Obituaries for 2017

[skeeter]

RIP the founding guitarist of the J. Geils Band . . .

Guitarist known as J. Geils found dead in Massachusetts home

The J. Geils Band, Blow Your Face Out

He was 71.

RIP and thanks for the great music . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvM8WV2V998

[sneakypete]

Depends on how you define "outliving." He hasn't done anything substantial since about 1972; maybe
a rare little gem now and then since. Emphasis on "maybe."

@EasyAce

I disagree. Surviving his lifestyle is a pretty damn substantial accomplishment.

Keef is going to outlive us all.

[EasyAce]

@EasyAce

I disagree. Surviving his lifestyle is a pretty damn substantial accomplishment.

Keef is going to outlive us all.

@sneakypete
I was talking about his music. ;)

(For the record, I wouldn't recommend anyone else try to survive his lifestyle.)

[uglybiker]

@EasyAce

I disagree. Surviving his lifestyle is a pretty damn substantial accomplishment.

Keef is going to outlive us all.

I always heard the rumor that he didn't survive.
His well-pickled body just never got the message.

[Frank Cannon]

RIP the founding guitarist of the J. Geils Band . . .

Guitarist known as J. Geils found dead in Massachusetts home



He was 71.

RIP and thanks for the great music . . .

Little known fact is that John Giels had one of the foremost European auto repair shops in the world. He specialized in Ferrari....

https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hsx/2006/10/The-House-that-Rock-Built/1352278.html

[jmyrlefuller]

Dorothy Mengering, mother and occasional guest of David Letterman's, dies at 95

Born Dorothy Hofert, she lived a fairly typical middle-class mid-20th-century life, working as a floral assistant and secretary in Indiana, where she and her husband Harry Letterman had three children. (Harry died in 1973; ten years later, she married Hans Mengering.) In 1986, by the time middle child David Letterman had risen to fame for his late-night talk show, Dorothy began making appearances on the program, especially during holidays; originally doing so by phone, when Letterman moved to CBS, she began appearing on camera as "Dave's Mom."

Playing the role as a no-nonsense but loving mother eager to shoot down anything too absurd, Mengering earned a large number of fans, which she repeatedly attributed not to her own performance skills, but simply to the way that it allowed people to witness the love between a mother and her son.

Mengering died April 11 in her longtime home in Indiana. She is survived by David and daughter Gretchen Letterman, a newspaper columnist.

Obituary from the Chicago Sun-Times

Wikipedia

[Gefn]

The J. Geils Band had a few trademarks---Wolf and his between-song schpritzing; Magic Dick's virtouoso
harmonica playing; J. Geils's tasteful guitar work (he may have been the most underrated guitarist of his time);
Stephen Jo Bladd's tanks-gone-bonkers soul-style drumming . . .

Freeze Frame is one of my all time favorite albums. RIP.

[Sanguine]

Freeze Frame is one of my all time favorite albums. RIP.

@Freya, this isn't the place for it - but, how are you doing?  I was getting concerned.

[Gefn]

@Freya, this isn't the place for it - but, how are you doing?  I was getting concerned.

Not good. I'll bring it up later. Having a bad problem with my meds. The stupid doctor in the rehab decided to play god and messed up a lot of my meds and while my hip is better I'm a complete and total mess

I'm going to have to see my GP to try to fix it but I may end up back in a regular hospital to undo the damage he did. @Sanguine

[Smokin Joe]

Not good. I'll bring it up later. Having a bad problem with my meds. The stupid doctor in the rehab decided to play god and messed up a lot of my meds and while my hip is better I'm a complete and total mess

I'm going to have to see my GP to try to fix it but I may end up back in a regular hospital to undo the damage he did. @Sanguine

That isn't good. Keeping you in my prayers. Get better!

[Sanguine]

Not good. I'll bring it up later. Having a bad problem with my meds. The stupid doctor in the rehab decided to play god and messed up a lot of my meds and while my hip is better I'm a complete and total mess

I'm going to have to see my GP to try to fix it but I may end up back in a regular hospital to undo the damage he did. @Sanguine

Yes, prayers, Freya.  Keep us informed.

[Cyber Liberty]

Not good. I'll bring it up later. Having a bad problem with my meds. The stupid doctor in the rehab decided to play god and messed up a lot of my meds and while my hip is better I'm a complete and total mess

I'm going to have to see my GP to try to fix it but I may end up back in a regular hospital to undo the damage he did. @Sanguine

That's infuriating!  Hospitalists should not be allowed to rock a boat they have nothing to do with!   

[ABX]

Comedian Charlie Murphy Dead At 57 (Eddie Murphy's brother, he wrote some of Eddie's best work).

According to his manager, Charlie died at a hospital in New York City. He had been going through chemotherapy treatment.

Some of Murphy's film credits include Are We There Yet, The Boondocks, and Black Jesus. Most recently, Charlie toured with comedians including Cedric the Entertainer, Eddie Griffin, George Lopez, and D.L. Hughley.

http://comicbook.com/popculturenow/2017/04/12/charlie-murphy-dead-at-57-eddie-murphy-brother/?=twd

[Cripplecreek]

Charlie Murphy was pretty funny.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2278XhCy4Bs

[jmyrlefuller]

Tom Modrak, former NFL general manager and scout, dies at 74

Modrak spent roughly 20 years as a scout in the Pittsburgh Steelers organization, his hometown team. In 1998, he accepted the position of general manager for the Philadelphia Eagles, where over the next four seasons, he helped orchestrate the team's turnaround from bottom-dweller to contender; he was ousted by the coach he hired, Andy Reid, just as the team hit its stride.

