Olga Raggio (82) scholar and curator who in almost 60 years with New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art organized some of its best-known exhibitions and scoured the world for treasures. Raggio died of cancer in the Bronx, New York on January 24, 2009.

Dina Vierny (89) muse to French sculptor Aristide Maillol and model for painters Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard. Vierny, who began modeling for Maillol at age 15, was his greatest fan and a leading force in making his acclaimed figurative bronzes available to the public. She died five days before her 90th birthday, in France on January 20, 2009.

Grigore Vieru (73) Moldovan poet admired for his courage in promoting Romanian, the country's native language, when Moldova was a Soviet republic. Vieru was killed in car crash in Chisinau, Moldava's capital city, on January 18, 2009.

Liang Yusheng (85) pioneer in Chinese martial arts novels. Liang later wrote 36 novels over a 30-year career, capitalizing on a martial arts fever in Hong Kong sparked by a public duel between two rival fighting styles. His work reflected his knowledge of Chinese literature and history. He died in his adopted home of Sydney, Australia on January 22, 2009.

Robert Decareau (82) scientist who helped to invent the processes necessary to create the microwave oven. Decareau worked for Raytheon after earning his doctorate in chemistry; it was there that he started working on microwave energy food applications and was one of the first to call himself a food scientist. He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for the past 17 years and died in Nashua, New Hampshire on January 18, 2009.

Dr. Robert Gumbiner (85) physician, art lover, and HMO pioneer who built the managed-care giant FHP, then used his fortune to found the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach. Gumbiner died of prostate cancer 11 days before his 86th birthday, in Long Beach, California on January 20, 2009.

John A. Blackburn (67) University of Virginia's dean of admissions since 1985. Blackburn had planned to retire in June. He pushed for UVa. to boost its financial aid and abolish its early-decision admissions policy, which he believed gave an unfair advantage to students who could afford to commit to attending without first seeing a financial aid offer. He died of cancer in Charlottesville, Virginia on January 20, 2009.

Martin Delaney (63) cofounder in 1985 of Project Inform, the San Francisco-based AIDS treatment advocacy and education organization. Delaney led the movement to grant AIDS patients access to experimental drugs and headed early education efforts about the disease. He died of liver cancer in San Rafael, California on January 23, 2009.

David Stuart Dodge (86) former head of the American University in Beirut, abducted on campus by pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim extremists in 1982. during Lebanon's civil war, and held until his release in Iran a year later. Dodge was among more than 90 foreigners abducted during Lebanon's 15-year civil war. He died of cancer in Princeton, New Jersey on January 20, 2009.

Carl McIntosh (94) former president of Montana State University (1970-77) and before that of what is now Cal State University-Long Beach (1959-69). McIntosh died in Bozeman, Montana on January 19, 2009.

Mariana Bridi (20) Brazilian model whose feet and hands were amputated after she contracted a drug-resistant infection caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, known to be resistant to multiple kinds of antibiotics. Doctors originally diagnosed Bridi with kidney stones in December, but as her condition worsened she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection that spread, reducing the flow of oxygen to her limbs. She died in Serra, Brazil on January 24, 2009.

Robert C. Broughton (91) pioneering camera effects artist for Walt Disney productions who worked on nearly every Disney motion picture from Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to The Black Hole (1979). Broughton's job was to create spectacular effects in a subtle way. He helped Dick van Dyke to dance with animated penguins in Mary Poppins and created the visual effect that made Hayley Mills appear as twins in The Parent Trap. Broughton died in Rochester, Minnesota on January 19, 2009.

Robert Bryson (??) husband of celebrity fashion designer Lisa Kline, best known as founder and president of the trendy Lisa Kline Inc. clothing boutique franchise frequented by Los Angeles-area celebrities. Bryson was killed in a freak accident when he fell from an upper-level balcony, possibly while sleepwalking, in Los Angeles, California on January 22, 2009.

Corey Daum (39) former guitarist of the Los Angeles heavy metal band Lizzy Borden who joined the group after former guitarist Alex Nelson was killed in a head-on collision in 2004, although he apparently didn't appear on any of the band's studio albums (1989-96). Daum, whose real name was Corey James, was killed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver in Nashville, Tennessee on January 24, 2009.

Mickey Gee (64) Cardiff-born rock musician dubbed "the best guitarist ever to come out of Wales." Gee played alongside such famous Welsh exports as Tom Jones, Dave Edmunds, and Shakin' Stevens. He died of emphysema in Cardiff, Wales on January 22, 2009.

