuted Sirhan B. Sirhan for the slaying of Robert F. Kennedy. Complications from a heart attack, Feb. 25.
Suzy Gershman, 64, who wrote the Born to Shop travel guides. Brain cancer, July 25.
Sam Gibbons, 92, former U.S. representative from Florida who chaired the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Gibbons is considered the “father” of the University of South Florida for sponsoring legislation to create the school. Natural causes, Oct. 10.
Art Ginsburg, 81, delightfully dorky television chef known as Mr. Food. Ginsburg endeared himself to millions of home cooks via 90-second segments syndicated to 125 local television stations. Pancreatic cancer, Nov. 21.
Thelma McWilliams Glass, 96, professor and civil rights pioneer who helped organize the 1955 Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott. No cause given, July 24.
Peter Goodwin, 83, physician who fought for years to enact Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act. Diagnosed with a rare brain disorder, he died in his home under the law he championed. Assisted suicide, March 11.
Nellie Gray, 86, founder and chief organizer of the March for Life, an annual anti-abortion march in Washington. Natural causes, Aug. 13.
Lawrence Guyot, 73, civil rights leader in the 1960s who worked for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and served as director of the 1964 Freedom Summer Project. No cause given, Nov. 23.
William Hamilton, 87, theologian who was a member of the Death of God movement of the 1960s that reached its peak with a Time cover story asking, “Is God Dead?” Congestive heart failure, Feb. 28.
William Heirens, 83, the Chicago “lipstick killer.” Heirens confessed to killing two women in 1945 and a 6-year-old girl the next year. Investigators found a message scrawled on a mirror with lipstick at one victim’s home that read: “For heaven’s sake, catch me before I kill more. I cannot control myself.” Health problems, March 5.
Hans Heymann Jr., 91, economist who advised Ford, Carter and Reagan on the Soviet Union and the Vietnam War — subjects he knew intimately as a key contributor to the Pentagon Papers. Heart disease, Jan. 10.
Henry Hill, 69, mobster-turned-FBI informant who became the basis for the Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas. His crimes included the 1967 theft of $420,000 in cash from the Air France cargo terminal at JFK airport in New York and the theft of $5.8 million in cash from a Lufthansa Airlines vault. Arrested on a narcotics-trafficking charge in 1980, he became an informant. Heart problems, June 12.
John Hoyt, 80, Presbyterian minister who left the church to advocate for animal welfare as president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States. Progressive supranuclear palsy, April 15.
Daniel Inouye, 88, the Democrat from Hawaii was the U.S. Senate’s most senior member at the time of his death. He was a Medal of Honor recipient for his bravery during World War II, which cost him an arm. Respiratory complications, Dec. 17.
Bill Janklow, 72, popular Republican governor of South Dakota for 16 years. He made headlines in 2003 after he ran a stop sign and killed a motorcyclist, ending his political career. Brain cancer, Jan. 12.
Nicholas Katzenbach, 90, who played a prominent role in federal desegregation efforts in the South. Katzenbach was the federal official who handed Alabama Gov. George Wallace a proclamation saying he must obey the law as Wallace tried to block two black students from entering the University of Alabama. No cause given, May 8.
George Kerchner, 93, junior officer who led his Army Ranger company up the Pointe du Hoc cliffs during the Normandy invasion. Sepsis and pneumonia, Feb. 17.
Rodney King, 47, black motorist whose videotaped beating by white police officers in 1991 helped spark the deadly Los Angeles riots. When officers were found not guilty, riots lasted six days and left 63 people dead. In the midst of the violence, King’s plea — “Can we all get along?” — became a rallying cry for calm. Accidental drowning, June 17.
Joe Kubert, 85, groundbreaking comic artist. Kubert co-created DC Comics’ iconic Sgt. Rock character and Tor, and reinvigorated Hawkman. Multiple myeloma, Aug. 12.
Keith Little, 87, one of the most recognizable of the remaining Navajo Code Talkers from World War II. The code helped confound the Japanese and win the war. Melanoma, Jan. 3.
Carlo Maria Martini, 85, cardinal who was an outspoken voice in the Roman Catholic Church and who criticized Vatican leadership as “200 years out of date” in an interview published after his death. He refused life-sustaining technologies such as artificial feeding, despite church doctrine on end-of-life care. Parkinson’s disease, Aug. 31
George McGovern, 90: Three-term senator from South Dakota and 1972 Democratic presidential nominee whose anti-war candidacy was marred by a running mate, Thomas Eagleton, forced to withdraw over mental health issues. Though routed by Richard Nixon, McGovern’s campaign greatly changed the party’s rules over how future presidential candidates and party leaders were chosen. He devoted much of his last three decades to anti-hunger issues. Cause not given, Oct. 21.
