Sports
Vivi-Anne Hulten - Swedish national figure-skating champion known as “The Flame of Sweden”, who was called the greatest Swedish woman athlete of all time by the Swedish Sportswriters Assn., who refused to salute Adolf Hitler when she was awarded a bronze medal in the 1936 Olympics, and who had a well-known and longstanding feud with Norwegian Olympic skater Sonja Henie, died on Jan. 15 of pneumonia in Corona del Mar, CA at age 91.
Eddie Johnson - NFL linebacker who played nine years with the Cleveland Browns from 1981 to 1990, who was nicknamed “The Assassin” because of his hard tackles, who led the Browns to three AFL championship games, and played in an astounding 101 consecutive games from 1984 to 1988, died of colon cancer on Jan. 21 in Cleveland at age 43.
Craig Kelly - One of the biggest stars in professional snowboarding, who was a four-time world champion and three-time U.S. Open winner, who helped pioneer and promote the sport in the late 80’s, was one of seven people killed on Jan. 20 in a massive avalanche on a remote British Columbia mountain. He was 36.
Little Current - Racehorse who won the 1974 Preakness and Belmont, but who lost out the Triple Crown that year finishing fifth in the Kentucky Derby, and who was the oldest living winner of a Triple Crown race, was euthanized on Jan. 19 after a bout with colic in Monroe, WA at age 32.
John Ritchey - Negro League baseball player who became the first black minor league player in the Pacific Coast League when he signed with the San Diego Padres in 1948, died Jan. 14 in Chula Vista, CA of heart and kidney failure at age 80.
Bill Werbeniuk - Canadian professional snooker player who won the North American Professional Championship four times in the 1970’s who was known as much for his alcohol consumption during matches as his snooker ability, died Jan. 20 in Vancouver at age 56.
Yale athletes crash victims - Nine Yale University students and athletes returning from a Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity in New York were involved in accident with a tractor-trailer outside Bridgeport, CT, killing 4 persons: Sean Fenton, 20 (football team), Kyle Burnat, 19 (baseball team), Andrew Dwyer, 19 (football team), Nicholas Grass (baseball team).

Arts and Literature
Dr. Harivanshrai Bachchan - Renowned Hindi poet and literary giant in India who published about 30 anthologies of poems including the collection “Madhushala” (means “Tavern”) which extols the virtues of drinking, and who was the father of leading Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, died on Jan. 18 of respiratory problems in Bombay at age 96.
Frances Fralin - Museum assistant curator at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC who was a pioneer in the exhibition of photography during the 1970’s that led to it’s acceptance as a fine art, died Jan. 21 of cancer in Kilmarnock, VA at age 70.
Virginia Heinlein - Widow of much-revered science-fiction author Robert Heinlein (“Stranger In A Strange Land”, “Starship Troopers”), who oversaw the posthumous publication of several of Heinlein’s works including “Grumbles from the Grave”, died Jan. 18 in Florida at age 77.
Al Hirschfeld - Cartoonist known for his caricatures of the most familiar faces in Hollywood and Broadway, who published works beginning in the 1920’s until 2001, and was known for hiding the word “NINA” (his daughter) somewhere in each of his drawings since 1945, died Jan. 20 at his home in New York at age 99.
Donald Karshan - Prominent art writer, collector, critic and patron, who possessed one of the largest art print collections in the world, who established the Museum of Graphic Art, and wrote several books including "The Language of the Print" and "The Splendor of American Ceramic Art", died Jan. 17 in Tampa, FL at age 73.
Gavin Lyall - One of Britain's senior thriller writers and the author of such crime-fiction novels as “The Secret Servant” and “The Crocus List”, known for his attention to details in his works (he published only 15 books in 40 years), died Jan. 18 at age 70.
Doug McClelland - Showbiz author who wrote numerous books on the Golden Age of Hollywood like “Blackface to Blacklist” and “Forties Film Talk” as well as biographies on stars like Susan Hayward, Eleanor Parker and Ronald Reagan, died Dec. 28 of a heart attack in Neptune, NJ at age 68.
Peter Palmquist - Photography historian, author and creator of the Women in Photography Archive, who collected old photographs focusing on American West, California and photos taken by professional women photographers, who has published many books about the photos in his collection, and who is considered one of the first of the now thriving field of photography history, died Jan. 13 in Oakland of injuries after being struck by a hit-and-run driver on Jan. 10. He was 66.
