Samuel J. Hamrick (78) former officer in the Foreign Service who, under the pseudonym W. T. Tyler, wrote spy novels about burned-out cases. Hamrick, who served in US embassies in Lebanon, Congo, Somalia, and Ethiopia, published his first novel immediately after leaving the State Department in 1980. The Man Who Lost the War tells the story of a disillusioned Central Intelligence Agency operative at the time of the Berlin Wall crisis in the early '60s. Hamrick died of colon cancer in Boston, Virginia on February 29, 2008.

Milford Zornes (100) watercolorist who traveled the world for his art but was best known for the everyday scenes of southern California he painted starting in the '30s. Zornes's paintings of landscapes, shorelines, and hills recall a time before freeways and housing developments. He died of congestive heart failure in Claremont, California on February 24, 2008.

Boyd Coddington (63) car-building legend whose cable TV reality show American Hot Rod introduced the nation to the West Coast hot-rod guru. Coddington was a machinist by trade, working at Disneyland during the day and tinkering with cars in his home garage at night and on weekends. His rolling creations captured the imagination of car-crazy southern Californians, and soon he was building custom cars and making money. He died in suburban Whittier, California on February 27, 2008.

Joseph M. Juran (103) pioneer of quality management whose Quality Control Handbook revolutionized how companies around the world made and sold products. First published in 1951, the Handbook describes the mathematical basis for quality improvements, which Juran believed were key to businesses' survival and profits—not only for manufacturers, but for scientific organizations, hospitals, supermarkets, and Internet companies. He died of an apparent stroke in Rye, New York on February 28, 2008.

Robert H. Kraichnan (80) physicist who in the '60s introduced a theory to explain turbulence in ocean waters and winds in the upper atmosphere, which became known as the inverse energy cascade in two-dimensional turbulence. Kraichnan died of heart disease in Santa Fe, New Mexico on February 26, 2008.

George B. Litchford Sr. (89) aviation inventor who had a vital role in the development of the collision warning system now used on every airliner in the US. Litchford worked for years on elements of the system that eventually became the Traffic Alert & Collision Avoidance System. Congress required that the system be installed on all passenger planes after an Aeromexico DC-9 collided with a private plane near Los Angeles in August 1986, killing 82 people. Litchford died in Albany, New York on February 28, 2008.

Katoucha Niane (47) former top French model for fashion designer Yves St. Laurent who went missing on Feb. 1. Niane was reported to have been drinking heavily when she disappeared. A month later her body was found in the River Seine, showing no signs of foul play, pointing to the possibility that she may have accidentally fallen into the river and drowned. Her body was discovered in Paris, France on February 28, 2008.

George Marsh Fredrickson (73) authority on the history of racism whose work comparing the histories of South Africa and America helped to spawn a new field of study. A professor of US history at Stanford University when he retired in 2002, Fredrickson wrote several highly regarded books, including White Supremacy: A Comparative Study in American & South African History (1981), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He died of heart failure in Stanford, California on February 25, 2008.

Val Plumwood (68) renowned Australian feminist and environmental activist who survived a horrific crocodile attack while canoeing near Kakadu in 1985, escaping with terrible wounds to her legs and groin after the beast dragged her underwater three times in a death roll—the maneuver crocodiles use to drown their prey. Plumwood spearheaded the fight to save the forest from logging in the '90s and cowrote several books and papers on environmentalism. She was killed by an apparent snake bite. Her body was found in the stone house where she lived alone near Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia on March 1, 2008.

Henrietta Bell Wells (96) only woman, only freshman, and last surviving member of the 1930 Wiley College debate team that participated in the first interracial collegiate debate in the US. The story of the team, called the Great Debaters, was told in the 2007 movie of the same title. It began in 1924 at Wiley College, a small liberal arts college in Marshall, Texas founded 50 years earlier by the Methodist Episcopal Church to educate "newly freed men." Henrietta Bell Wells died in Baytown, Texas on February 27, 2008.

Charles Chan (93) father of martial arts film star Jackie Chan and grandfather of pop singer Jaycee Chan. Born Fang Dao-long, the eldest Chan orginated from Shandong province in China before moving to Hong Kong during the war between the Communists and the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek. He later found work as a cook at the American Consulate, where his wife, Lee-Lee Chan (d. 2002), worked as a housemaid. Jackie Chan was born in 1954. Charles Chan died of prostate cancer in Hong Kong on February 25, 2008.

