Bennie Adkins (age 86) - Adkins spent more than twenty years in the U. S. Army, risint to the rank of Command Sergeant Major before retiring in 1978. In 2013, Adkins was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in a 1966 firefight in Vietnam. Adkins died from COVID-19 on April 17, 2020.
 |
Philip Warren Anderson (age 96) - Anderson was a theoretical physicist and one-time professor at Cambridge and Princeton. He specialized in areas that led to the development of a theory of high-temperature superconductivity. He spend the early portion of his career at Bell Labs, where he developed much of the particle physics work that earned him a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977. Anderson passed away March 28, 2020. |
Gregg Bemis (age 91) Bemis was a marine explorer and diver who, through a series of purchases and court battles, became the sole owner of the wreck of the RMS Lusitania. The wreck lies off the Irish coast near Kinsale Head. Bemis died of cancer on May 21, 2020.
Owen Bieber (age 90) - Bieber began working in the auto industry straight out of his Grand Rapids, Mich., high school. Within a few years, he became a shop steward and president of the UAW local, a position he held for several years. He began organizing for the union in the 1960s, and moved to the national organization. He rose through the UAW ranks, eventually becoming the president of the national UAW. He held the presidency from 1983 to 1995, a period during which unions in general lost membership and political power. Bieber died February 17, 2020.
Thomas Edward Blanton, Jr. (age 82) - In 2001, Blanton was convicted of murder in the 1963 bombing of a black church in Birmingham, Alabama. He and another man were the two remaining suspects out of four in the case, all members of the local Ku Klux Klan chapter, and were both sentenced to four consecutive life sentences. Blanton died in prison on June 26, 2020.
Brian Blume (age 70) - Blume partnered with Dungeons & Dragons developer Gary Gygax and another to form TSR in the 1970s. He helped writer some of the earliest add-ons and updates, although the company collapsed from internal struggles in the 1980s. He continued to work in the games industry, mainly in the White Wolf series. He died March 27, 2020, of a form of dementia.
David Owen Brooks (age 65) - Brooks, a native of Houston, was convicted of murder in 1975 as an accomplice of two other men. In all the three were alleged to have killed at least 28 men and boys in 1970-73. Brooks was sentenced to life in prison and died May 28, 2020.
Thomas Edward Blanton, Jr. (age 82) - In 2001, Blanton was convicted of murder in the 1963 bombing of a black church in Birmingham, Alabama. He and another man were the two remaining suspects out of four in the case, all members of the local Ku Klux Klan chapter, and were both sentenced to four consecutive life sentences. Blanton died in prison on June 26, 2020.
Brian Blume (age 70) - Blume partnered with Dungeons & Dragons developer Gary Gygax and another to form TSR in the 1970s. He helped writer some of the earliest add-ons and updates, although the company collapsed from internal struggles in the 1980s. He continued to work in the games industry, mainly in the White Wolf series. He died March 27, 2020, of a form of dementia.
David Owen Brooks (age 65) - Brooks, a native of Houston, was convicted of murder in 1975 as an accomplice of two other men. In all the three were alleged to have killed at least 28 men and boys in 1970-73. Brooks was sentenced to life in prison and died May 28, 2020.
Back to top
CC (age 18) - The domestic shorthair cat, whose name was short for "Carbon Copy" (or perhaps "CopyCat") was cloned by Texas A&M scientists in 2001. She managed to have a litter of four kittens of her own at age five, another first for cloned pets. She died of old age on March 3, 2020.
Jaime Carbonell (age 69) - Born in Uruguay, Carbonell studied at MIT before receiving a PhD in computer science from Yale. He was a professor of computer science at Carnegie-Mellon University with a specialization in machine learning and an interest in artificial intelligence. Carbonell died February 28, 2020.
| Floyd Cardoz (age 59) - Born in Mumbai, Cardoz emigrated to the States by way of Europe and established himself as a chef in New York City. He competed on reality food shows "Top CHef" and "Top CHef Masters." Cardoz contracted COVID-19 on a trip to his native India and died in New Jersey on March 24, 2020. |  |
Stanley Cohen (age 97) - Cohen was a biochemist who researched cellular growth factors during tenures at Washington and Vanderbilt Universities from 1953 to 1999. He shared the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and a National Science Medal that same year with a colleague from Washington University. Cohen passed away February 5, 2020.
