Life In Legacy - Week of 10/19/2002

Life In Legacy - Week of November 19, 2002

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Bashful Brother Oswald - Country comedian

Werner Eberlein - Despised East German official

Sir Garfield Todd - Rhodesian Prime Minister

William Capron - Advisor to Kennedy & Johnson

Horace Logan - Louisiana Hayride founder

Buddie Newman - Controversial Mississippi legislator

Carolyn Celletti - Michigan senate candidate

Jack Longacre - Highpointer Club founder

Norbert Schultze - 'Lili Marleen' writer

Edward Leonard - Connecticut radio personality

Thomas Cahill - Coined 'Love Generation'

John Reddell - OU football/baseball player

Victor Botnick - Troubled NYC public servant

Rev. Richard McSorley - Georgetown activist/priest

Jim Disbrow - Ice skater/Buffalo Wild Wings founder

Allen Walker Read - Discovered origin of 'O.K.'

Millicent Hearst - Hearst Corp. director

Pattie Coldwell - British TV personality

Catherine Connelly - 2nd to last Slocum survivor

Aileen Riggin - Oldest U.S. gold medalist

Greg Katsnelson - Wrong place at wrong time

Eddie Lynch - Suns & Diamondbacks investor

Richard Hagen - First B. Dalton president

News and Entertainment
Jeff Abrams - Director of news operations at WBAL-TV in Baltimore died of a heart attack during a jog on Oct. 10 at age 46.
Anita Alberts - Actress who had parts on TV in series like “Hawaii Five-0” and “Cannon” and in several movies including “The Sterile Cuckoo”, and went on to a successful career as a public relations maven, died of lung cancer Sept. 28 at age 58.
Derek Bell - Harpist for the six-time Grammy-winning Irish band The Chieftains, who had been a member of the Celtic music group since 1974 and had recorded on 37 of the groups 40 albums, and who had recorded 9 solo albums as well, died suddenly of hypertensive cardiomyopathy on Oct. 15 at the age of 66.
Hazel Brooks - Glamorous 40’s and 50’s actress who is best remembered as the nightclub singer Alice in 1947’s “Body and Soul” with John Garfield, and also appeared in “The Harvey Girls” and “Sleep My Love”, and who was married to art director Cedric Gibbons, died Oct. 3 at age 78.
Mauro Bruno - Composer best known for numerous scores to TV shows like “Barnaby Jones”, “The Streets of San Francisco”, “Police Story” and who was nominated for 3 Emmy’s (but never won), died Oct. 3 of lung cancer at age 78.
Pattie Coldwell - British TV presenter and broadcaster on such shows as “Nationwide” and “Open Air”, who married a man 29 years her junior earlier this year, died Oct. 17 of brain cancer at age 50.
Ray Conniff - Grammy-winning bandleader, composer and arranger responsible for some of the most memorable easy listening music of all time including his own recording of “Somewhere My Love” and arranger of huge hits like Johnny Mathis’ "Chances Are", Frankie Laine's "Moonlight Gambler", Johnnie Ray's "Just Walking in the Rain" and Guy Mitchell's "Singing the Blues", died on Oct. 12 after falling and hitting his head at age 85.
Keene Curtis - Familiar character actor who was a regular performer on Broadway for years (he played Daddy Warbucks in “Annie”), and is remember for numerous roles in on TV on shows like “Cheers” (as John Allen Hill), “The Pretender” (as Mr. Fenigor), and in movies like “American Hot Wax” and “Sliver”, died Oct. 13 of Alzheimer’s disease at age 79.
Donald Delany - Reporter and classical music critic at the Trenton Times who had worked at the paper for 73 years (!) starting just before the stock market collapsed in 1929, died on Oct. 15 at age 90.
Warren Durham - Radio host of the syndicated program “Big Band Classics” which is heard on 120 radio stations nationwide and the cable TV series “Big Band Days” on Channel America, and who was a long-time Spokane, WA radio personality died Oct. 15 of cancer at age 77.
Kaare Evensen Jr. (aka Whitewind) - American Indian flute player, a spiritual counselor and an artist, who recorded under the name “Whitewind”, died Oct. 2 at age 43.
Thomas Kuncl - Former executive editor of the National Enquirer, who is best known for engineering the Enquirer’s coverage of Elvis Presley’s funeral with the picture of Elvis laid out in a casket on the front page that outraged many in the journalism world, died of heart failure on Oct 10 at age 63. .
Edward Leonard - Long-time radio personality and news director at WICH radio in Norwich Connecticut, died Oct. 14 at age 72.
Ken Linker - Host of the “Ken Linker Variety Show” in Charlotte, North Carolina, for 36 years (!!!) until his death, died June 16 of cancer at age 67.