Mike Conley (48) former lead vocalist of the southern Californian punk rock band MIA, which had produced more melodic and progressive hardcore/thrasher sounds in their later albums, becoming one of the 50 best So-Cal punk bands of the early '80s. Conley was found dead of apparent head injuries in a motel parking lot in suburban Chicago, Illinois on February 28, 2008.

Stephen ("Static") Garrett (33) rocker whose band had a Top 20 ryhthm-and-blues hit in the '90s. Garrett was a member of the group Playa, best known for the single hit "Cheers 2 You." He died of complications from a medical procedure, in Louisville, Kentucky on February 25, 2008.

Jelani Gray (4) daughter of New Orleans rapper Juvenile (real name Terius Gray), arrested in 2003 for abandonment of a dependent child after a DNA test determined he was the father. The little girl was found shot to death along with her sister, Micaiah (11), and their mother, Gwinnett County Sheriff's Deputy Joy Deleston (39), at their home in Lawrenceville, Georgia on February 28, 2008. Jelani's brother, Anthony Tyrone Terrell Jr. (17), was later charged with three counts of murder.

Herschel ("Speedy") Haworth Jr. (85) singer who played lead guitar on the '50s country music show Ozark Jubilee and had hits with the original Porter Wagoner Trio, which had the top-10 hit "Company's Comin'" and No. 1 hit "A Satisfied Mind." Haworth was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease circa 2001. Although he was retired, he continued to perform regularly at smaller gigs until he broke his hip in 2007. He died in Springfield, Missouri on February 26, 2008.

Linn Haynes (33) free-lance writer and assistant manager of the Georgia-based bookstore Books-a-Million who also did DVD commentary releases of many cult-classic Hong Kong feature films. Haynes was killed in a car accident in Macon, Georgia on February 28, 2008.

W. C. Heinz (93) sports columnist, war correspondent, magazine writer, and novelist who witnessed the Normandy invasion on D-Day, covered some of the greatest sports moments of his time, and helped to write the book M*A*S*H, which spawned a 1971 hit movie and a long-running TV series. Heinz had been in declining health for several years and died in Bennington, Vermont, where he'd lived since 2002, on February 27, 2008.

Billy Hensley (22) electric guitarist for the Oklahoma Christian rock band Anna Dilemma, given a 1 percent chance of surviving a life-threatening form of childhood cancer known as neuroblastoma. Hensley had spent many nights singing along with his favorite country/rock band, Cross Canadian Ragweed, before he was invited by the band's lead singer, Cody Canada, to join him on stage for an August 2006 gig in Las Vegas. Hensley died in Sand Springs, Oklahoma on March 1, 2008.

Raymond Kane (82) Hawaiian slack key guitar master and teacher noted for welcoming students into his home. Kane recorded his first album, Nanakuli's Raymond Kane, in 1961. He was a cousin of Aunty Genoa Keawe, who died two days earlier. Kane died after being hospitalized for three months with respiratory problems, in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 27, 2008.

Genoa Leilani Keawe (89) one of the most enduring and beloved voices in Hawaiian music. Known widely as "Aunty Genoa," Keawe recorded more than 20 albums, dating back to vinyl 78- and 33-1/3-rpm albums, and about 150 singles. She began her professional career in 1939, singing for bandstand shows in Kailua and at the Officers Club before World War II with George Hookano and his band. She sang on the radio and on early TV and took traditional Hawaiian music across Asia, Canada, Switzerland, Brazil, and to many mainland US cities, performing in Russia when she was in her 80s. She died in her sleep in Papakolea, Hawaii on February 25, 2008.

Mandi Lampi (19) Finnish child actress, singer, and daughter of actor Jussi Lampi who appeared in several theater productions and released her only album, Small World (1998). Mandi Lampi had appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest episode of Singing Heart, performing the Eurovision song "Pump Pump" by Fredi. She died suddenly in Helsinki, Finland on February 27, 2008.

Buddy Miles (60) drummer who played with Jimi Hendrix in his short-lived group, Band of Gypsys, and was lead singer in the claymation commercials featuring the California Raisins in the '80s. Miles suffered from congestive heart failure and died in Austin, Texas on February 26, 2008.

Patricia N. Nanon (84) dancer and choreographer who founded and directed the Yard, a summer modern-dance colony on Martha's Vineyard. Nanon retired as the Yard's artistic director in 2004. In 2007 she legally transferred ownership of the grounds, with cottages for 18 residents, a 100-seat theater, and a studio, to a nonprofit organization that supports and manages the colony. She died in New York City on February 29, 2008.