Balint Vazsonyi - Journalist and author who was at one time an international concert pianist, recording artist and TV show host, who turned his talents towards politics and became director of the Center for American Founding and a columnist for the Washington Times, Wall Street Journal and National Review, and who wrote several books including “America’s 30 Years War” and “Four Points of the Compass”, died Jan. 18 of cancer in Washington, DC at age 66.
Marianna Wertz - Writer and translator who was an associate and close friend of economist and activist Lyndon LaRouche, who was known for translating works by the German poet Friedrich Schiller into English, and writing articles for LaRouche publications on such subjects as her opposition to the death penalty, died on Jan. 15 in Baltimore after heart surgery at age 54.

Politics and Military
Shirin Amir Begum - One of two widows of former Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged in 1977 after his government was overthrown, but who is not the mother of two-time prime minister Benazir Bhutto (Bhutto’s other wife Nusrat is Benazir’s mother), died Jan. 19 in Karachi at age 87.
Lucien E. Blackwell - Longtime Philadelphia politician who served as a state representative in the 1970’s and for many years as a city councilman, collapsed and died on Jan. 24 after a walk at age 71.
Harlan Boyles - North Carolina state treasurer from 1977 to 2000, who served nearly 50 years in state government, died Jan. 22 of cancer in Raleigh at age 73.
Stanley Davis - Michigan politician who served four terms as state representative and four terms as mayor of Grand Rapids, died Jan. 23 after a fall at age 94.
Jesse Edmisten - Man believed to be the oldest surviving WW1 veteran, who in 1998 was presented with France’s Legion of Honor, died Jan. 17 after a short illness in Lexington, NE at age 109.
Howard Futch - Republican Florida state senator who was just re-elected to the office in November, known for his crusty personality (once suggesting that death row inmate Thomas Provenzano, who had delusions of being Jesus, be crucified), and who had served in the state house from 1992 until 1999, died Jan. 23 of heart failure in Tallahassee at age 74.
Tony O’Malley - One of Ireland’s most famous artists and a major figure in Irish contemporary art, best known for his abstract landscapes, died Jan. 20 in Physicianstown, Kilkenny at age 89.
Russell A. Rourke - Secretary of the Army under Gerald Ford and Secretary of the Air Force in under Ronald Reagan, who played an important role in convincing those administrations on the importance of the buildup of weapons as a deterrent to the Soviets, died Jan. 19 of melanoma in Annapolis, MD at age 71.

Social and Religion
Alden Barber - Chief executive of the Boy Scouts of America from 1967 to 1976 during a time where the Explorer program was expanded to include girls, and who wrote the book "Recollections and Reflections, 50 Years in the Boy Scouts of America", died Jan. 17 after a stroke in Sacramento, CA at age 83.
Canus - One-winged whooping crane who sired more offspring in captivity than any other bird of his kind in U.S.-Canadian history and was known as the “Secretariat of whooping cranes”, died Jan. 24 at the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge in Laurel, MD at age 39.
Dora Jacobs - South African woman who claimed to be 122 years old, but who was unable to provide enough documentation to confirm the claim, died Jan. 19 in Johannesburg at age 122 or ???.
Gertrude Janeway - The last living widow of a Union veteran of the Civil War, who was the wife of John Janeway whom she married in 1927 when she was 18 and he was 81 (he died in 1937), and who received a check for $70 made out to her late husband from the Veteran’s Administration every month since he died, died Jan. 17 in Blaine, TN at age 93. (Note: The last known living Confederate widow is Alberta Martin of Alabama)
Shirley Kennedy - Political and social activist who was a professor of black studies at UC-Santa Barbara, and who founded the Building Bridges Coalition, died Jan 20 of colon cancer in Santa Barbara at age 76.
Morris Kight - Human rights activist in Southern California's and a key figure in the West Coast fight to end discrimination against homosexuals, who founded the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, and who led the well-publicized 1970 demonstration outside Barney’s Beanery, the well-known West Hollywood bar, which had a bar sign reading "Faggots Stay Out!", died Jan. 19 of liver cancer and pneumonia at age 83.
Robert Lookingbill - Texas man convicted of the 1989 beating death of his grandmother Adeline Dannenberg whom he hit over the head with a metal bar (he also beat his grandfather who survived), in order to take their Social Security money to buy drugs, was executed by lethal injection on Jan. 22 in Huntsville, TX at the age of 37.