Horace Logan - Louisiana DJ who started and produced the country music program “Louisiana Hayride” in 1948 and helped break several new artists that went on to storied careers (like Elvis, Johnny Cash and Hank Williams), and who first said what became the catchphrase “Elvis has left the building”, died Oct. 13 of pancreatitis and acute respiratory distress syndrome at age 86.
Al Lohman - Half of the radio comedy team of Lohman & Barkley with the late Roger Barkley who ruled the drive time airwaves in Southern California for many years in the late 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, died Oct. 13 of bladder cancer at age 69.
Ron Miller - Longtime investigative reporter and war correspondent for ABC news who covered the war in Vietnam and the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, died of cancer on Oct. 7 at age 61.
Nozomi Momoi - One of Japan’s up-and-coming porno starlets who was ”known for her baby face that topped off a huge set of boobs” and who had appeared in over 100 movies since her debut two years ago (that’s one movie per week!), was found stabbed to death on Oct. 12 in what may have been a murder-suicide in Shiojiri, Japan. She was 24.
Abe Most - Swing clarinetist who worked in bands with Les Brown and Tommy Dorsey in the 40’s and spent 20 years in the studio orchestra at 20th Century Fox, died Oct. 10 of heart failure at age 82.
Zara Nelsova - Well-known cellist who was called “the queen of the cellists”, who appeared in major orchestras in North America and Europe, including engagements with Arthur Fiedler and Charles Munch, died Oct. 10 at age 84.
Bashful Brother Oswald (real name Beecher Ray Kirby) - Country comedian and guitarist who was a member of the Smoky Mountain Boys, Roy Acuff’s backing group, and who became a regular on the Grand Ole Opry as a solo act in 1995, died on Oct. 16 after a long illness at age 90.
Dennis Patrick - Actor best known for recurring roles on a pair of popular TV shows, “Dallas” as Vaughn Leland, and “Dark Shadows” as Jason McGuire/Paul Stoddard, among his dozens of roles in TV and movies, died on Oct. 13 in a fire in his house (he had been battling cancer) at age 84.
Sidney Pink - B-movie producer in the vein of Bert I. Gordon, who made some really horrible movies in the 50’s and 60’s like “Reptilicus”, “The Angry Red Planet” and “Man From O.RG.Y.”, who also made the first full-length 3-D movie “Bwana Devil” in 1952, died Oct. 12 after a long illness at age 86.
Seymour Rexite - Crooner popular in the 40’s & 50’s who with his wife, singer and actress Miriam Kressyn, revolutionized Yiddish airwaves and stage by composing, performing, and translating American popular tunes into Yiddish, and who once performed as a child (obviously) for President Calvin Coolidge, died on Oct. 14 at age 91.
Joe Ricardel - Songwriter and orchestra leader best known for writing the hit songs “The Frim Fram Sauce” and “The Wise Old Owl”, died Oct. 12 at age 90.
Norbert Schultze - German composer best remembered for writing “Lili Marleen”, the trademark song of Marlene Dietrich, which became an anthem for both Allied and German soldiers during WW2, died Oct. 14 at age 91.
Dick Shoemaker - Former ABC news correspondent who spent several years as an entertainment correspondent for “Entertainment Tonight” starting in 1981 where he interviewed many celebrities including Bob Dylan, died of a heart attack on Sept. 26 at age 65.
Jay R. Smith - Child actor who appeared in the early silent “Our Gang” features playing Pinky in 18 of the shorts from 1925 to 1929, was found dead in a deserted area near Apex, Nevada on Oct. 5, apparently the victim of a homicide. He was 87 years old.
Dr. Eileen Southern - Pioneer in the study of black music whose book “The Music of Black Americans” is encyclopedic in its coverage of black music in the U.S., and who was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Bush in May 2002, died of undisclosed causes on Oct. 13 at age 82.
Roman Tam - Chinese pop star known as the godfather of the Hong Kong music industry who sang canto-pop on songs like “Under the Lion Rock”, and who has released 56 albums in China since 1967, died of liver cancer on Oct. 18 at age 52.
Billy Tweedie - Music and talent promoter who was head of Billy’s Entertainment World in Pittsburgh, and who started the International Judy Garland Fan Club and claimed to be her most loyal fan, died on Oct. 5 of a heart attack at age 34.
Ernest White - Washington DC talk show host and community activist whose radio program on WUDC “Crosstalk” was aired for 15 years, but a very public drug- and alcohol-fueled deterioration eventually left him disabled, panhandling and homeless, died of AIDS on Oct. 14 at age 54.