Tony Hart (83) British TV presenter who charmed generations of children with his artsy antics. Hart's 50-year TV career took in everything from lightning-fast magic marker sketches to a giant paint-spattered Jackson Pollocklike composition and an even larger elephant whitewashed onto an airfield. One of his shows, Hartbeat, attracted as many as 5.4 million viewers. Hart received 6,000-8,000 children's drawings and paintings in the mail every week. His health had been in decline after two strokes several years ago. He died in London, England on January 18, 2009.

Frances Kavanaugh (93) one of the few women who wrote screenplays for B westerns such as Song of Old Wyoming and Wild West in the '40s and early '50s. Kavanaugh wrote (1941-51) more than 30 western scripts for cowboy stars such as Tom Keene, Bob Steele, Eddie Dean, Jimmy Wakely, Ken Maynard, and Duncan Renaldo. She died of lymphoma in Encino, California on January 23, 2009.

Nora Kovach (77) Hungarian ballerina who caused a sensation in 1953 with Istvan Rabovsky, her ballet partner and first husband, when they became the first highly publicized dance defectors to the West from the Soviet bloc. Kovach died in Miami, Florida on January 18, 2009.

Bob May (69) veteran actor and stuntman who donned The Robot's suit on the hit '60s TV show Lost in Space. May had appeared in movies, on TV shows, and on the vaudeville stage when he was tapped by Lost in Space creator Irwin Allen to play the Robinson family's loyal metal sidekick in the series that debuted in 1965. Although May didn't provide the robot's distinctive voice (that was done by announcer Dick Tufeld), he developed a following of fans who sought him out at memorabilia shows. He died of congestive heart failure in Lancaster, California on January 18, 2009.

Carol Mitchell-Leon (57) stage, TV, and film actress, acknowledged as one of Atlanta's high-profile stage actresses in numerous theater productions, and a respected drama teacher. Mitchell-Leon also had several film credits, including playwright and dramatist Tyler Perry's indie film Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005) and Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), and a regular guest appearance on the hit TV series House of Payne. She had recently suffered a heart attack during kidney-related surgery and died in Atlanta, Georgia on January 19, 2009.

Ave Montague (64) founder and longtime artistic director of the San Francisco Black Film Festival, a vital force on the black cultural scene, known for the persistence with which she helped to promote the annual arts event that recognizes achievements in the cinematic works of budding black indie filmmakers, actors, and actresses in feature-length films and documentaries from around the globe. Montague had publicized many artists and nonprofit groups over the years, including the United Negro College Fund, the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, the Bay Area Journalists Association, and Oakland Ensemble theaters. She died in San Francisco, California on January 24, 2009.

David ("Fathead") Newman (75) jazz musician, tenor saxophone soloist with the Ray Charles Band for 12 years starting in 1954. As a studio musician Newman worked on recording projects with musicians including Herby Mann, Aretha Franklin, and Aaron Neville. He died of pancreatic cancer in Kingston, New York on January 20, 2009.

George Perle (93) composer, author, theorist, and teacher who won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1986 and was widely considered the poetic voice of atonal composition. Perle composed for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, and voice and wrote many articles and books on atonal composition. He died in New York City on January 23, 2009.

Darrell Sandeen (77) stage, TV, and film actor best known for his familiar role as Detective Buzz Meeks, one of the two "bad cops" who killed Mickey Cohen's men in the blockbuster film LA Confidential (1997). Sandeen also appeared in several other feature films and TV shows, including Blazing Saddles (1974), Interview with the Assassin (2002), and most recently in the indie comedy Pervert! (2005) and as a blind man on two episodes of the TV series Big Love. He died of a stroke in Los Angeles, California on January 22, 2009.

Charles H. Schneer (88) film producer best known for his influential collaboration on several movies with special effects genius Ray Harryhausen. Schneer produced 25 films, including Hellcats of the Navy (1957), the only film to costar future US President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Davis. He began his 30-year partnership with Harryhausen in 1955 with the fantasy film It Came from Beneath the Sea, about a giant octopus that destroys the Golden Gate Bridge; their last film together was Clash of the Titans (1981). Schneer died in Boca Raton, Florida on January 21, 2009.

