Ralph E. Carpenter (99) self-taught connoisseur of Colonial furniture and decorative art whose passion for Newport, Rhode Island inspired him to restore many of its most important 18th-century landmarks, including the White Horse Tavern (originally built as a home in 1673), Trinity Church (1726), the Brick Market (1762), and the Redwood Library & Athenaeum (1748-50), the oldest lending library in the US. Carpenter died in Newport, Rhode Island on February 2, 2009.

Howard Kanovitz (79) pioneer of the Photo Realism style of painting that emerged in the '60s as a reaction against abstraction in general and Abstract Expressionism in particular. Kanovitz died of a bacterial infection after heart surgery, one week before his 80th birthday, in New York City on February 2, 2009.

Jack Cover (88) aerospace scientist who invented the Taser stun gun—a device used by thousands of law enforcement agencies to subdue unruly offenders with electric shocks. Cover had Alzheimer's disease but died of pneumonia in Mission Viejo, California on February 7, 2009.

Michael J. Homer (50) Silicon Valley executive, a former marketing vice president of Netscape Communications Corp., who played important roles in the development of three waves of technology—the personal computer, the hand-held device, and the Internet. Homer died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare neurodegenerative disorder, in Atherton, California on February 1, 2009.

David ("Jake") Jaquith (58) scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency whose work was instrumental in banning the nation's most widely used termite pesticide, chlordane, in 1988 because of its potential for causing cancer, liver damage, and nerve disorders. Jaquith died of liver failure in Greenbelt, Maryland on February 4, 2009.

Mark Shepherd Jr. (86) former Texas Instruments Inc. chairman who helped to convert the company into an electronics giant during a 40-year career. TI's innovations during Shepherd's tenure (1976-88) included transistor radios, hand-held calculators, and semiconductors that changed the way people live. He died of pulmonary fibrosis in Quitman, Texas on February 4, 2009.

Dr. Robert M. Winslow (67) UC San Diego researcher, one of the pioneers in the development of artificial blood. Roberts died of brain cancer in San Diego, California on February 2, 2009.

Xiangzhong ("Jerry") Yang (49) stem cell scientist who successfully cloned the first farm animal in the US. Yang was director of the Center for Regenerative Biology at the University of Connecticut. In 1999, he put UConn on the world's scientific map when a Holstein named Amy was born in Storrs, the first cloned farm animal in the US. Yang died of cancer in Boston, Massachusetts on February 5, 2009.

Richard Zann (64) noted Australian ornithologist and a leading expert on the zebra finch, heavily studied as a domesticated laboratory bird and the main focus of Zann's ornithological research over the past 25 years. In 1998, Zann was awarded the D. L. Serventy Medal by the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union for outstanding published work on exotic birds in the wilderness region of Australasia. Zann, his wife Eileen (62), and their daughter Eva (25) were among 181 or more people killed in a series of bushfires that swept across Kinglake, Victoria, Australia on February 7, 2009.

Jenny Barnett (60s) Australian ecologist and longtime campaigner for Victoria's forests and national parks who represented the Victorian National Parks Association on major issues and challenges faced by the environmental and national parks movement in the Australian state for more than 25 years. Barnett played important roles in countless campaigns and contributed to government environment and parks policy, including ecological implications of fire and fire planning. She and her husband, Professor John Barnett, were among 181 or more people killed in a series of major bushfires across Steels Creek, Victoria, Australia on February 7, 2009.

Thomas Clifford (87) fixture at the University of North Dakota who arrived as a student in 1938 and later was the school's president for 21 years (1971-92). Clifford became a part-time instructor in 1945 and later was dean of UND's business school, then vice president of business before taking over as its eighth president. The first North Dakota native to serve in the job, he died in Grand Forks, North Dakota on February 4, 2009.

Thomas E. Corts (67) former president of Samford University in Birmingham who led the school through tremendous growth over 23 years (1983-2006). Corts was credited with overseeing major increases in the Baptist university's endowment, which grew from $8 million to about $260 million during his tenure. He was also noted for increasing enrollment by 15% to where it stands now at 4,500, along with directing the construction of more than 30 campus buildings. He died of an apparent heart attack in Birmingham, Alabama on February 4, 2009.

Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye (86) veteran curator of Senegal's historic House of Slaves. For 40 years, Ndiaye oversaw the memorial on Gorée Island, off the coast of Senegal at Dakar. The island was used to hold captured Africans before their perilous voyage to the Americas. Ndiaye died in Dakar, Senegal on February 6, 2009.

