Obituaries for 2018

[Gefn]

Oh man, I thought it was Nancy (these boots were made for walking) who died.

Sorry to hear that about Frank’s widow

Off topic, do girls get called Junior too if they are named after their moms?

[EasyAce]

Oh man, I thought it was Nancy (these boots were made for walking) who died.

Sorry to hear that about Frank’s widow

Off topic, do girls get called Junior too if they are named after their moms?

Depends on the family. I've read where Sinatra's daughter was referred to as Nancy, Jr. within the family.

[jmyrlefuller]

Ray Emery, NHL goaltender, dies at 35



Emery had brief but controversial success in the National Hockey League when he rose to become the starter for the Ottawa Senators in 2005. He became one of the few goalies to earn a reputation as a fighter and was reviled for his sometimes-dirty style of play. He was dismissed from the Senators after he was repeatedly arrested for road rage in the 2007-08 season. After his time in Ottawa ended in 2008, he was largely a journeyman, only once (in Chicago from 2011 to 2013) achieving any comparable success of the kind he experienced in Ottawa. His last professional season in 2015-16 was in Germany.

Emery is believed to have drowned while swimming with friends in Hamilton, Ontario.

Obituary from The Sporting News

Wikipedia

Career statistics

@TomSea hockey ping

[SZonian]

Ray Emery, NHL goaltender, dies at 35

Wikipedia

Career statistics

@TomSea hockey ping

RIP Ray, condolences and sympathies to your family, loved ones and friends.  Thanks for the memories while playing for the Philadelphia Flyers.

[Machiavelli]

Masa Saito passes away after long battle with Parkinson's disease (pro wrestler Mr. Saito)

Masanori Saito, a former Olympian as an amateur wrestler and Hall of Famer as a pro, passed away on Saturday after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

Saito was 76.

Saito had the most successful long-term career of any Japanese native on the American scene, being a championship-level wrestler in multiple territories from 1968 to 1990. While Giant Baba in the 60s, Great Muta, and now Shinsuke Nakamura were as big or bigger stars, Saito spent the majority of his career in the United States as opposed to a brief version, and was always a headliner as a former Olympian who was a top tier in-ring worker, even with limited English speaking ability.

During most of his career he played the stereotypical salt-throwing Japanese heel, a role mostly played by Hawaiians rather than Japanese wrestlers in the 60s.

More

Wikipedia

[Applewood]

Former Steelers, Texas Tech DT Gabe Rivera, who was paralyzed in car accident, dies at 57

Former Texas Tech football star and Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Gabriel Rivera died Monday at the age of 57.

…

Rivera, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012, had been in critical condition in recent days due to a perforated bowel, according to the television station.

A San Antonio native who earned the nickname "Señor Sack," Rivera was one of the most dominant defensive linemen in the country during his time at Texas Tech, earning All-America and Southwest Conference defensive player of the year honors in 1982. He was picked No. 21 overall in the 1983 NFL draft by the Steelers.

But then, after recording two sacks in six games as a rookie in Pittsburgh, Rivera was paralyzed in a car crash on his way home from practice. According to KENS-TV, he was legally intoxicated at the time and crossed into an adjacent lane, colliding with another car.

…

Excerpt.  More at:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/steelers/2018/07/17/gabe-rivera-steelers-texas-tech-football-paralyzed-wreck-dies-nfl/791825002/

[EasyAce]

Former Steelers, Texas Tech DT Gabe Rivera, who was paralyzed in car accident, dies at 57

Excerpt.  More at:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/steelers/2018/07/17/gabe-rivera-steelers-texas-tech-football-paralyzed-wreck-dies-nfl/791825002/

You wonder what might have been if the Steelers had taken not Rivera in his draft but a certain quarterback---a kid native to Pittsburgh named Dan Marino.

[catfish1957]

You wonder what might have been if the Steelers had taken not Rivera in his draft but a certain quarterback---a kid native to Pittsburgh named Dan Marino.

Geez, its not those guys already didn't have enough SB rings.  Interesting is the fact that Marino is considered the greatest QB not to win a SB.

[Applewood]

You wonder what might have been if the Steelers had taken not Rivera in his draft but a certain quarterback---a kid native to Pittsburgh named Dan Marino.

I had forgotten about that till I read the obit.  But at the time  Gabe was considered one of the best in his position and he would have been a valuable addition to the team.  Just too bad he was so foolish (driving drunk, not wearing a seatbelt) that it cost him what could have been a magnificent career and the Steelers an extraordinary investment.