Sports
Jim Disbrow - Professional figure skater, turned business entrepreneur, turned skating official, who (in order), competed as a junior in the 60’s and with the Holiday on Ice show, co-founded the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant chain, and served as president of the U.S. Figure Skating Assoc. during the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan “whack on the knee” incident, died of brain cancer on Oct. 16 at age 54. .
Fourstardave - One of the most popular horses ever to run on the tracks in New York who was called the “Sultan of Saratoga”, died of a heart attack Oct. 15 while jogging at age 17.
Phillip Goldin - New Jersey man who won more than 50 medals in the Senior Olympics, competing until last year, died Oct. 10 of heart failure at age 91.
Bob Gregg - Racer known as “Bullet Bob the Barefoot Boy”, because of his penchant for driving barefoot, who raced midgets, sprint cars, modifieds and stock cars for six decades and was recently chosen as “Driver of the Century” by Golden Wheels, died Oct. 14 at age 82.
Ronnie Horn - Indiana high school basketball standout who played at Indiana University and spent 3 seasons in the NBA with the Hawks, Lakers and Rockets, died Oct. 12 after a long illness at age 64.
Russ Izor - Long-time owner of Izorline fishing products, colorful boat captain and conservationist, columnist who penned “The World According to Russ” and Southern California fishing legend, died of pancreatic cancer on Oct. 12 at age 79.
Ben Kern - PGA golfer and director of golf at the Devil’s Pulpit Golf Course in Caledon, Ontario, who played on the tour for 6½ years and is considered one of the best golf teachers in Canada, died Oct. 14 of cancer at age 55.
Tommy Loy - Trumpeter who opened the Dallas Cowboys home games with a trumpet rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” for 22 years during the Tom Landry era, died Oct. 17 of pancreatic cancer at age 72.
Eddie Lynch - Arizona businessman who was a partner in the ownership of both the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks, died Oct. 14 after a stroke at age 67.
Audrey Mestre - Free diving world champion who set the world’s female record in 2000 by diving to a depth of 125 meters (412.5 feet) in 2 minutes 3 seconds, died on Oct. 12 in an attempt to break the world record in a dive off the coast of the Dominican Republic. It is not yet known why she died. She was 28 years old.
John Reddell - College football and baseball great at Oklahoma who played on the national champ teams in both sports for the school in 1950, who went on to become one of the most successful Texas high school football coaches, died of congestive heart failure on Oct. 14 at age 72.
Aileen Riggin Soule - Swimmer and diver who competed in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics, winning a gold medal at Antwerp in 1920, and is thought to have been the oldest U.S. gold medallist still living, died Oct. 17 at age 96.
Tom Sullivan - NFL running back who played 6 years in the league, mostly for Philadelphia, and who is eighth on the Eagles all-time rushing list, was killed in a car accident on Oct. 10 at age 52.
Andrei Trifonov - Owner of the Russian hockey team Khimik Voskresensk, which sent several players to the NHL including Andrei Markov and Khimik Voskresenek, was shot to death on Oct. 10 in an apparent robbery outside his home at age 34.
Roy "Deuce" Wilkins - Football star at the University of Georgia who played 4 seasons in the NFL in the 1960’s for the Rams and Redskins, died Oct. 4 at age 67.
Willis Thomas - Basketball player at Tennessee State who went on to play 9 years with the Harlem Globetrotters from 1963 to 1972, died of a brain aneurysm on Sept. 25 at age 70.