Dr. Evelyn Mauss - Physiologist who was a lifelong political activist, fighting for causes like women’s rights, environmental issues and world peace for the last 73 years, died of a heart attack on Jan. 18 after passing out leaflets at an anti-war rally in Manhattan at age 87.
David Mumford - Imagineer for the Walt Disney Company, one of the core group of engineers that design and develop attractions at Disney’s four theme parks, who co-wrote the book “Disneyland, The Nickel Tour“, died on Jan. 20 of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 44.
Eusebia Silva de Oliveira (“Doña Zica”)- The grand dame of Brazil’s Carnival, who founded the Mangueira samba school in 1928, and is one of the more famous samba schools that parade during the three-day festivities every year before Lent, died Jan. 22 in Mangueria, Brazil at age 89.
Rev. Michael Zembrzuski - Founder of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, PA, a major pilgrimage center for Roman Catholics, died Jan. 16 of pancreatic cancer at age 94.

Business and Science
Giovanni Agnelli - Head of Fiat, who grew the company from a family-owned auto business before WW2 into an international conglomerate consisting of banks, insurance companies, real estate, aerospace, among many others, and whose company is credited with helping industrialize postwar Italy, died on Jan. 24 of prostate cancer in Turin at age 81.
Marvin Bower - The father of mangagement consulting, who as head McKinsey & Co. is credited with taking a fledgling industry in the 1930’s and setting its course in the types of services and standards of service, and whose company today advises 100 of the world’s 150 biggest corporations, died Jan. 22 in Delray Beach, FL at age 99.
Rae Carlson - Psychologist whose 1971 article “Where Is The Person in Personality Research?” renewed emphasis on the study of individual lives, and who established the Society for Personology in 1982, died on Jan. 20 of pneumonia in Fairfax, VA at age 76.
Mildred Carter - Chairman of the Carter Broadcast Group, who in the early 1940's with her late husband Andrew "Skip" Carter, founded KPRS in Leavenworth, KS, the nation's first and oldest African-American-owned radio station, died Jan. 3 in Cocoa Beach, FL at age 89.
Harry B. Crewson - Economics professor at Ohio University who served as president of that school in 1974 and 1975, died on Jan. 21 in Sebring, OH at age 89.
Herman Feifel - Psychologist considered the founder of thanatology (psychology of death) whose 1959 book “The Meaning of Death” was the first book that discussed dying, death and bereavement, which laid the foundation for others like Elisabeth Kubler-Ross to examine the psychosocial needs of the dying, died on Jan. 18 in Los Angeles at age 87.
John M. Fox - Founder and longtime president of the Minute Maid Corporation, the company that first made concentrated orange juice in the mid-40’s, who sold the company to Coca-Cola in the 60’s, and became the president of United Fruit, where he developed the Chiquita banana trademark, died Jan. 9 in Winter Park, FL at age 90.
Roque Maccarone - Head of Argentina’s Central Bank at the time of that country’s severe recession and monumental default in December 2001 that pushed Argentina’s currency into devaluation, died Jan. 23 at age 70.
Alan Nunn May - British atomic scientist who worked on the Manhattan project during WW2, who was arrested as a spy for sharing atomic secrets with the Soviets and sentenced to 10 years in prison, which prompted the U.S. Congress to pass the 1946 McMahon Act which in effect restricted the U.S. from sharing atomic secrets with the British, died Jan. 12 in Cambridge, England at age 91.
Dr. Inabeth Miller - Educator and pioneer in the field of distance-learning programs as head of MCET, which offered educational programs thru Internet and satellite networks, who was chairmen of the JASON Foundation, and who served as an education advisor in the Clinton administration, died Jan. 18 of kidney failure in Boston at age 67.
Dr. Pascal P. Pirone - Horticulturalist and teacher who wrote several books on gardening, two of which are classic references (“Diseases and Pests of Ornamental Plants” and “The Maintenance of Ornamental and Shade Trees”), died Jan. 11 in Lexington, KY at age 95.
Burns “Bud” Roper - Major figure in professional polling with organizations like the American Association for Public Opinion Research, who wrote method and question-wording standards for polling, and whose Roper poll failed to predict Harry Truman’s victory over Thomas Dewey in the 1948 presidential election, died Jan. 20 of lung cancer in Bourne, MA at age 77.
Dr. R. Walter Schlesinger - Noted virologist who developed a vaccine for dengue fever with Albert Sabin during the 1940’s to inoculate American soldiers fighting in the Pacific, and who went on to help found the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in the 1960’s, died Jan. 11 in Falmouth, MA at age 89.