Ben Underwood (16) blind Sacramento teen whose talent for learning to "see with sound" turned him into a national worldwide phenomenon for his ability to navigate using a tongue-clicking skill called echolocation. Diagnosed with retinal cancer at age 2, Underwood had his eyes removed at 3 and later discovered echolocation at 5, by which he was able to detect the location of objects by making frequent clicking noises with his tongue. He used it to accomplish such feats as playing basketball, foosball, and video games and running, rollerblading, and skateboarding. His story was featured in countless magazines, newspapers, and TV programs. He died from the same cancer that took his eyesight in Elk Grove, California on January 19, 2009.

Constance Eberhardt Cook (89) first female executive at Cornell University who earlier helped to legalize abortion in New York state and to compel Episcopalians to ordain women. Cook was elected to the State Assembly as a Republican in 1962 and served 14 years, representing the 128th Assembly District in the Finger Lakes region of central New York state. She was later Cornell's vice president of land-grant affairs (1976-80). She died in Ithaca, New York on January 20, 2009.

Horace Kornegay (84) former US congressman (D-NC) who vigorously defended cigarette manufacturers in Congress and later as Big Tobacco's chief spokesman. Kornegay came from the heart of North Carolina's tobacco economy and pushed back against increased taxes and regulations that were dogging an industry he cast as one of America's best. He died in Greensboro, North Carolina on January 21, 2009.

Bob Scott (79) former governor of North Carolina (1969-73) who got a retail cigarette tax passed to pay for public kindergarten and later ran the state's community college system. Scott used the governor's bully pulpit to help push through the first retail tax on cigarettes when tobacco was still king in the state. He died in Raleigh, North Carolina on January 23, 2009.

Richard Sklar (74) engineer who as general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (1979-83) oversaw the city's water, power, and sewer operations and its public transportation network. Sklar died of pancreatic cancer in San Francisco, California on January 20, 2009.

James E. Swett (88) former US Marine Corps pilot awarded the Medal of Honor after shooting down seven Japanese bombers in 15 minutes over the Solomon Islands during World War II. Swett died of congestive heart failure in Redding, California on January 18, 2009.

Barbara Adams (77) self-appointed caretaker of the Reseda, Calif. home designed in 1939 for her late husband's family by architect Lloyd Wright, reportedly with input from his famous father, Frank Lloyd Wright. After her husband, Bob, died in 1995, Adams felt a responsibility to preserve the building and its story and successfully campaigned to have the house designated a historic-cultural landmark. She died of cancer in Reseda, California on January 23, 2009.

Darwin Demond Brown (32) Oklahoma man who, along with three other men, was sentenced to die for the capital murder of store clerk Richard Yost (30), found severely beaten to death by a customer inside a walk-in refrigerator after an apparent robbery at a Tulsa convenience store in 1995. Brown was executed by lethal injection in McAlester, Oklahoma on January 22, 2009.

Florence Busch (112) supercentenarian, believed to be one of the oldest living residents in Wisconsin. Busch had recently been ranked as the 18th-oldest verified person in the world and the ninth-oldest citizen in the US by the California-based nonprofit Gerontology Research Group. She died of congestive heart failure in Waukesha, Wisconsin on January 21, 2009.

Holly Coors (88) conservative political activist and philanthropist and ex-wife (1941-88) of brewery magnate Joseph Coors (d. 2003). Holly Coors served on the board of the Heritage Foundation, which her ex-husband helped to create. She was also on the board of the Federalist Society and was founder and president of Women of Our Hemisphere Achieving Together, which helps Central American women. She died in Golden, Colorado on January 18, 2009.

Elsa Everly (110) supercentenarian, oldest living resident of Cincinnati. Everly lived on her own until she was 104 and said the secret of her longevity was never having smoked, drunk alcohol, or had children. She also said she didn't eat chocolate or hamburgers but admitted to indulging in Frisch's fish sandwiches when asked by the National Enquirer in 2008. She died in Cincinnati, Ohio on January 23, 2009.

Beatrice Farve (113) considered the second-oldest person in the world by Guinness World Records. Farve sold beauty products until she was 100. She died in her sleep in Brunswick, Georgia on January 19, 2009.

Irving Feiner (84) pioneering student protestor who played a significant role in the Constitutional debate over free speech when the US Supreme Court upheld his conviction on charges of disorderly conduct for dangerously provoking a crowd as he spoke from a soapbox in Syracuse in 1949. The decision, which put public peace ahead of freedom of expression, was superseded by nearly opposite judgments in later cases. Feiner died of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, a ballooning blood vessel in the brain, in Valhalla, New York on January 23, 2009.