Art and Literature
Stephen Ambrose - Best-selling author who wrote over 30 history books about World War II and the soldier’s combat experience, in books like “D-Day June 6, 1944” and “Citizen’s Soldier”, but who had come under fire in recent years for plagiarism, died of lung cancer on Oct 13 at age 66.
Susan DeMichele - New England painter who is known for her colorful New England landscapes and whose work is on exhibit in galleries throughout Maine and Massachusetts, died of melanoma on Oct. 11 at age 56.
Mason Hammond - Classics scholar, author and long-time Harvard professor who wrote on the Roman Empire and the Latin language in books like "The Augustan Principate" and "The Menaechmi of Plautus", died Oct. 13 at age 99.
Eddie Hausner - Award-winning photographer for the New York Times, whose work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, died Oct. 12 at age 76.
Tooru J. Kanazawa - Journalist and novelist who drew upon his experiences fighting the the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, made up of first-generation Japanese Americans, to write several books including “Sushi and Sourdough”, died Oct. 2 at age 95. .
Vera List - Avid art collector and philanthropist who founded with her husband the Albert A. List Foundation, which gave money to, you guessed it, the arts, died on Oct. 10 at age 94.
Wu-chi Lu - American scholar of Chinese literature who published 25 books to help familiarize American readers with Chinese poetry and literature, died Oct. 3 at age 95.
Ed Rossbach - Artist known as the dean of modern American textiles, who created what is known as “fiber art” from materials like fabric, paper and bark and whose work is in major museums in Europe and the U.S., died on Oct. 7 after a long illness at age 88.
Allen Walker Read - Onomast, dialectician, and Columbia English professor who hunted down the sources of words, idioms and place names (“OK” – stands for “olls korrect”, first published in the Boston Globe in 1836 when initials of misspelled words were the fad), in books like “Milestones in the History of English in America” (a dialect book) and “America, Naming the Country and Its People”, died Oct. 16 at age 96.