Barbara Seaman (72) advocate for women's health who raised questions about the safety of birth control pills in the '60s. As a journalist, Seaman focused on the health risks associated with the oral contraceptive pill, which had recently come on the market. In 1969, she wrote The Doctors' Case Against the Pill, which looked at such risks as blood clots and strokes and led to Senate hearings in 1970. After the hearings, information about the risks began to be included in packaging with the pill. Seaman died of lung cancer in New York City on February 27, 2008.

Chris Sena (??) actor who mostly worked in regional theaters in California and New York besides performing with national touring companies. Sena's film and TV credits include All My Children, Daybreak, Life Script, and Titillating Steven. He died in New York City on February 26, 2008.

Mike Smith (64) lead singer of the '60s British band the Dave Clark Five, whose hits included "Glad All Over," "Bits & Pieces," and "Because." The group, which broke up in the '70s, was one of the first British bands to find major success in the US after the Beatles. In 2003, Smith suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He was looking forward to the group's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10 when he died of pneumonia near London, England on February 28, 2008.

Johnny Vadnal (84) polka musician, accordionist, and bandleader whose name was regularly mentioned with those of Frankie Yankovic, Johnny Pecon, and other famous polka musicians. The Johnny Vadnal Orchestra performed several times a week at dance halls and cultural festivals in northeast Ohio for more than 50 years. Vadnal died of emphysema in Willoughby, Ohio on February 25, 2008.

Vincent Anania (87) father-in-law of onetime Democrat Presidential contender and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. Anania served in the Navy in Korea, where he won the Bronze Star, and in Vietnam. In 1958, he won the Distinguished Flying Cross for piloting an aircraft that carried 13 others to safety after it had been attacked by two MiG jet fighters during a surveillance mission off North Korea. He suffered a stroke in 1990 and died of heart failure in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on March 1, 2008.

William F. Buckley Jr. (82) Ivy Leaguer and conservative editor, columnist, novelist, debater, TV talk show star of Firing Line, harpsichordist, trans-oceanic sailor, and even a good-natured loser in the 1965 New York mayor's race. Buckley worked at a dizzying pace, taking as little as 20 minutes to write a column for the conservative biweekly magazine he founded in 1955, the National Review. Yet on Firing Line or whatever TV discussion panel he graced, he relaxed, displaying his considerable vocabulary, arching his brows, licking his lips, and relishing the discomfort of his liberal opponents. In the '60s and '70s Buckley helped to revive American political conservatism and gave it intellectual legitimacy. He had been ill with diabetes and emphysema. He was found dead by his cook at his home in Stamford, Connecticut on February 27, 2008.

Vitaly Fedorchuk (89) former Soviet interior minister in the '80s who briefly headed the KGB. Fedorchuk died in Moscow, Russia on February 29, 2008.

Ludlow Flower Jr. (89) civic leader who presided over the Los Angeles Recreation & Park Commission during the expansionist '60s and pushed for such projects as the LA Zoo and the children's art center in Barnsdall Park. Flower died in Glendale, California on February 25, 2008.

Warren McDaniels (63) first black fire chief of New Orleans, a 33-year veteran of the department. McDaniels became the first black superintendent of the department in 1993 under then-Mayor Sidney Barthelemy, and retired in 2002. A high school dropout, he credited the General Equivalency Diploma program with giving him "a second chance at life." He died in New Orleans, Louisiana on February 24, 2008.

Lt. Gen. Dan Shomron (70) former chief of Israel's general staff and the paratroop commander who planned and led the storied 1976 raid in which Israeli troops freed 103 hijacked hostages at Entebbe Airport in Uganda. On the night of July 3, 1976, Israeli commandos and paratroopers flew 2,500 miles in transport planes to the Entebbe airport, surprised and killed hijackers who had demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners, rescued the captives taken from a hijacked Air France plane, and flew back to Israel with them. Actor Charles Bronson played Shomron in a film about the rescue operation that everyone thought was impossible until it succeeded, Raid on Entebbe (1977). Shomron died from the effects of a stroke he suffered three weeks ago, in Raanana, Israel on February 26, 2008.