Ken Rowe (63) prominent Australian educational researcher and an expert on the differences between single-sex and coeducational schools. Rowe was chairman and senior research director at the Australian Council Centre for Educational Research, where he led a national economic inquiry into the philosophical teaching of literacy and helped to promote the value of influential teachers, believing they were one of the most important factors in educational outcomes. He was presumably among 200 or more people killed in a series of major bushfires across Marysville, Victoria, Australia on February 7, 2009.

Dr. Chris Towie (53) outspoken Australian general practitioner who became a fierce advocate for the rights of refugees and migrants. Towie was outraged when Aziza Agha (79), a Syrian-born grandmother visiting from Lebanon, died of a heart attack two days after immigration officials insisted she travel from Broadmeadows to Melbourne for a visa-related checkup despite his warnings that to do so would put her life at risk. Towie was believed to have been among 181 or more people killed in a series of bushfires across Australia on February 7, 2009.

Molly Bee (69) country singer popular in the '50s and '60s, a teenage star on Los Angeles TV's Hometown Jamboree and later The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show. Bee died of complications related to a stroke in Oceanside, California on February 7, 2009.

Ben Blank (87) former graphics director for CBS- and later ABC-TV news who in the '50s introduced the use of logolike images behind anchors as signatures for major news coverage. Blank died of complications from a stroke he suffered in 2006, in Teaneck, New Jersey on February 3, 2009.

Tom Brumley (73) steel guitarist who played with Buck Owens & the Buckaroos (1963-69) and on Rick Nelson's Live at the Troubador album in 1969. Brumley spent 10 years performing with Nelson. He later appeared with his sons at The Brumley Family Music Show in Branson, Mo. (1989-2003). Brumley suffered a heart attack on Jan. 26 and was hospitalized in San Antonio, Texas, where he died on February 3, 2009.

Philip Carey (83) actor best known for his role as business tycoon Asa Buchanan on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. Carey created the role in 1980 and played the billionaire tycoon until the character died in his sleep in August 2007. The actor died of lung cancer less than a week after the death of another former OLTL cast member, Clint Ritchie (who created the role of Asa's son, Clint Buchanan), in New York City on February 6, 2009.

Robert Churchwell Sr. (91) one of the first black journalists to work at a prominent Southern newspaper. Churchwell was hired at the now-defunct Nashville Banner in 1950 and worked there for 31 years before retiring in '81. He began reporting on the black community and later covered education. He died in Nashville, Tennessee on February 1, 2009.

Blossom Dearie (82) singer and songwriter whose voice, piano stylings, and performances made her a popular attraction in jazz and cabaret for nearly 50 years. Dearie died in her sleep in New York City's Greenwich Village on February 7, 2009.

Reg Evans (80) British-born Australian character actor perhaps best known for his role as the Station Master in the Mel Gibson action thriller Mad Max (1979). Evans also played recurring roles on several TV series, including the cranky but fearless farmer Keith Purvis on the police drama Blue Heelers, the obnoxious cleaner Mr. Cocker on the hit Australian sitcom Are You Being Served?, and most recently Detective Howard Simmons on the long-running soap opera Prisoner. He and his domestic partner Angela Brunton were among 181 or more people killed in a series of bushfires across St. Andrews, Victoria, Australia on February 7, 2009.

Lukas Foss (86) versatile classical composer and a respected pianist and conductor. Although a German émigré, Foss was, from the start of his composing career, considered an important voice in American composition, along with Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Elliott Carter, and Leonard Bernstein. Foss explored the avant-garde, focusing at different times on techniques from serialism and electronic music to Minimalism and improvisation. He suffered from Parkinson's disease but died of a heart attack in New York City on February 1, 2009.

Pete Goering (60) award-winning columnist and editor at the Topeka Capital-Journal. Over a career with the newspaper that spanned nearly 40 years, Goering worked as a photographer's intern, sportswriter, sports editor, columnist, and executive editor. In a column in April 2007, he informed his readers that he had lung cancer. He died in Topeka, Kansas on February 7, 2009.

Lux Interior (62) singer, songwriter, and founding member of the pioneering New York horror-punk band the Cramps, formed in 1976. The band's lineup shifted over the years but always included Lux and his wife, "Poison" Ivy Rorschach. Born Erick Lee Purkhiser, Lux Interior died of a preexisting heart condition in Glendale, California on February 4, 2009.