[Ghost Bear]

Former Steelers, Texas Tech DT Gabe Rivera, who was paralyzed in car accident, dies at 57

Excerpt.  More at:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/steelers/2018/07/17/gabe-rivera-steelers-texas-tech-football-paralyzed-wreck-dies-nfl/791825002/

Whoa, Mandela Effect moment... I swear I remember hearing a report several months ago, about him dying of pneumonia. My wife remembers it that way too...

[TomSea]

John Stormer, ‘None Dare Call It Treason’ Author, Dies at 90

By Neil Genzlinger

    July 17, 2018

John A. Stormer, whose self-published 1964 book, “None Dare Call It Treason,” became a right-wing favorite despite being attacked as inaccurate in promulgating the notion that American government and institutions were full of Communist sympathizers, died on July 10 in Troy, Mo. He was 90.

The McCoy-Blossom Funeral Home posted news of his death on its website, saying he had fallen ill a year ago.

Mr. Stormer’s book, published by his own Liberty Bell Press, tapped into a vein of conservative alarm that was still very much present in the early 1960s, even though the Red-baiting era of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy had faded in the 1950s.

Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/17/obituaries/john-stormer-none-dare-call-it-treason-author-dies-at-90.html

Did anyone ever read this book? I had seen it around. Maybe its online to read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Stormer

[Bigun]

Did anyone ever read this book? I had seen it around. Maybe its online to read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Stormer

I've read it.  And the fact is that what is said in it has been conclusively proven to be true for the most part.

[sneakypete]

Did anyone ever read this book? I had seen it around. Maybe its online to read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Stormer

@TomSea

I wish the funeral was closer. I'd like to attend it to show respect and honor for this man.

[Applewood]

Adrian Joseph Cronauer, real-life "Good Morning, Vietnam" DJ, is dead at 79

Adrian Joseph Cronauer, best known for co-writing the original story for the film "Good Morning Vietnam" about his time as an Air Force DJ in Vietnam, died on Wednesday at the age of 79, according to the obituary posted by a Virginia funeral home. Robin Williams starred as Cronauer in the 1987 film, which earned the actor an Academy Award nomination.

Cronauer's obituary states that he served as a confidential advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense from 2001 through 2009, representing "the POW/MIA Office at meetings within the Office of the Secretary of Defense and at various outside functions including liaison with the leadership of veterans service organizations as well as family and activist groups. ... For his efforts, he holds the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service."

Cronauer was a former U.S. Air Force sergeant and sat on the Board of Directors of the National D-Day Memorial.

...
 

Excerpted.  Read more here:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/adrian-joseph-cronauer-real-life-good-morning-vietnam-dj-is-dead-at-79/


…

[EasyAce]

I met Adrian Cronauer in Washington, the year I worked there (at the Heritage Foundation, 1990-91), when I attended a talk he gave at the Cato Institute. Among other things, Cronauer debunked a lot of the manner in which he was portrayed in Good Morning Vietnam, including that he wasn't set up and forced to leave Vietnam before his Air Force hitch expired, and that he never befriended a Viet Cong terrorist. Though he also admitted, "Robin Williams is funny. I'm not." He did get to meet Robin Williams before the film premiered. When Williams shook his hand and said, "I'm glad to meet you," Cronauer replied, "I'm glad to meet me, too." Who says he wasn't funny? But he did agree that Good Morning, Vietnam went a long way otherwise to show American grunts and airmen and otherwise in 'Nam weren't just the baby killing rapists into which their images were distorted in due course.

Regardless of what he felt like politically, he recognized the fact nobody seemed to recognize during Vietnam, which was that there's a difference between the people who are making the policy and the people who are carrying out that policy, the military.---Adrian Cronauer (who was a lifelong Republican), interviewed after Robin Williams's suicide.

RIP.

[mountaineer]

Elmarie Wendel, ‘3rd Rock From the Sun’ Actress, Dies at 89
 By Erin Nyren   
Variety
July 22, 2018

Elmarie Wendel, who played the Solomon family’s landlord Mrs. Dubcek on “3rd Rock From the Sun,” has died. She was 89.

Wendel’s daughter confirmed her death on Instagram Saturday.  ...

In addition to her role on “3rd Rock,” Wendel had credits on “Seinfeld,” “Love & War,” “Murphy Brown,” “Murder, She Wrote,” and “Empty Nest.” She also had a voice role in 2012’s Dr. Seuss adaptation “The Lorax” as Aunt Grizelda. Her most recent recurring role was on “George Lopez” from 2003-2007 as Gina.

Wendel was born Nov. 23, 1928 on a farm in Howard County, Iowa and performed with her musical parents and sisters in and around the Midwest. She eventually made the transition to Broadway and off Broadway production in New York City before going to Los Angeles as part of a traveling production of “Annie.”  ...