 |
George Coyne (age 87) - Coyne answered two callings, first as a Jesuit priest and also as an astronomer. Using his Georgetosn PhD in astronomy, Coyne became the Vatican Astonomer at the same time he was a fellow of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. COyne was an outspoken opponent of "intelligent design" who found no problem reconciling his scientific beliefs with his religion. He died February 11, 2020, of cancer. |
 |
Freeman Dyson (age 96) - DYson may well have been one of the most prolific thinkers of his generation. A physicist and mathematician, Dyson contributed heavily to the fields of quantum dynamics, solid-state physics, and nuclear physics. He was also responsible for such concepts as the Dyson sphere (astronomy/science fiction), the Dyson series (mathematics), and the Dyson tree (botany/genetic engineering). He was professor emeritus at Princeton University at the time of his death, February 28, 2020. |
Ira Einhorn (age 79) - Einhorn's girlfriend disappeared in 1977, and he fled the country and hid in Europe for more than twenty years. After being returned to the US in 2000, he claimed that she had been assassinated by government agents. He was convicted and died in prison on April 3, 2020.
Scott Erskine (age 57 - Erskine was sentenced to death in 2003 for the killing of two boys aged nine and 13. He had already spent four years in prison during his late teens and twenties for rape and attempted rape. Court records say that, at age 10, Eskine had attempted to sodomize his six-year-old sister. He died in San Quentin prison July 3, 2020, of the COVID-19 virus.
Scott Erskine (age 57 - Erskine was sentenced to death in 2003 for the killing of two boys aged nine and 13. He had already spent four years in prison during his late teens and twenties for rape and attempted rape. Court records say that, at age 10, Eskine had attempted to sodomize his six-year-old sister. He died in San Quentin prison July 3, 2020, of the COVID-19 virus.
Barry Farber (age 90) - Farber was a nationally-syndicated radio talk-show host, the capstone to a career in radio that stretched across the second half of the twentieth century. He was still contributing to CRN Digital Talk Radio at his death. Farber was also adjunct professor of linguistics (he studied 25 different languages) at St. Johns and a one-time candidate for mayor of New York. Farber died May 6, 2020.
Lonnie "Grim Sleeper" Franklin (age 67) - Franklin was a serial killer convicted of ten murders and an attempted murder in California. His nickname arose from a fourteen-year "sleep period" in his crimes. Franklin was sentenced to death in 2016. On March 28, 2020, he was found dead in his cell at San Quentin.
Ed Genson (age 78) - Genson, a Chicago attorney, was well-known for representing high-profile clients in criminal and civil trials. Among those he defended are former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, Chicago Sun-Times owner Conrad Black, and hip-hop musician R. Kelly. Genson died of cancer April 15, 2020.
Gerald Glenn (age 70) - Glenn, an evangelical Christian pastor, continued to hold services at his Richmond, Virginia, church in defiance of social-distancing orders by issued by state authorities. He continued to hold services until at least 22 March, 2020. Glenn died April 12, 2020, of COVID-19. According to news reports, his wife is also ill with the disease.
Gale Halderman (age 87) - Halderman was a member of the four-man team responsible for the initial design of Ford's iconic pony car, the Mustang. The model has sold over 10 million units in its more than 50-year run. Halderman passed away April 27, 2020, of liver cancer.
Mike Hughes (age 64) - "Mad Mike" Hughes played at the edge of fame for what normal people would consider his outrageous behavior. He first became famous for jumping a stretch limo, then building his own rocket. One would assume that someone who practices rocketry would be familiar with the shape of the Earth, but Hughes was a "flat-earther." Go figure. Hughes was killed in a stunt gone wrong on February 22, 2020.
Mike Hughes (age 64) - "Mad Mike" Hughes played at the edge of fame for what normal people would consider his outrageous behavior. He first became famous for jumping a stretch limo, then building his own rocket. One would assume that someone who practices rocketry would be familiar with the shape of the Earth, but Hughes was a "flat-earther." Go figure. Hughes was killed in a stunt gone wrong on February 22, 2020.
