Richard Beckman (47) leading Florida sculptor who used the circle as the foundation for many of his bold, unique designs and was an associate art professor at the University of South Florida. Beckman’s works appeared in more than 100 group exhibits across the country and were reviewed in Art in America, Sculpture magazine, Visions, and the Los Angeles Times. He was found dead, an apparent suicide, in Flatwoods Park in Tampa, Florida on December 25, 2004.

Gretchen Bender (53) artist who worked with photography and film and whose work is displayed in several major museums including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Houston’s Menil Collection, and the Pompidou Center in Paris. Bender liked to explore gender role and sexuality issues in her work and extended her pursuits to include directing music videos for acts like Babes in Toyland and Martha Wash, and editing videos for REM, New Order, and Megadeth. She died of cancer in New York City on December 19, 2004.

Leslie Gourse (65) author best known for her biographies of jazz greats, including Unforgettable: The Life & Mystique of Nat King Cole (1991), Sassy: The Life of Sarah Vaughan (1993), and 17 other books. Gourse was the author of several children’s books that featured jazz artists. She died of respiratory distress in New York City on December 23, 2004.

Richard McDermott Miller (82) New York sculptor whose lifelike nudes have been exhibited internationally and are in private and museum collections around the country. Miller died of pancreatic cancer in New York City on December 25, 2004.

Anne Truitt (83) sculptor and writer widely admired for her painted, columnar structures and for her published journals about her life as an artist. Truitt was among the first artists to exhibit three-dimensional works in the early ‘60s that came to be identified by the term Minimalism. Her diaries were published as Daybook: The Journal of an Artist (1982), followed by Turn (1986) and Prospect (1996). She died of complications from abdominal surgery in Washington, DC on December 23, 2004.

Richard J. Barnet (75) Kennedy administration officia, a founder and codirector of the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies, one of the first research organizations in the country to address public policy from the left (the group advocated social action and has been involved in issues including civil rights, the Vietnam War, national security, fair trade, and environmental justice campaigns). Barnet was the author or coauthor of more than a dozen books and was a contributor to Harper’s magazine, The Nation, and the Op-Ed page of the New York Times. He died of normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain disorder, in Washington, DC, on December 23, 2004.

Harold Benjamin (80) former attorney who, after his wife developed breast cancer, established the Wellness Community, a national network of support centers for cancer patients with the idea of raising patient optimism and increasing their odds of recovery. The centers today serve 30,000 people a year at 22 locations in the US and one each in Tokyo and Tel Aviv, Israel and inspired Gilda’s Club, named for Saturday Night Live comedienne Gilda Radner. Benjamin died of pulmonary fibrosis in Marina Del Rey, California on December 23, 2004.

Alexander Marshack (86) anthropological researcher, the first to suggest that some stone-age artifacts could be calendars, which in turn suggested that prehistoric man was more clever than previously thought. Marshack analyzed a series of notches on bones and discovered they were lunarly related. His research methods using microscopes and UV light are widely used today. He died of heart failure in New York City on December 20, 2004.

Augustine R. Marusi (91) former chairman who steered Borden Inc. beyond milk and ice cream and into chemicals, an approach that ended the decline of the company’s profits in the ‘70s. Marusi died of cancer in Lake Wales, Florida on December 24, 2004.

Donald O. Pederson (79) professor emeritus of electrical engineering at UC Berkeley whose vision laid the groundwork for advances in the design of complex integrated circuits. Pederson died of complications from Parkinson’s disease in Concord, California on December 25, 2004.

Edward St. George (76) chairman and co-owner of the Bahama Port Authority for 30 years, who in the ‘50s was magistrate of Nassau for three years and in 1969 was appointed alternate director of the port Authority. In 1976, St. George took over management and helped to bring many changes to the islands and Grand Bahama as an industrial center. He died after heart valve replacement surgery in Houston, Texas on December 20, 2004.