Russell Means, 72, Native American activist who helped lead the uprising at Wounded Knee in 1973 and gained acclaim for roles in Hollywood films. The onetime leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM) was dogged for decades by questions about the group’s alleged involvement in the slaying of a tribe member who was suspected of being an FBI informant. He denied the group ever promoted violence. Throat cancer, Oct. 22.
Virgil Olson, 93, retired Marine Corps colonel who flew combat missions during World War II, Korea and Vietnam and was the first Marine helicopter pilot to fly a president, Dwight Eisenhower. Prostate cancer, July 31.
Donald Payne, 77, U.S representative from New Jersey who was a leader in U.S.-African policy and spoke out early on the situation in Darfur and South Sudan. Colon cancer, March 6.
Gregory Powell, 79, convicted of killing a Los Angeles police officer during an infamous kidnapping that inspired Joseph Wambaugh’s novel The Onion Field. Prostate cancer, Aug. 12.
Ed Ray, 91, bus driver who led 26 children to safety after they were abducted and held underground for ransom during the infamous Chowchilla kidnapping in 1976. No cause given, May 17.
Jessica Joy Rees, 12, Southern California girl who became a nationally recognized face of child cancer with a blog that chronicled her fight against brain tumors. Brain cancer, Jan. 5.
David Oliver Relin, 49, journalist who coauthored the celebrated but controversial book Three Cups of Tea. The book, which Relin wrote with Greg Mortenson, recounts Mortenson’s travels in central Asia and his efforts to build schools there. Lawsuits challenged some of the accounts. Last year, an attorney for Relin said the litigation had damaged Relin’s career and that he had no money for his legal defense. Suicide, Nov. 15.
Spain Rodriguez, 72, original Zap Comix artist and founder of the Mission District murals movement in San Francisco. His work displayed a gritty, in-your-face approach to urban life. Cancer, Nov. 28.
Earl Rose, 85, Dallas medical examiner who attempted in vain to perform an autopsy on John F. Kennedy’s body after the president’s assassination. Parkinson’s disease and dementia, May 1.
Warren Rudman, 82, former New Hampshire senator who was a leading centrist in the Republican Party and an influential voice on budget issues as a co-author of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act. He also served on the special committee that investigated ties between Marine Col. Oliver North and the funding of Nicaraguan rebels during the Reagan administration. Lymphoma, Nov. 19.
Norman Schwarzkopf, 78, the no-nonsense general who led the U.S.-led invasion force that ousted Iraq from Kuwait in the first Gulf War in 1991. He was retired. No cause given, Dec. 27.
John Silber, 86, silver-tongued public intellectual who transformed Boston University during a quarter-century as president and mounted an unsuccessful 1990 run for governor of Massachusetts. No cause given, Sept. 27.
Victoria Soto, 27. In a year of tragic mass killings, this young teacher became a symbol of selfless heroism after she died while protecting students in a closet at the Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Paul Simon sang The Sound of Silence at her funeral. Gunshot wounds, Dec. 14.
Arlen Specter, 82, former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and irascible moderate who served three decades in the Senate without fully backing either party line. A longtime Republican, he switched to the Democratic Party before his final run for office. Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Oct. 14.
Richard “Dick” Stolz, 86, one of the CIA’s most respected covert operatives of the Cold War. Later, as deputy director of operations, he was credited with helping restore confidence in the agency after the Iran-contra affair. Complications from a fall, June 9.
Antoni Tapies, 88, Spanish painter and sculptor whose works were sprawling and sometimes featured discarded everyday materials. No cause given, Feb. 6.
George Vujnovich, 96, intelligence agent who during World War II helped organize the Halyard Mission to rescue more than 500 U.S. bomber crewmembers shot down over Nazi-occupied Serbia. Natural causes, April 24.
James Watkins, 85, retired Navy admiral who led the 1988 presidential commission on AIDS. No cause given, July 26.
Kevin White, 82, former Boston mayor who opened up the political system to African Americans, women and gays. A Democrat, he led the city for 16 years and is credited with revitalizing downtown. Alzheimer’s disease, Jan. 27.
Camilla Williams, 92, believed to be the first African-American woman to appear with a major U.S. opera company in 1946. Cancer, Jan. 29.
James Q. Wilson, 80, political scientist whose “broken windows” theory on crime-fighting helped trigger a nationwide move toward community policing. Leukemia, March 2.
Source link
