Obituaries for 2016

[jmyrlefuller]

Maurice White, founder of Earth, Wind & Fire, dies at 74



A native of Memphis, Tennessee, White began his career in Chicago as a session drummer, including for The Pharaohs, Young-Holt Unlimited and the Ramsey Lewis Trio, the latter two of which recorded a number of hits during White's tenure with those bands. In 1969, he moved to Los Angeles, recruited Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead, and formed Earth, Wind & Fire. Earth, Wind & Fire was both critically and commercially successful, and White continued to be a member of the band until being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in the late 1980s, at which point he stopped touring but remained active in the studio.

Report from TMZ

Wikipedia


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=god7hAPv8f0

[alicewonders]

Sadness again, another of my favorites passing on.  RIP Maurice White.  EW&F made incredible happy, sexy and life-affirming music.   

Serpentine Fire!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoI1XPqXQ90

[flowers]

Sadness again, another of my favorites passing on.  RIP Maurice White.  EW&F made incredible happy, sexy and life-affirming music.   

Serpentine Fire!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoI1XPqXQ90

Did they do a song called Fire?

[flowers]

Shinning Star another great song. Enjoyed them

[flowers]

Another good one....Sing A Song.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xghvsw_sing-a-song-by-earth-wind-fire_music

[alicewonders]

Did they do a song called Fire?

I couldn't find one.

Another one of my favorites:

"September"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs069dndIYk&list=PLrrWWJCP6a4igq2k8qy75FUfb1bhm1p7j&index=1

[flowers]

I couldn't find one.

Another one of my favorites:

"September"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs069dndIYk&list=PLrrWWJCP6a4igq2k8qy75FUfb1bhm1p7j&index=1

I tried to find it. It must be another band. maybe it will come to me at some point.

[mountaineer]

Flower, are you thinking of the Ohio Players?

In any event, Earth, Wind and Fire were a wonderful band.

[musiclady]

I couldn't find one.

Another one of my favorites:

"September"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs069dndIYk&list=PLrrWWJCP6a4igq2k8qy75FUfb1bhm1p7j&index=1

One of my very, very favorite songs.  I can't hold still when I'm listening to it, and I just have to conduct the screaming trumpets at the end.  ^-^

I LOVE that song!!

[alicewonders]

Did they do a song called Fire?

Mountaineer is right - it was the Ohio Players.

[jmyrlefuller]

Joe Alaskey, impressionist and voice actor for Warner Bros., dies at 63

When Mel Blanc, the legendary "Man of a Thousand Voices" who provided voices for most of Warner Bros.' characters, died in 1989, Alaskey was hired as one of his successors—coincidentally, this was about the same time the studio was about to enter a revival. Alaskey and Jeff Bergman split Blanc's famous roles throughout a large number of programs in the 1990s. Alaskey would later take on other roles after someone's death: when David Doyle, the voice of Grandpa Lou Pickles on the hit cartoon Rugrats, died in 1997, Alaskey took on that role as well and held it to the end of the series' run, and when an ailing Jackie Gleason was in the process of restoring lost episodes of The Honeymooners for release, he hired Alaskey to do the voiceovers to replace damaged audio tracks.

Alaskey died of cancer on Wednesday.

Obituary from the Los Angeles Times

Wikipedia

[DCPatriot]

One of my very, very favorite songs.  I can't hold still when I'm listening to it, and I just have to conduct the screaming trumpets at the end.  ^-^

I LOVE that song!!

Saw Earth, Wind and Fire several times in my life.  A remarkable group that put on a helluva show.

[musiclady]

Saw Earth, Wind and Fire several times in my life.  A remarkable group that put on a helluva show.

I'll bet they did!

The closest I ever got to them was buying their albums.  ^-^

[flowers]

Flower, are you thinking of the Ohio Players?

In any event, Earth, Wind and Fire were a wonderful band.

Yes it is that band. Remembered the name earlier this morning. Still  EW&F good band.