Politics and Military
Victor Botnick - One-time aide to New York mayor Ed Koch and head of New York City’s hospital system, who was forced to resign both positions under accusations of corruption, and who continued to have problems after his days of public service (like being charged with setting off a stink-bomb on a plane in 1998), and who was currently facing charges of embezzlement, died on Oct. 15 of gastrointestinal bleeding at age 47.
Thomas Cahill - San Francisco’s chief of police from 1958 to 1970, who is credited with coining the phrase “love generation” when referring to the hoards of hippies inhabiting his city during his tenure, died on Oct. 12 of congestive heart failure at age 92.
William Capron - Economic advisor who served in the administrations of Kennedy and Johnson and was an architect on Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty”, died of pancreatic cancer on Oct. 5 at age 82.
Carolyn Celletti - Candidate for the Michigan Senate on the ballot for the November elections, who was running as an Independent, was killed in a car accident on Oct. 11 at age 40.
Catherine Connor - Political fund raiser in Kentucky who is credited with helping save the Federal Hill mansion and who had been a DNC member and precinct chairman since 1921, and whose autobiography “From My Old Kentucky Home to the White House” was published in 1990, died Oct. 13 at age 102.
Werner Eberlein - East German Politburo member accused of manslaughter for failing to act against the “shoot to kill” orders issued to East German border guards during the 1980’s, but who was never charged, died on Oct. 11 of undisclosed causes at age 82.
Bill Green - A liberal Republican congressman from New York who won a special election against Bella Abzug in 1978 to fill the void when Ed Koch became New York mayor, and served as representative until 1992, died of liver cancer on Oct. 14 at age 72.
Grace Hamblin - Winston Churchill’s private secretary for many years beginning in 1932, and who in 1955 was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, died Oct. 15 at age 94.
Sung Hye-rim - Former screen actress in Hong Kong who married North Korean president Kim Jong II in 1971, but divorced him and fled North Korea in the early 80’s and had lived in secret locations ever since then, died in Moscow of heart problems sometime in July. She was believed to be in her late 50’s.
Rev. Richard McSorley - Jesuit priest and professor of peace at Georgetown University who was a peace activist committed to pacifism and marched with Martin Luther King, and who was associated with Bill Clinton when Clinton was a student at Georgetown and was later called "a Marxist priest" by Rep. Robert Dornan during the 1992 presidential campaign, died on Oct. 17 of heart disease at age 88.
Thomas Murray - Army veteran who posed for the infamous rationing poster which showed him drinking coffee and urging home-front rationing during WW2, died on Oct. 16 of Parkinson’s disease at age 87.
C.B. “Buddie” Newman - Powerful and controversial Mississippi politician who served as state Senator and eventually House speaker in a 40 year political career, died Oct. 13 at age 81.
Mary Scherer - Woman believed to be the oldest female veteran in the U.S. who joined the Army in 1918 and served as a nurse in both WW1 and WW2, died Oct. 13 at age 107.
Sir Garfield Todd - Prime Minister of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from 1953 to 1958, who supported his country’s independence from England long before it was finally granted in 1980, but became a staunch critic of Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe (who stripped him of his passport and right to vote earlier this year), died on Oct. 13 after a stroke at age 93.
Tatyana Velikanova - Soviet dissident who helped found Initiative Group for the Defense of Human Rights in the U.S.S.R., which published information about the dissident movement around the Soviet Union, and who spent 9 years in prison camp and exile, died of cancer on Sept. 19 at age 70.