Wilson Roosevelt Jerman (age 91) - With a name combining the surnames of two presidents, Jerman was almost type-cast for the job he held over a 45-year career, a staffer in the White House. In that time, he served in various roles from cleaner to butler under eleven presidents, from Eisenhower to Obama. Jerman died of COVID-19 on May 16, 2020.
| Katherine Johnson (age 101) - Johnson, born Creola Coleman, displayed her mathematical acuity at an early age; eventually enrolling at a high school on a West Virginia college campus at age 10 and receiving a PhD in math at age 18. In the mid-1950s, Johnson was one of a group of woman who worked as "computers" in the aviation industry, eventually working for NASA. Her career, along with that of other women in the "colored computer" pool, was chronicled in the film Hidden Figures. Johnson died February 24, 2020. |  |
Donald Kennedy (age 88) - Kennedy, a biologist by training, began as a non-tenured professor at Stanford University in 1960. He rose through the ranks except for a hiatus as Head of the FDA during the Carter administration. After leaving the post, Kennedy returned to Stanford as provost, assuming the university presidency in 1980. He held that position until 1992. Kennedy was editor in chief of Science and remained professor emeritus at Stanford. He died of COVID-19 on April 21, 2020.
 |
Peter Kirstein (age 86) - A computer scientist in the United Kingdom, Kirstein is credited with establishing some of the first internet-connected computer outside of the United States. In 1973, Kirstein's London laboratory connected to ARPANET via trans-Atlantic cable. He was also instrumental in developing the TCP/IP protocol by which computers communicate. Kirstein died January 8, 2019. |
Sergei Kruschev (age 84) - The son of Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev, Sergei was an engineer and sometime college professor. A naturalized American citizen, he taught at the Naval War College. Kruschev died of a gunshot wound, apparently self-inflicted, on June 19, 2020.
Mary Kay Letournea (age 58) - Letourneau, a former schoolteacher, was convicted in 1997 of molesting a former student, 13-year-old Samoan-born Vili Fulaau. After serving a 3-month prison sentence and being paroled, she was caught with Fulaau again. Two daughters resulted from their... mating, the second of whom was born in prison. After her release in 2005, she married Fulaau. Letournau died of colon cancer July 6, 2020.
Robert Levinson (age 72) - Levinson, a one-time agent of the DEA and FBI, disappeared in Iran in 2007 while working for the CIA. His death was communicated to members of his family on March 24, 2020. Further details are, however, unknown, including the date, manner, and location of his death.
Joseph Lowery (age 98) - Lowery was a towering figure in the civil rights movement, a Methodist minister who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with MLK and others. He sereved as the SCLC's vice president, president, and board chairman. He gave the benediction at President Obama's first inauguration in 2009, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Obama later that year. Lowery died March 27, 2020.
Joseph Lowery (age 98) - Lowery was a towering figure in the civil rights movement, a Methodist minister who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with MLK and others. He sereved as the SCLC's vice president, president, and board chairman. He gave the benediction at President Obama's first inauguration in 2009, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Obama later that year. Lowery died March 27, 2020.
| Dee Molenaar (age 102) - Molenaar was a WW2 veteran, serving in the U. S. Coast Guard. After the war, he earned a geology degree and joined the U. S. Geological Survey. He is a member of the Hall of Mountaineering Excellence, earning that honor for multiple first ascents, including K2 and Mount St. Elias, and dozens of ascents of Mt. Rainier. Molenaar died January 19, 2020. |  |
 |
Ray Norris (age 72) - Ray Norris and Larry Bittaker (Died 2019) were convicted in 1981 of serial rape, kidnapping, and murder for a series of crimes the two committed in 1979. Because of their use of houshold tools to torture and kill their victims, the two were known in the press as the Tool Box Killers. Norriswas on death row in San Quentin when he died on February 24, 2020 |
Teruyuki Okazaki (age 88) - Okazaki, a ju-dan black belt in Shotokan Karate, was the founder of the International Shotokan Federation. He came to North America in the early 1960s to spread the style to the western hemisphere. In addition to his Philadelphia dojo, Okazaki also held faculty positions at Temple University and other colleges in Pennsylvania. Okazaki died April 21, 2020, of COVID-19.
— P —
Darrin Patrick (age 49) - Patrick founded The Journey, a St. Louis-based megachurch, in 2002; and was its lead pastor until he was removed from the ministry in 2016. After a "restoration process," he re-entered the ministry as an associate of Seacoast Church in 2017. Patrick died of what appears to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound on May 7, 2020.
Reckful (age 31) - Byron Bernstein, aka "Reckful," was a Twitch streamer and a professional eSports player best known as a master of World of Warcraft. He was also a low-level professional poker player. Like his older brother before him, the Israeli-American Bernstein committed suicide, dying July 2, 2020.