[flowers]

Did suicidal BMX legend Dave Mirra have CTE? Officials suggest extreme sports star, 41, was suffering brain disease from a lifetime of hard crashes before he shot himself

    Dave Mirra was found dead in his truck of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Thursday afternoon in Greenville, North Carolina
    The 41-year-old BMX legend, who hosted two seasons of Real World/Road Rules Challenge, leaves behind a wife and two daughters
    Mirra posted two Instagram photos shortly before he killed himself, one of him and his wife and a photo of himself riding his bike
    'My rock! Thank god,' wrote Mirra alongside the photo of his wife
    He was discovered in his car less than 1,000 feet from a local high school
    At a press conference on Friday, the town's mayor suggested that a 'rugged sports career' had an adverse effect on Mirra's mental health
    The condition CTE has been in the news lately as researchers look for a connection between sports injuries and depression
    Mirra was one of the most successful X-Games athletes of all time thanks to his BMX talents, winning 24 medals during his career

So young. he was fun to watch. great talent on the bike. sad.

[Paladin]

"Apollo Astronaut Edgar Mitchell Dies at 85, One Day Before 45th Anniversary of His Lunar Landing"

"MIAMI (AP) — Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who became the sixth man on the moon when he and Alan Shepard helped NASA recover from Apollo 13′s “successful failure” and later devoted his life to exploring the mind, physics and unexplained phenomena such as psychics and aliens, has died in Florida. He was 85.

Mitchell died Thursday night at a West Palm Beach hospice after a short illness, his daughter, Kimberly Mitchell, said. Mitchell’s passing coincides with the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 14 mission from Jan. 31-Feb. 9, 1971."

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/02/05/apollo-astronaut-edgar-mitchell-dies-at-85-one-day-before-45th-anniversary-of-his-lunar-landing/

[jmyrlefuller]

Sam Spence, composer for NFL Films, dies at 88

You may not recognize the name, but if you have ever watched a classic NFL Films production, you have heard the music of Sam Spence. Spence wrote a large number of orchestral pieces for NFL Films, which became an integral part of the company's style: a slow-motion, tight-on-the-spiral cinematography coupled with Spence's dramatic compositions.

Developing...

Wikipedia


"Autumn Thunder" by Sam Spence

[Machiavelli]

James 'Red' Moore, Negro League legend passes away at 99

James "Red " Moore, a long-time first baseman in the Negro Leagues, passed away in Atlanta, Georgia on February 6, 2016. He was 99.

Born November 18, 1916 in Atlanta, Moore developed his talents at Booker T. Washington High School. His exploits in the field and at the plate attracted the attention of the Chattanooga Choo Choos of the Negro Southern League in 1935. Word of his play at first base spread through the league and he was picked up by the famed Newark Eagles of the Negro National League in 1936. He joined an infield that earned the nickname of "The Million Dollar Infield," which included Hall of Famers Willie Wells at shortstop and Ray Dandridge at third base.

More

Wikipedia

Homepage

[Paladin]

Vanity Dead at 57, Prince Protege Known for ‘Nasty Girl’

Singer had battled kidney failure and abdominal illness

Vanity, a former protege of Prince’s and a member of Vanity 6, has died at age 57, TMZ reports...

Matthews struggled with drug abuse, which took its toll on her health. At one point she suffered renal failure and, according to a Jet feature on the singer, required peritoneal dialysis five times a day.

Following a 1994 crack cocaine overdose that left her with near-renal failure, Matthews renounced her stage name and became a born-again Christian, at one point saying, “When I came to the Lord Jesus Christ, I threw out about 1,000 tapes of mine — every interview, every tape, every video. Everything.” Following a 1997 kidney transplant, she devoted herself to evangelism, speaking at churches.

http://www.thewrap.com/prince-protege-vanity-dead-at-57/

[Free Vulcan]

Wow, I was just going thru alot of Prince protege and similar music just a couple of nights ago on Youtube, thinking about back in the day. Sad to see her go, but glad she went with Jesus.