Arthur Kamii (74) longtime Los Angeles Unified School District educator whose post-World War II arrival from Japan for treatment as a 17-year-old polio victim made headlines. Kamii later spent 42 years as a teacher and counselor. He died of heart failure in Encino, California on December 21, 2004.

Frank (Son) Seals (62) blues singer and guitarist who electrified the Chicago blues scene with his gritty performances. Seals began his musical career as a drummer but switched to guitar and was leading his own band at age 18. He helped to establish Chicago-based Alligator Records as the era’s premier blues label with a run of albums featuring his brooding vocals and guitar. He died of complications from diabetes in Richton Park, Illinois on December 20, 2004.

Renata Tebaldi (82) Italian operatic soprano, the rival of Greek soprano Maria Callas. Tebaldi had been singing since her debut in 1944 and gave her final performance in ‘76. She was one of the big stars of the New York Metropolitan Opera and Milan’s La Scala (was asked to sing at the reopening of that theater after World War II), known for one of her favorite roles as Desdemona in Otello. She died in the Republic of San Marino on December 19, 2004.

Mack Vickery (66) composer of such hits as George Strait’s “The Fireman” and Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Rockin’ My Life Away." Vickery was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2003. He died of an apparent heart attack in Nashville, Tennessee on December 21, 2004.

John Deardourff (61) pioneering political consultant who specialized in working for moderate Republican candidates, including former President Gerald Ford. Deardourff worked as a consultant on more than 70 primary and general election campaigns, including the 1976 Ford election bid. He died of cancer in McLean, Virginia on December 24, 2004.

Jane Muskie (77) widow of Sen. Edwin Muskie (D-Me.; d. 1996), the candidate who seemed to cry when defending his wife during his 1972 run for the Democrat nomination for US President—an incident that likely derailed his run. Jane Muskie died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in Bethesda, Maryland on December 25, 2004.

Samuel Roseberry (106) Indiana man who lied about his age in 1917 so he could join the US Army and take part in World War I. Roseberry was awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honor in 1999. He died in Anderson, Indiana on December 21, 2004.

Ronald M. Sharpe (64) former Pennsylvania State Police commissioner (1987-91) and the first black to lead a state police force in the US. Sharpe was credited with making changes to improve racial equality and establishing a canine drug enforcement team. He died of cancer in Menands, New York on December 21, 2004.

Lennart Bernadotte (95) nobleman who gave up his royal Swedish title to marry a commoner but gained a 96-acre island that he built into a tourist attraction. Bernadotte died on the island he had gardened for over half a century—Mainu, in Lake Constance, Germany on December 21, 2004.

Metropolitan Anthony Gergiannakis (69) spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in California. Gergiannakis was the first bishop of the newly created Metropolis (or diocese) in 1979 and in his time increased the number of parishes from 47 to 68, helped to build three monasteries in his territory, and was known as the building bishop for his projects and new ideas. He died of cancer in San Francisco, California, on December 25, 2004.

Ruth Etta Tantaquidgeon (95) one of two matriarchs of the Mohegan Native American tribe, a 10th-generation descendant of Uncas, the Mohegan sachem, or chief, who settled at Fort Shantok, Conn. Tantaquidgeon died in Uncasville, Connecticut on December 22, 2004.

Doug Ault (54) former major league baseball player who hit two home runs in the first game in Toronto Blue Jays history in 1977 and set a club rookie record for runs batted in that lasted for 25 years before finally being broken in 2002. Ault was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Tarpon Springs, Florida on December 22, 2004.

Johnny Oates (58) baseball executive who managed the Texas Rangers in their first three postseason appearances in 1996, ‘98, and ‘99 and spent six seasons with the Rangers. Oates managed the Baltimore Orioles (1991-94) and shared manager of the year awards in 1996 with New York’s Joe Torre. Oates died of a brain tumor in Richmond, Virginia on December 24, 2004.