Dewey Martin (68) drummer for the short-lived but influential rock band Buffalo Springfield whose career after the group split never caught on like those of his former bandmates Neil Young and Stephen Stills. Martin was found dead by a roommate in his Van Nuys, California apartment on February 1, 2009.

Brian Naylor (78) Australian TV presenter, best known for his long stint as chief newsreader at Channel Nine Melbourne (1978-98) and his sign-off line, "May your news be good news." Naylor had also made regular appearances on the station's daytime variety program Time for Terry during a career that spanned more than 20 years. His son Matthew (41) was killed in a plane crash at Kinglake in 2008. Brian Naylor and his wife Moiree were among 131 or more people killed in a bushfire that spread across Kinglake, north of Melbourne, Australia on February 7, 2009.

Max Neuhaus (69) Texas-born percussionist known for creating site-specific works of "sound sculpture," allowing unsuspecting passers-by to hear musical sounds in unlikely places. Neuhaus died of cancer in Maratea, a coastal town in southern Italy, where he lived, on February 3, 2009.

Shirley Jean Rickert (82) former child actress, the cute little blonde with the spit curls in five Our Gang comedy shorts in the early '30s. As an adult, Rickert had a brief movie career as an uncredited dancer in several '40s and mid-'50s movie musicals, including the MGM classics Royal Wedding and Singin' in the Rain, then became a long-haired burlesque stripper known as Gilda & Her Crowning Glory. She died in Saratoga Springs, New York on February 6, 2009.

Sara Roache (58) actress and wife of veteran British TV actor William Roache, best known for his role as Ken Barlow in the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street. The couple had been married for more than 30 years and had two children. Sara Roache died unexpectedly in Cheshire, England on February 7, 2009.

Jorge Serguera (76) Cuban official who banned the Beatles from the Communist-run island's radio and TV stations in the '70s. At the time Serguera was president of the Cuban Institute of Radio & Television. He said in a 2001 interview that he was following orders from high government officials who viewed the British band's music as a threat to the revolution. Serguera died of cancer in Havana, Cuba on February 3, 2009.

Dana Vavrova (41) Czech-born German actress and film director who began her career as a child actress on several children's TV programs. Vavrova gained notice portraying a young Jewish girl during the Holocaust on the TV miniseries A Piece of Heaven. She continued acting as an adult and appeared in countless movies and TV series, including a small role in the American feature film Amadeus (1984). She was married to award-winning director Joseph Vilsmaier and codirected the Holocaust film The Last Train (2006). She died of cancer in Munich, Germany on February 5, 2009.

Susan Walsh (60) actress considered one of the original Dreamlanders, the ensemble of regular cast and crew members who worked primarily in several early films of cult film director John Waters. Walsh's best-remembered roles were Chicklette in Female Trouble and Suzie in Pink Flamingos (1972). She died in Baltimore, Maryland on February 6, 2009.

James Whitmore (87) leading character actor whose craggy face was familiar to film, TV, and stage audiences for decades. Whitmore won wide acclaim for a trio of one-man theater performances, as humorist Will Rogers and former US Presidents Harry S. Truman and Theodore Roosevelt. In 1947, discharged a year from Marine duty, he made his Broadway debut in an Air Force drama, Command Decision, for which he won a Tony for outstanding performance by a newcomer. In 1949, Whitmore was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe as supporting actor in the war movie Battleground. He also appeared in Westerns (The Last Frontier, Chato's Land), musicals (Kiss Me Kate, Oklahoma!), science fantasy (Planet of the Apes, Them), dramas (The Asphalt Jungle, The Shawshank Redemption), and comedies (Mr. O'Malley & Mrs. Malone, The Great Diamond Robbery). He often appeared on TV, starring in the series The Law & Mr. Jones (1960-62), My Friend Tony (1969), and Temperatures Rising (1972-73), and won an Emmy in 1999 as guest actor in a series for The Practice. He died of lung cancer in Malibu, California on February 6, 2009.

Donald C. Alexander (87) former Internal Revenue Service commissioner (1973-77) who said that President Richard M. Nixon tried several times to fire him because he would not use the tax agency for political purposes. Alexander died of cancer in Washington, DC on February 2, 2009.