Laird Stabler Jr. (77) former Delaware state attorney general, US attorney for Delaware, and member of the state House of Representatives. Stabler was appointed a deputy attorney general in 1961 and elected to the Delaware House of Representatives in '65. In 1970, he was elected state attorney general and later was appointed US Attorney for the District of Delaware. He was elected Republican National Committeeman for Delaware in 1985 and served for almost 20 years. He died of cancer in Wilmington, Delaware on February 24, 2008.

Larry Norman (60) pioneer of Christian rock. Norman had his biggest commercial hit as lead singer of the folk-rock band People!, whose cover version of The Zombies song "I Love You" was an international hit and peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard chart in June 1968. Norman left the band the day its debut album was released, and although he never again hit the Billboard Top 10, his solo career was lasting and influential. His first solo record—the 1969 release Upon This Rock—is considered the first Christian rock album. He later started his own independent label, recording more solo albums while discovering other Christian artists. He died of heart failure in Salem, Oregon on February 24, 2008.

Leonard Paradiso (65) suspected serial killer, also known as The Quahog, who may have gotten away with murder several times over and was sentenced to life in prison for the 1979 sexual assault and murder of Marie Iannuzzi (20), whose remains surfaced in a Saugus marsh. Paradiso was also suspected of killing Harvard graduate student Joan Webster (25) in 1981, whose remains were unearthed in '90. His crime and never-proven connection to the Webster murder was the subject of a book released recently by Needham defense attorney Timothy Burke entitled The Paradiso Files: Boston's Unknown Serial Killer. Parasido reportedly died of testicular cancer in prison in Boston, Massachusetts on February 25, 2008.

Garfield the Cat (13) beloved pet of András Fábián-Bokor, Life in Legacy's longtime picture-hunter extraordinaire. A female cat, Garfield was known for nurturing motherless puppies in the household. Ironically, she was killed by neighborhood dogs in Csenger, Hungary on February 28, 2008.

Sheldon ("Chief") Bender (88) former Cincinnati Reds scout and farm team director who spent 64 years in professional baseball. Bender played and managed in the minor leagues for 12 seasons and worked in the St. Louis Cardinals' organization (1948-66). He spent 39 years with the Reds and headed their minor league operations (1967-89). He died of complications from a recent fall at his home, in Hamilton, Ohio on February 27, 2008.

Ashley Cooper (27) Australian race car driver crowned V8 Utes Rookie of the Year during the 2006 Clipsal 500 Racing Series. Cooper had competed in three rounds of the 2007 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, with a top 15 finish at Queensland Raceway. He died of severe head and internal injuries after a high-speed racing accident in Adelaide, Australia on February 25, 2008.

Myron Cope (79) high-voiced football announcer whose catch-phrases and twirling Terrible Towel became symbols of the Pittsburgh Steelers during 35 seasons in the broadcast booth. Cope's tenure (1970-2004) as announcer on the Steelers' radio network is the longest in NFL history for a broadcaster with a single team. Beyond western Pennsylvania, he was best known for urging fans to twirl yellow towels as a good-luck charm at Steelers games since the mid-'70s. The Terrible Towel is the best-known fan symbol of any major professional sports team. In recent months Cope was treated for respiratory problems and heart failure. He died in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania on February 27, 2008.

Buddy Dial (71) star receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers (1959-63) who also played for the Dallas Cowboys (1964-66). Dial still held the second-highest per catch average in NFL history at 20.8 yards. In 1963, he caught 60 passes for 1,295 yards and nine touchdowns. He had been hospitalized recently for treatment of cancer and pneumonia. He died in Houston, Texas on February 29, 2008.

David Edwards (20) former high school football player paralyzed during a 2003 playoff game whose injury was fictionalized on the TV show Friday Night Lights. A junior defensive back at San Antonio's James Madison High School, Edwards broke his neck when he collided with an Austin Westlake wide receiver when both were reaching for a pass during a November 2003 playoff game. Edwards would have turned 21 on March 1. Stricken with pneumonia since late in 2007, he stopped breathing Feb. 25 and slipped into a coma. He died in San Antonio, Texas on February 27, 2008.

Ted Kjolhede (84) winningest men's basketball coach in the history of Central Michigan University. Kjolhede won 216 games in 15 seasons with the Chippewas, starting in 1956. He moved to the athletic director's job in 1972 until retiring in '84. He was instrumental in the Chippewas' rise from Division II to I and its admission into the Mid-American Conference. He died in Mount Pleasant, Michigan on February 24, 2008.