[flowers]

Vanity Dead at 57, Prince Protege Known for ‘Nasty Girl’

Singer had battled kidney failure and abdominal illness

Vanity, a former protege of Prince’s and a member of Vanity 6, has died at age 57, TMZ reports...

Matthews struggled with drug abuse, which took its toll on her health. At one point she suffered renal failure and, according to a Jet feature on the singer, required peritoneal dialysis five times a day.

Following a 1994 crack cocaine overdose that left her with near-renal failure, Matthews renounced her stage name and became a born-again Christian, at one point saying, “When I came to the Lord Jesus Christ, I threw out about 1,000 tapes of mine — every interview, every tape, every video. Everything.” Following a 1997 kidney transplant, she devoted herself to evangelism, speaking at churches.

http://www.thewrap.com/prince-protege-vanity-dead-at-57/

Wow. 

[DCPatriot]

We have just learned that former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has died at the age of 93.

Ghali served as the 6th U.N. Secretary General from 1992-1996 and grew up in Cairo, Egypt.

From Fox News:

    Former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has died, the U.N. Security Council announced Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.

    Boutros-Ghali, who was 93, died in a Cairo hospital, Egyptian media reported.

    Boutros-Ghali, an Egyptian, served one five-year term as U.N. chief between 1992 and 1996. The Security Council held a one-minute moment of silence Tuesday after his death was announced by Venezuela’s U.N. Ambassador Rafael Ramirez, the current council president, Reuters reports.

    Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi reportedly phone Boutros-Ghali on Thursday to thank him for his work on behalf of Egypt and to wish him a speedy recovery.

[truth_seeker]

Boutros Boutros-Ghali was a Coptic Christian.

[Machiavelli]

Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Or as Rush called him, Boutros Boutros By Golly. 

[jmyrlefuller]

Author Harper Lee dies at 89



As a novelist, Lee only wrote two novels, her most famous being 1960's To Kill a Mockingbird, later made into a film of the same name. The second novel, Go Set a Watchman, was written in the 1950s but went unreleased until 2015.

Lee was also close friends with Truman Capote, and the character of Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird was based on Capote. Lee assisted Capote in researching In Cold Blood. After that, she went into self-imposed seculsion for the rest of her life, occasionally starting and abandoning a few writing projects over the course of her retirement. She died of various causes due to old age at her home in Alabama.

Death notice

Wikipedia

[musiclady]

Harper Lee created one of the greatest heroes in fiction.

[Paladin]

Marine who led WWII charge up Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima dies

The Marine who led the charge to place the first American flag above Iwo Jima has died.

First Lt. John Wells, 94, died Feb. 11 at the Arvada Care Rehabilitation Center in Arvada, Colorado.

 Wells received the Navy Cross, Bronze Star and Purple Heart after leading his Marines in a frontal assault up the slopes of Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

 He didn’t make it to the top after taking multiple enemy rounds, but continued to command, leading his men to victory. His platoon raised the first flag atop the mountain, hours before the iconic photo of the second flag raising was captured.

The passing of a true American hero. RIP.

[Sanguine]

Marine who led WWII charge up Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima dies

The Marine who led the charge to place the first American flag above Iwo Jima has died.

First Lt. John Wells, 94, died Feb. 11 at the Arvada Care Rehabilitation Center in Arvada, Colorado.

 Wells received the Navy Cross, Bronze Star and Purple Heart after leading his Marines in a frontal assault up the slopes of Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

 He didn’t make it to the top after taking multiple enemy rounds, but continued to command, leading his men to victory. His platoon raised the first flag atop the mountain, hours before the iconic photo of the second flag raising was captured.

The passing of a true American hero. RIP.

Yes, indeed.  RIP.

[Machiavelli]

Sonny James, Country Singer Known for 'Young Love,' Dies at 87

Wikipedia


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU_8D5jBqd0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU_8D5jBqd0

[MACVSOG68]

Sonny James, Country Singer Known for 'Young Love,' Dies at 87

Wikipedia

 

Yeah I remember well he and Tab Hunter battling with their versions of "Young Love".  Great song.  RIP Sonny.