Bonnie Clark Haldeman (64) mother of infamous Branch Davidian sect leader David Koresh, killed with 80 of his followers in a fire at their ranch compound outside Waco, Texas in 1993. Haldeman was found stabbed to death at the home of her sister, Beverly Clark (54), charged with her murder, near Chandler, Texas, about 175 miles north of Houston, on January 23, 2009.

Vivian Illing (108) oldest known survivor of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Born to first-generation Cuban-American parents in West Newton, Massachusetts on Christmas Day 1900, Illing had attended several centennial anniversaries in the past several years, where she told her vivid memories of the great quake when she was 5. She died in San Francisco, California on January 22, 2009.

Archbishop Jean Jadot (99) chief papal representative to the US in the '70s who drew fire from conservative clergymen for pushing liberal reforms in the American Roman Catholic Church. Jadot turned what had been a largely ceremonial position into a bully pulpit for the seven years ending in 1980. He helped to lead a largely successful effort to push the American church to welcome minorities, widen the role of women, increase participation by the laity, and relax some rules, like the automatic excommunication of divorced people. He died in Brussels, Belgium on January 21, 2009.

Harry F. Magnuson (85) mining magnate credited with helping to protect the town of Wallace, Idaho and with keeping Gonzaga University financially sound. Among Magnuson's most notable accomplishments was preventing the northern Idaho town of Wallace, his birthplace, from disappearing owing to slumps in the mining industry and a construction plan that would have wiped out one-third of the community. He died of cardiac arrest in Spokane, Washington, where he was being treated for mild pneumonia, on January 24, 2009.

Frank Moore (47) Texas man sentenced to death for the 1994 capital murders of Samuel Boyd (23) and Patrick Clark (15), both shot and killed during a brief gunfight after Moore became involved in an altercation with the two outside a San Antonio nightclub. Before the double slayings, Moore had been a longtime active member of more than three violent gangs known to have committed a series of armed robberies, aggravated assaults, negligent or attempted murders, and drug activities. He was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas on January 21, 2009.

Sybil R. Moses (69) New Jersey judge who won national attention as a prosecutor in the case against a doctor accused of killing five patients. Dr. Mario Jascalevich, the so-called "Dr. X"—accused of using the poison curare to kill five patients at a hospital in Oradell—was acquitted by a jury in 1978, but Moses won praise for her work. She became the state’s first female assignment judge in 1997. She died of breast cancer in Englewood, New Jersey on January 23, 2009.

Jesse Olson (84) former union vice president who played a major role in building and expanding the nation's largest health-care workers' local, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East in New York. Olson died of complications from a neurological disorder, in Monroe Township, New Jersey on January 19, 2009.

Reginald Perkins (53) convicted Texas rapist and suspected serial killer condemned to die for the strangling death of his stepmother Gertie Perkins (64), whose body was found in the trunk of her vehicle at their Fort Worth home in 2000. Reginald Perkins had previously been sentenced to life in prison in Ohio for a 1980 rape and attempted rape of two 12-year-old girls before being released on parole. He was also a suspect in the murders of four other women in Cleveland and Fort Worth. He was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas on January 22, 2009.

Claudine Ryce (66) mother of a 9-year-old boy whose 1995 murder received national attention. Jimmy Ryce was kidnapped after getting off a school bus near the family's rural Miami home. Authorities arrested ranch hand Juan Carlos Chavez after the boy's backpack was found in his trailer. Chavez confessed to raping Jimmy, shooting him, then dismembering the body, placing it in planters, and sealing them in cement. He is currently on death row pending appeal. Claudine Ryce died of a heart attack in Miami, Florida on January 21, 2009.

Sharron Smith (61) Virginia woman recently charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the 1967 double slayings of two employees. Constance Hevener (19) and her sister-in-law Carolyn Perry (20) were both found shot to death in the back room at High's Ice Cream shop in western Virginia. Police began investigating new leads in the 41-year-old cold case in the last few months after Smith's name was found in the original case file, but nothing linked her to the slayings during the initial investigation. Smith was free on a personal recognizance bond and being cared for at an undisclosed medical facility for heart and kidney disease. She died in Staunton, Virginia on January 19, 2009.