Full story at Variety

I remember her from NYPD Blue and Seinfeld.

[jmyrlefuller]

Tony J. Sparano, NFL coach, dies suddenly at 56



Sparano had been an NFL assistant coach since 1999, joining the league with the expansion Cleveland Browns. He followed an unconventional path to the NFL, coaching primarily at Division II New Haven University and I-AA Boston University (whose program has since been shut down) before reaching the NFL. He had one prominent stint as an NFL head coach, that of the Miami Dolphins between 2008 and 2011; while his overall tenure was slightly below average, he did lead the Dolphins to a division title in 2008, the year Tom Brady was injured. Sparano frequently used the "wildcat" offense, in which the running back received a direct snap and could be asked to pass the ball.

At the time of his death, Sparano was an offensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings. He had complained of chest pains two days before his death but had been sent home without treatment.

He is not to be confused with his son, Tony M. Sparano, who is also an NFL assistant coach.

Obituary from CBS Sports

Wikipedia

[endicom]

Sergio Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler CEO.

Apparently from complications following shoulder surgery for a sarcoma.

http://www.oann.com/former-fiat-chrysler-ceo-marchionne-dies/

[TomSea]

Gen. Ronald Griffith, Gulf War commander and Army vice chief of staff, dies at 82
The ground offensive effectively ended the Gulf War in 100 hours. Gen. Griffith said he had initially ... He went on to serve ...  https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/gen-ronald-griffith-gulf-war-commander-and-army-vice-chief-of-staff-dies-at-82/2018/07/24/ad3f0f1c-8f55-11e8-bcd5-9d911c784c38_story.html

[Machiavelli]

Patrick Williams, Emmy-Winning TV Composer, Dies at 79

Patrick Williams, who was best-known for his Emmy-winning television music but who was also a renowned and Grammy-winning big-band jazz leader and arranger, died Wednesday morning of complications from cancer at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 79.

Williams was among the most versatile composers of his generation, earning an Oscar nomination (for adapting opera in “Breaking Away,” 1979), four Emmys (for dramatic music including “Lou Grant,” 1980) and two Grammys (for arrangements including his classic jazz album “Threshold,” 1974) during more than 50 years of music-making in New York and Los Angeles.

In the middle of his most prolific period, scoring music for TV including “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and “The Streets of San Francisco,” he was also nominated for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in music for his groundbreaking “An American Concerto” (1976) for jazz quartet and symphony orchestra.

More

Wikipedia

IMDb

[Suppressed]

WW2 Spitfire pilot Mary Ellis dies [at 101]


https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44962253

More awful news. RIP Mary Ellis. A legend of the Air Transport Auxiliary. Over 1000 aircraft; 76 different types and over 400 Spitfires alone. I hope you’re enjoying a well-earned sherry up there with Joy Lofthouse again. Blue skies Ma’am #LestWeForget pic.twitter.com/1v0yCbniJG

— Mike Ling MBE (Red 3) (@MikeLingPilot) July 25, 2018

[Machiavelli]

In memoriam: Willie Brown, football star and assistant football, baseball coach

Willie Brown, a player and assistant coach on Trojan national championship football and baseball teams, died Thursday in Carson of cancer. He was 76.

A three-year letterman (1961-63) and two-time All-Conference first teamer (1962-63) in football at USC, he was a member of USC’s 1962 national championship team and captained the 1963 squad. USC’s original I-formation tailback, Brown played the position during his first two seasons, including when head coach John McKay introduced the I-formation to the Trojan offense in 1961.

More

Wikipedia

[TomSea]

Team GB snowboarder Ellie Soutter dies on 18th birthday
...

The teenager, who died on her birthday on Wednesday, was considered a rising star in the sport, having won bronze at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Turkey last year.

She was just 16 at the time, and it was the only medal Team GB took home from the event.

Read more at: https://www.msn.com/en-nz/sport/more-sports/team-gb-snowboarder-ellie-soutter-dies-on-18th-birthday/ar-BBL6BHj?li=BBqdhxG

Rest In Peace but there was some other death like this, so young.... and a lack of cause of death... suicide? It's sad to say, I'm sorry for however this talented young woman died.

[Suppressed]

and a lack of cause of death... suicide?

Considering the statement included information about the Suicide Prevention Hotline, I think that's a correct guess.

[sneakypete]

Considering the statement included information about the Suicide Prevention Hotline, I think that's a correct guess.

@Suppressed

It looks that way,no matter how inconceivable it may be to us. One story has her father saying contributions can be made to a suicide hot line.

"Crazy" can just happen to anyone at any time.