[jmyrlefuller]

Eddie Einhorn, sportscasting and media mogul, dies at 80

Einhorn, at age 22, was the man responsible for introducing college basketball to a national audience. He began with radio broadcasts in 1958, then expanded to television in 1960. Einhorn's TVS network distributed games on its own and produced others for major networks such as NBC. He also dabbled in other sports, including roles as vice chairman of the Chicago White Sox, broadcaster of the World Football League, developer of the short-lived International Wrestling Association in the 1970s, and one of Donald Trump's allies trying to force the United States Football League to move its schedule to the fall in the 1980s. Einhorn later worked for CBS, where he managed the anthology series CBS Sports Spectacular.

Einhorn died February 24 from a stroke.

Obituary from NorthJersey.com

Wikipedia

[flowers]

George Kennedy 'Naked Gun' Star Dead at 91


http://www.tmz.com/2016/02/29/george-kennedy-dies/

George Kennedy, star of "Cool Hand Luke" and the 'Naked Gun' movies, has died at the age of 91 ... TMZ has learned.

George's grandson Cory Schenkel says Kennedy died Sunday morning at 4:30 AM in Boise, ID. He says his grandfather had been in failing health ever since his wife Joan died a little over a year ago. George had been under hospice care for the past month.

Kennedy won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1968 for "Cool Hand Luke." He also starred in all 3 of the 'Naked Gun' flicks, "Airport 1975," "Earthquake" and many many more.

His last role was in "The Gambler" with Mark Wahlberg in 2014.

[alicewonders]

RIP George Kennedy.  He was in so many GREAT movies.

[Wingnut]

"Hey, Lord... whatever I done, don't strike me blind for another couple of minutes."

[truth_seeker]

RIP George Kennedy.  He was in so many GREAT movies.

Cool guy. Six weeks younger than my mother. Kennedy served in combat during WWII--a real man, good citizen, all around actor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Kennedy

[mountaineer]

Cool guy. Six weeks younger than my mother. Kennedy served in combat during WWII--a real man, good citizen, all around actor.

Having seen your post, I had to check. He was about 5 wks younger than my mother, who died in 12/2014. I remember when George seemed to be in every other movie. Always an excellent actor.

[truth_seeker]

Having seen your post, I had to check. He was about 5 wks younger than my mother, who died in 12/2014. I remember when George seemed to be in every other movie. Always an excellent actor.

My mother celebrated 91 years the first week in Jan. My mother-in-law turns 89 in a couple of months.

Kennedy had a very long and productive entertainment career AFTER serving 16 years in the military. Including WWII combat.

[jmyrlefuller]

Announcer Charlie Tuna dies at 71

Born Art Ferguson, Charlie Tuna had his on-air name imposed on him because the previous disc jockey (named Charlie) used it for one day, then left the station; it of course came from the Star-Kist would-be spokesman. Beginning his career at various stations in the Great Plains, Tuna reached Los Angeles in 1967, the city where he would remain the rest of his career.

Working in Los Angeles allowed Tuna the opportunity to work on several national projects. In the 1980s, Tuna was in demand as a game-show announcer. He hosted several, mostly 1970s-oriented national radio programs and was the host of a daily voicetracked service at the time of his sudden death on February 19.

Wikipedia

Obituary from KRTH, his flagship station at the time of his death

[Paladin]

Gayle McCormick, lead singer of the band Smith, dies at 67

ST. ANN, Mo. — Gayle McCormick, the lead singer of the group Smith, which recorded the 1969 top-10 song "Baby, It's You," has died in suburban St. Louis. She was 67.

McCormick died Tuesday of cancer. Her death was confirmed Friday by the Alexander-White-Mullen Funeral Home in St. Ann, Missouri.

McCormick grew up in St. Louis County before joining the short-lived group Smith, whose first of two albums, "A Group Called Smith," reached No. 17 on the Billboard chart.