Andres Bermudez (58) Mexican entrepreneur who made a fortune as a "tomato king" and history by becoming the first migrant living in the US to win a Mexican mayorship. Bermudez first crossed illegally into the US in 1973. After working his way from field hand to labor contractor in California, he invented a tomato-planting machine that earned him the nickname "Tomato King" and made him a fortune. He made history in 2001 when he was elected mayor of his hometown of Jerez, in the northern state of Zacatecas. He had battled stomach cancer since last March and died in Houston, Texas, where he had been receiving treatment since December, on February 5, 2009.

Susan Hibbert (84) former staff sergeant in the British Auxiliary Territorial Service, stationed in Reims, France, who typed the English version of the German surrender document—and retyped it several times as it was amended—then sent a message to London when World War II ended in Europe on May 7, 1945. Hibbert died in London, England on February 2, 2009.

Joe M. Rodgers (75) Republican political activist, a former US ambassador to France (1985-89). Rodgers was long active in Republican politics, especially fund-raising. He died of cancer in Nashville, Tennessee on February 2, 2009.

George Sundborg Sr. (95) former newspaperman who helped to craft the Alaska Constitution nearly 60 years ago. Sundborg was one of 55 delegates who gathered for 75 days in the basement of the University of Alaska Fairbanks student union in 1955 to craft a constitution. Alaskans had been battling for statehood rights for decades, and some believed a constitution would signal the US Congress that they were ready to take up their own governance. Alaska became the 49th state on Jan. 3, 1959. Sundborg died of pneumonia in Seattle, Washington on February 7, 2009.

Andrew Altringer (18) Florida teen suspected in a hit-and-run incident after he apparently struck and critically injured pedestrian Alicia Anderson (22) while driving left off the roadway from behind as she walked down along the road in Hernando County. Altringer did not stop or call for help and left the scene. An investigation revealed that alcohol might be a factor based upon evidence located inside the vehicle. Altringer apparently shot and killed himself during a routine traffic stop in Inglis, Florida on February 5, 2009.

Daniel Balandran (23) California man shot and fatally wounded by police officers after he was mistakenly identified as a suspect involved in an armed robbery during a shootout at a Papa John's pizza parlor. Authorities said Balandran was an apparent innocent bystander caught in a crossfire exchanged between police and the two alleged robbers, also left critically wounded in the initial gunfire. He died at the scene in Chino, California on February 1, 2009.

Flora M. Trimmer Crater (94) women's rights activist who led a group that lobbied the US Congress for equal rights legislation. Crater was founder of Virginia's first chapter of the National Organization of Women (NOW). She led a group called Crater's Raiders that in 1972 unsuccessfully lobbied Congress to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. She died in Delaware on February 1, 2009.

Antonie Dixon (40) notorious New Zealand killer twice convicted of attacking two women with a samurai sword and fatally shooting a man during a drug-fueled crime spree outside Auckland in 2003. At his first trial, Dixon claimed he was insane and admitted that he was a user of a form of the drug methamphetamine known in New Zealand as "P" at the time of the attacks. His conviction was quashed, but he was again found guilty of murder, grievous bodily harm, firearm charges, and shooting at police. He was found dead in his prison cell, an apparent suicide, in Auckland, New Zealand on February 4, 2009. Prison officials said Dixon ran across his cell and repeatedly bashed his head against a wall.

Millard Fuller (74) self-made millionaire who at age 29 walked away from that life to devote himself to the poor, eventually starting the Christian group Habitat for Humanity International, which spread what he called "the theology of the hammer" by building more than 300,000 homes worldwide. Fuller became ill with a severe headache and chest pains. He died in an ambulance from what may have been an aneurysm, on the way to a hospital in Albany, Georgia on February 3, 2009.

Herbert Hamrol (106) one of the last survivors of the earthquake that destroyed much of San Francisco in 1906. Hamrol smoked cigars into his 90s and told whoever wanted to know that his secret to a long life was "wild women and good liquor." He died less than a month after his 106th birthday, in Daly City, California on February 4, 2009.

Steve Henley (55) Tennessee man sentenced to death for the double murder of an elderly couple, Fred and Edna Stafford, both found shot to death in their burning farmhouse in Jackson County, Tennessee in 1985. Henley denied being at the scene of the crime until his death, but a codefendant testified in court that Henley was drunk when he shot the couple and set their house on fire, reportedly because he owed money to his grandmother. He was executed by lethal injection in Nashville, Tennessee on February 4, 2009.