Thomas Tschoepe (93) priest whose more than 20 years as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas included accusations that he covered up sexual abuse claims involving priests. Tschoepe twice moved pedophile priest Rudolph ("Rudy") Kos to new parishes in the '80s after complaints about his behavior with boys and transferred other priests accused of molesting boys as well. He died in Waxahachie, Texas on January 24, 2009.

Marion White (87) widow of the late Supreme Court Justice Byron ("Whizzer") White (d. 2002). Marion White was the daughter of former University of Colorado president Robert Stearns and met her future husband, a onetime CU football running back star, when her parents invited him to dinner while she was still in high school. The couple married in 1946 after both served in the US Navy and moved to Washington, DC in '60 when Byron White was appointed deputy attorney general by President John F. Kennedy, then to the Supreme Court in '62. Marion White died in Denver, Colorado on January 21, 2009.

Xin Yang (22) graduate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, found stabbed and decapitated with a large kitchen knife outside a café in the apartment building where she had lived since arriving at the campus from Beijing, China earlier this month to seek a master's degree in accounting. Yang's accused attacker, international graduate student Haiyang Zhu (25), also from China, knew the victim, but no motive for the slaying has been determined. Xin's murder was the first killing on campus since a 2007 massacre when gunman Seung-Hui Cho shot dead 32 people, then took his own life in one of the worst school shootings in US history. Xin Yang died in Blacksburg, Virginia on January 21, 2009.

Fernando Cornejo (39) Chilean international football (soccer) player. Cornejo was capped 36 times and scored 2 goals for the Chilean national football team as a midfielder during his professional career (1991-2000), including two games at the 1998 FIFA World Cup matches against Italy and Cameroon. He died of stomach cancer in Santiago, Chile on January 24, 2009.

Shane Dronett (38) pro football player who played 10 years in the NFL and started every game for the Atlanta Falcons' 1998 Super Bowl team. Dronett made 86 starts and had 44 sacks in 139 career games; his last season as an active player was 2001. He was found dead at his home, a suicide, near Atlanta, Georgia on January 21, 2009.

Nova Henry (24) ex-girlfriend of former Chicago Bulls basketball player Eddy Curry and the mother of Curry's 3-year-old son Noah. Henry had filed two court claims against the current New York Knicks star last September in an attempt to establish the paternity of her 9-month-old daughter Ava. Although Curry denied the claims, Henry had been receiving $15,000 a month in child support from him for their son. Nova and Ava Henry were found shot to death after an apparent domestic dispute at their apartment in Chicago, Illinois on January 24, 2009. Police later arrested a "known acquaintance," presumably a previous boyfriend of the woman, in connection with the murder. Noah was found unharmed at the scene.

Finn Kobbero (73) one of badminton's most successful players in the '50s and '60s. A Dane, Kobbero won 15 titles at the All England Open Badminton Championships (1955-66). At home, he won the Danish championship 22 times, including four singles titles, nine in the men's doubles, and nine in the mixed doubles. He died in Copenhagen, Denmark on January 21, 2009.

Dante Lavelli (85) Football Hall of Famer, a sure-handed receiver who helped the Cleveland Browns to build a dynasty in the '40s and '50s. Best known for his great hands, Lavelli was a favorite target of legendary Browns quarterback Otto Graham. He died in Cleveland, Ohio on January 20, 2009.

José Torres (72) former light heavyweight world champion boxer and Olympic silver medalist. Torres won the light heavyweight title in 1965 by defeating Willie Pastrano at Madison Square Garden in New York. He defended his title three times before losing a close decision to Dick Tiger in 1966, and finished with a record of 41-3-1, with 29 knockouts. He died of a heart attack in Ponce, Puerto Rico on January 19, 2009.

Bill Werber (100) oldest living ex-major leaguer and a former teammate of Babe Ruth. A career .271 hitter who led the American League in stolen bases three times, Werber played with Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, and Lefty Grove in stints with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. He also was a member of the 1940 World Series champion Cincinnati Reds. He died in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 22, 2009.

Kay Yow (66) Hall of Famer and longtime North Carolina State women's basketball coach. Yow won more than 700 games in a career filled with milestones: she coached the US Olympic team to a gold medal in 1988, won four Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championships, earned 20 NCAA tournament bids, and reached the Final Four in '98, all while fighting breast cancer first diagnosed in '87. She died in Raleigh, North Carolina on January 24, 2009.