Social and Religion
Catherine Connelly - Connecticut woman who as an 11-year-old in 1904 was one of only 210 survivors of the General Slocum excursion boat disaster on the East River that killed 1,021 people and was the second to last survivor (98-year-old Adella Wotherspoon of NJ is the last), died Oct 17 at age 109.
Paul Crump - One-time Death Row inmate convicted of shooting a security guard to death in 1953 who later gained notoriety by writing the novel “Burn, Baby, Burn” in prison and gaining support for release from luminaries like Billy Graham and Mahalia Jackson which eventually led to his release in 1993, and for whom the William Friedkin movie "The People vs. Paul Crump” and the Phil Ochs song “Paul Crump” are about, died of lung cancer on Oct. 11 at age 72.
Arlie Ray Davis - Illinois Death Row inmate who was convicted of raping and murdering Laurie Gwinn in 1995, and who was suspected of committing more murders but never charged, died of “natural causes” (way to go nature!) on Oct. 13 at age 46, just 5 days before his scheduled clemency hearing, becoming the third such “natural cause” death of an Illinois Death Row inmate in three weeks while Illinois is in the process of commuting all Death Row sentences.
Shannon Embry - Tennessee woman participating in the “Jump for the Cause” sky-diving for charity event benefiting breast cancer research in Perris Valley, California, was killed when her parachute and alternate chute failed to open during the jump. She was 43.
Linda Franklin - Arlington, Virginia woman who worked as an FBI analyst in Washington DC and who was preparing to move to a new house with her husband and two children, was shot to death in the parking lot of a Home Depot store by the DC sniper on Oct. 14. She was 47 years old.
Carol V. Huffstickler - Houston area psychic and Kabbalistic scholar who specialized in helping wealthy Houstonians decide where to drill for oil, died of lung cancer on Oct. 12 at age 57.
Gregory Katsnelson - Medford, PA boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time on Oct. 17 when he crossed paths with murderer Ronald Pituch who had killed his mother Josephine Pituch and then still in a murderous rampage came across Greg riding his bike near the home and stabbed him to death and threw his body in a lake. Greg was 11 years old.
Daniel Kelliher - World War I veteran and possibly the worlds oldest firefighter died Oct. 13 at age 104.
Jack Longacre - Founder and President of the Highpointers Club, an association whose members attempt to ascend to the hightest point in all 50 states, died on Oct. 15 at age 64.
Chuck Matthei - Activist and pioneer in alternative ways of creating community land grants, who was founder and director of Equity Trust Inc., died on Oct. 1 of thyroid cancer at age 54.
Arthur Pratt - 65-year old Modesto, California man who had just been released from the hospital and when he refused to have sex with his 45-year old wife Kelli, she held him down and repeatedly bit him ultimately leading to his death on Oct. 13.
Christine Stevens - Animal rights advocate who formed the Animal Welfare Institute in 1951 which campaigned to “Save-the-Whales” in the 70’s, but whose biggest impact was her organization’s lobbying efforts to draft and pass laws on behalf of wild and domestic animals, died on Oct. 10 at age 84.
Fred Thomas - Pennsylvania Death Row inmate who was convicted of killing a Federal Express driver in an apparent robbery attempt in 1993, but whose guilt was questioned by many people, including ABC News who profiled his story earlier in 2002, died of liver disease and Hepatitis C on Oct. 8 at age 56.
Jimmy Paul Vanderbilt - Texas death row inmate convicted of the abduction and slaying of 16-year-old Katina Moyer in 1976, the daughter of a Texas state representative, died on Oct. 17 after a stroke (betcha thought it was lethal injection) at age 49.
Walter Weiss - Well-known maītre d'hōtel at the "21" Club in New York for 54 years whose juggling of tables for rich and famous folks was storied, died of a lung embolism on Oct. 12 at age 80.

Business and Science
Millicent Hearst Boudjakdji - Director of the Hearst Corp. and granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst who was named president of the Hearst Foundation philanthropy organization in 2001, died Oct. 16 of cancer at age 63.
Richard Hagen - The first president of B. Dalton Books who became head of the chain in 1966, which quickly expanded to stores nationwide, and who left the company in 1972, died Oct. 11 of lung disease at age 82.
Thomas Hogan - President and CEO of Foley’s department stores in Texas, a division of May Department Stores, from 1995 until May, 2002, who led the chain to unprecedented growth during his tenure, died Oct. 15 of cancer at age 65.
Charles Kiesler - Chancellor at the University of Missouri from 1992 until 1996, who made it his priority to increase minority enrollment at the school during his tenure, died on Oct. 11 of undisclosed causes at age 68.
George B. Kitchel - Pioneer in oil drilling who co-founded Offshore Technology Conference, who was involved in drilling some of the first offshore wells, died Oct. 14 at age 93.
James H. Meyer - Chancellor of University of California-Davis from 1969 until 1987 who led the college through evolution from an agricultural institution to a major university and research center, died of Alzheimer’s disease on Oct. 12 at age 80.
Dr. Ben Uyeno - Seattle-area doctor who helped establish Seattle’s first hospice and was chief of staff at Providence Medical Center, died of intestinal cancer on Oct. 7 at age 83.

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