Warren Kimbro (74) former Black Panther who shot and killed fellow member Alex Rackley, a suspected police informer, in 1969, prompting a series of trials that made national headlines. Kimbro pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and served more than four years in prison. He later earned a Harvard degree and became a respected community leader. He died in New Haven, Connecticut on February 3, 2009.

David Martinez (36) Texas man sentenced to die for using a baseball bat to fatally bludgeon his live-in girlfriend Carolina Prado (37) and her 14-year-old son Erik at their San Antonio home in 1994. Martinez was on parole after serving five months of a five-year sentence for attempted sexual assault at the time of the double slayings. He was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas on February 4, 2009.

Epsie Wilson (110) supercentenarian, believed to be the oldest verified person in Virginia and one of the 25 oldest people in the US. Wilson died just three weeks short of her 111th birthday, in Radford, Virginia on February 7, 2009.

Nancy Neville Adams (84) co-owner of the Tennessee Titans (former Houston Oilers) with her husband Bud Adams. Active in charitable efforts, the couple recently donated $500,000 to the Baptist Hospital of Nashville to fund an expansion project. They continued to live in Houston after the Oilers relocated to Tennessee and became the Titans. Nancy Adams died in Houston, Texas on February 1, 2009.

George Hughes (83) former Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowl lineman. Hughes was drafted by the Steelers out of William & Mary in 1950. He played both guard and tackle and was named to the Pro Bowl twice during his five NFL seasons. He was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1983. Hughes died in Hampton, Virginia on February 5, 2009.

John Isaacs (93) key member of the Harlem Renaissance basketball team, which showcased some of New York's greatest black players during the Depression and captured the first world professional championship in 1939. At one point, the Rens had an 88-game winning streak. Isaacs died 11 days after being hospitalized for a stroke, in the Bronx, New York on February 2, 2009.

Betty Jameson (89) one of 13 founding members of the Ladies' Professional Golf Association Tour in 1950. Jameson won the 1932 Texas Publinx title at 13, took the Southern Championship at 15, and won consecutive US Women's Amateur titles in '39 and '40. She won the 1942 Western Open for the first of her three major titles and completed her amateur career with 14 victories, then turned professional in '45, won the US Women's Open in '47, and took the Women's Western Open in '54, among her 13 pro victories. She died in Boynton Beach, Florida on February 7, 2009.

Payton Jordan (91) coach of the record-setting 1968 US Olympic track and field team. Jordan led the US track team to a record 24 medals, 12 of them gold, at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. He was Stanford University's track and field coach (1957-79). He died of cancer in Laguna Hills, California on February 5, 2009.

Ralph Kaplowitz (89) member of the New York Knicks who played in the NBA's first game in 1946, when Jewish players were often greeted with anti-Semitic catcalls. Midway through that first season, Kaplowitz was acquired by the Philadelphia Warriors, with whom he won the league's first championship, finishing with a scoring average of 7.1 points in 57 games. He died of kidney failure in Floral Park, Queens, New York on February 2, 2009.

Mel Kaufman (50) linebacker who played in three Super Bowls with the Washington Redskins and was a former scout for the NFL team. Kaufman played on Washington's victorious Super Bowl teams (1983, '88) and in the 1984 title game when the Redskins lost to the Los Angeles Raiders. He started 78 of 91 games after making the team as a rookie free agent in 1981 and scouted for the Redskins in the '92 Super Bowl when they beat the Buffalo Bills. He died in Santa Margarita, California on February 7, 2009.

Eric Monti (91) pro golfer who helped to shape the golf swings of some of Hollywood's biggest stars and won three Professional Golf Association Tour events. As the longtime pro at Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles, Monti gave lessons to Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Burt Lancaster, Dinah Shore, and Jack Benny, on whose TV show he appeared in a golf-themed episode. He died of prostate cancer in Laguna Woods, California on February 1, 2009.

Michelle Splitter (19) promising Brazilian women's basketball player who made Brazil's senior team for a series of exhibition games at the beginning of 2008. Splitter was also the younger sister of NBA professional basketball player Tiago Splitter. She was initially diagnosed with leukemia in 2004 and returned to the game after treatment. The disease returned last March, and she underwent a bone marrow transplant in January. She died in Campinas, Brazil on February 3, 2009.