He spent the next decade as assistant general manager for the Buffalo Bills. Unlike his time with the Eagles, Modrak had much less success in Buffalo, making a number of draft blunders that contributed to the team's inability to rebuild. Reports in Buffalo blamed his failures on an unwillingness to assert himself in the face of bad decisions by other members of the staff.

He spent his last years overseeing BLESTO, the scouting agency where he began his career. He was forced to retire in December 2016 from a rare neurological disease, which led to his death April 11.

Obituary from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Wikipedia

[Applewood]

Pittsburgh Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney Dies at 84

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Steelers nation has lost a legend, as chairman and former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney has died at the age of 84.

More here:

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2017/04/13/pittsburgh-steelers-dan-rooney-dies/

And here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Rooney

[bigheadfred]

Looks like Death isn't much of an athletic supporter these days.

HEY! I heard Chuck Norris was supposed to die 5 years ago but Death doesn't have the guts to tell him.

[Smokin Joe]

Looks like Death isn't much of an athletic supporter these days.

HEY! I heard Chuck Norris was supposed to die 5 years ago but Death doesn't have the guts to tell him.

My grandson did a google search for Chuck Norris. It came back with "You don't find Chuck Norris, he finds you!"

[EC]

Toby Smith, founding member of Jamiroquai, dead at 46

 Toby Smith, the keyboardist and a founding member of the band Jamiroquai died on Tuesday.

He was 46.

Smith had been fighting a "voracious" illness for a long time, according to the band's Facebook page, but had "shown signs of beating it."

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/toby-smith-founding-member-jamiroquai-dead-46-article-1.3055392

[Cripplecreek]

Toby Smith, founding member of Jamiroquai, dead at 46

 Toby Smith, the keyboardist and a founding member of the band Jamiroquai died on Tuesday.

He was 46.

Smith had been fighting a "voracious" illness for a long time, according to the band's Facebook page, but had "shown signs of beating it."

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/toby-smith-founding-member-jamiroquai-dead-46-article-1.3055392

All I know of Jamiroquai was this crazy video from years ago.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et9b7LWfnxQ

[EC]

World's oldest person Emma Morano dies at 117

Obituary

That's it. The very last person with a documented birth in the 19th Century has gone.

[Applewood]

Rest in peace, Mrs. Morano.

I've noticed that many people who live long lives have poor eating habits, according to the experts.  My grandmother ate all the "wrong" foods and lived to be 90.   This lady ate 3 eggs a day and little to no fruit or vegetables.   Maybe this means we shouldn't be all that stringent with our diets and live a little.

[Machiavelli]

Clifton James, Sheriff in James Bond Films, Dies at 96

Clifton James, a veteran actor who appeared as Sheriff J.W. Pepper in two James Bond films, died Saturday morning at age 96...

James most famous role came on film. He appeared in two James Bond films opposite Roger Moore: “Live and Let Die” (1973) and “The Man with the Golden Gun” (1974). He portrayed the crowing Louisiana sheriff, J.W. Pepper (pictured). James would play similar Southern lawman in numerous other roles during his career, including “Silver Streak” and “Superman II”

Among his other film credits included “Cool Hand Luke,” “Eight Men Out” and “The Bonfire of the Vanities.” ...

More

Wikipedia

IMDb

[truth_seeker]

That's it. The very last person with a documented birth in the 19th Century has gone.

Three of my four grandparents were born in the 19th century, 1881, 1894 and 1896. They departed in that order, too.

--A cowboy, acrobat, oilman born to immigrants from Sweden, worked in Bill Cody's Wild West Show

--A woman that earned a MS in biology and taught university in the 1920s

--A WWI veteran that moved his parents, his wife and his daughters from the East to the West, just in time for the 1929 stock market crash--which knocked him down economically from white collar to blue collar.

[EC]

Robert W. Taylor, a pioneer of the modern computer, dies at 85

April 15, 2017
Esmeralda Bermudez
Los Angeles Times
Posted with permission from Tribune Content Agency
Republish
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Robert W. Taylor, one of the most important figures in the creation of the modern computer and the internet, has died. He was 85.

According to his son Kurt Taylor, the scientist died Thursday at his home in the San Francisco Bay Area town of Woodside. He suffered from Parkinson's disease and other ailments.

Taylor's name was not known to the public, but it was a byword in computer science and networking, where he was a key innovator who transformed the world of technology.

Taylor — an outspoken, uncompromising visionary — was a Pentagon researcher in the 1960s when he launched Arpanet, which evolved into what we know today as the internet.

After leaving the Pentagon, he moved to Xerox's legendary Palo Alto Research Center, where he oversaw the engineering team responsible for such inventions as the personal computer, Ethernet and the visual computer display.

More: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/04/robert-w-taylor-a-pioneer-of-the-modern-computer-dies-at-85/