Rubble (age 32) - Rubble, a resident of Exeter in England, was born May 5, 1988. That wouldn't be so interesting if he were human, but Rubble was a domestic feline; certified by Guinness as the oldest living cat. The Maine coon cat's death was announced July 3, 2020.
Saturn (age 83?) - Saturn, an American-born alligator, was a resident of the Berlin Zoological Garden and a favorite of Adolf Hitler. Although the zoo was destroyed by Allied bombing, Saturn survived and was moved to Moscow. He died of old age May 22, 2020.
Ronald Shurer (age 41) - Shurer was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2018 for his actions during a battle in Afghanistan in 2008. The former Special Forces medic became a Secret Service agent after leaving the army. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017 and succumbed to the disease on May 14, 2020.
Emidio Soltsyk (age 44) - "Mimi" Soltsyk was a California socialist - the real thing, not a Bernie Sanders Social Democrat - who ran for U. S. President on the Socialist ticket in 2016, receiving less than 3,000 votes nationwide. . He also ran for state assemblyman in California in 2016. Soltsyk died of liver cancer June 28, 2020.
Bert Sutherland (age 83) - Sutherland was one of the earliest computer scientists to help shepherd society into the "information age." Among his accomplishments are having managed three major laboratories, including Sun Microsystems and the consortium that developed ARPANET, the forerunner of the internet. At Xerox, he was in charge of the division that developed the first personal computer, the Alto. Sutherland died February 18, 2020.
Larry Tesler (age 74) - Although his name remains unknown to the vast majority of people, Tesler's contributions to the information age are immeasurable: he's the guy who invented cut, copy, and paste for the computer interface. This breakthrough took place at Xerox, the company from which Steve Jobs copied most of "his ideas" for Apple. Tesler later worked for Apple. He passed away February 16, 2020.
Linda Tripp (age 70) - Tripp was a White House employee in the George H. W. Bush administration who remained on the job after the Clinton transition. She was moved to the Pentagon in 1994, where she met and befriended a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. She secretly recorded telephone conversations between Lewinsky and Clinton, which she later turned over to Kenneth Starr during the impeachment process. Tripp died of pancreatic cancer April 8, 2020.
Antonio Veciana (age 91) - The Cuban-born Veciana was an accountant in his native country when he was recruited by the CIA in a plot to kill newly-installed president Fidel Castro after the Bay of Pigs invasion failed. Veciana fled Havana in 1961, settling in Miami where he founded a fiercely anti-Castro group, Alpha 66. He died June 18, 2020, in Miami.
Rosalind P. Walter (age 95) - Born Rosalind Palmer, Rosalind went to work in an aircraft factory straight out of high school, assembling fighter planes for the war effort. She is said to have inspired the hit 1942 song "Rosie the Riveter." In later life, Walter was an advocate for public broadcasting and a trustee of the Tennis Hall of Fame. Walter died March 4, 2020.
Robert Weighton (age 112) - At his death on May 28, 2020. the Englishman was the oldest living person. He was born in 1908 and lived through two world wars and the Spanish Influenza. He died of cancer.
Jack Whittaker (age 72) - At the time a construction worker, Jack Whittaker won almost $$315 million in a 2002 PowerBall lottery game. His good luck, however, did not guarantee happiness. Whittaker's life was... troubled, including association with drug overdoses, lawsuits, a DUI, and the death of his granddaughter. Whittaker died June 27, 2020.
Oliver E. Williamson (age 87) - Williamson was Professor Emeritus of economics in the Edgar F. Kaiser chair at Cal Berkeley. He had previously taught at University of Pennsylvania and Yale. He shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics with Elinor Ostrom. Williamson died of pneumonia on May 21, 2020.
 |
Al Worden (age 88) - Worden was the command module pilot during the lunar mission known as Apollo 15, orbiting the moon while fellow astronauts David Scott and James Irwin went to the surface in 1971. He lost a congressional race from Pennsylvania in 1982 and published m=his memoir in 2011. Col. Worden died March 17, 2020. |
— Z —
Greg Zanis (age 69) - Zanis, by trade a carpenter, began building and installing crosses in memory of the victims of gunshot deaths. He is said to have built, delivered, and installed more than 26,000 crosses; recording his work in a handwritten ledger. Zanis succumbed to bladder cancer May 4, 2020, after arranging for a Lutheran charity to continue his mission.
No comments:
Post a Comment