"Baby, It's You," a cover of a song first performed by the Shirelles in 1961, was the group's only top-10 hit, reaching No. 5 on Billboard on Nov. 1, 1969.

I am more familiar with the Shirelles' version. RIP Gayle.

[mountaineer]

Joey Feek, 40,  of the country duo Joey + Rory, has died of cancer, her husband Rory reports.


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

[EasyAce]

Gayle McCormick, lead singer of the band Smith, dies at 67

ST. ANN, Mo. — Gayle McCormick, the lead singer of the group Smith, which recorded the 1969 top-10 song "Baby, It's You," has died in suburban St. Louis. She was 67.

McCormick died Tuesday of cancer. Her death was confirmed Friday by the Alexander-White-Mullen Funeral Home in St. Ann, Missouri.

McCormick grew up in St. Louis County before joining the short-lived group Smith, whose first of two albums, "A Group Called Smith," reached No. 17 on the Billboard chart.

"Baby, It's You," a cover of a song first performed by the Shirelles in 1961, was the group's only top-10 hit, reaching No. 5 on Billboard on Nov. 1, 1969.

I am more familiar with the Shirelles' version. RIP Gayle.

Smith, "Baby It's You"

[A-Lert]

Joey Feek, 40,  of the country duo Joey + Rory, has died of cancer, her husband Rory reports.

So sad, so young and vibrant. Enjoyed their TV program.

[mountaineer]

So sad, so young and vibrant. Enjoyed their TV program.

I never was much of a country music fan, but have watched some of their videos in the past year and have grown to appreciate their old-fashioned style. Hoping to pick up the new hymns CD.

[Machiavelli]

Pat Conroy, Author of 'The Prince of Tides' and 'The Great Santini,' Dies at 70

Pat Conroy, whose tortured family life and the scenic marshlands of coastal South Carolina served as unending sources of inspiration for his fiction, notably the novels "The Great Santini," "The Lords of Discipline" and "The Prince of Tides," died on Friday. He was 70.

His death was confirmed by Todd Doughty, the vice president, executive director of publicity at Doubleday. He said the cause of death was pancreatic cancer.

More

Wikipedia

My Heart's Content

[Paladin]

"Barbra Streisand is remembering her late friend, Pat Conroy.

Just one day after the author died at the age of 70 from pancreatic cancer, the Oscar-winning actress took to Instagram to share a photo of the two at the 44th Annual Writers Guild of America Awards in 1992, accompanied by a beautiful message detailing the significant role he played in her life.

"First, I fell in love with Pat Conroy's book, 'The Prince of Tides,' and then I fell in love with him," she remembered. "He was generous and kind, humble and loving…such a joy to work with. I was so honored that he entrusted his beautiful book to me."

"Pat's natural language was poetry…he wrote sentences that are like an incantation," Streisand, 73, continued. "He observed every nuance of human behavior and dug deep down to the truth…presenting it in all its glorious and stubborn complexity."

"I am so sad today," she concluded. "I lost a dear friend, and the world has lost a great writer."

As ET previously reported, Streisand directed and starred in the film adaptation of The Prince of Tides. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture."

http://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/barbra-streisand-pens-beautiful-tribute-to-late-prince-of-tides-author-pat-conroy/ar-BBqnRHq?ocid=spartanntp

[jmyrlefuller]

For posterity:

Former First Lady and actress Nancy Davis Reagan dies at 94

[mountaineer]

We can merge the separate thread on Mrs Reagan into this one after a day or so.

[jmyrlefuller]

We can merge the separate thread on Mrs Reagan into this one after a day or so.

If you want; I'm not sure it's necessary. Mrs. Reagan's death I believe is significant enough to warrant its own thread, hence why I simply linked to the thread.

[Sanguine]

Email inventor Raymond Tomlinson dies: 5 things to know, such as why the @ symbol



Associated Press By Associated Press
on March 06, 2016 at 6:37 PM, updated March 06, 2016 at 6:47 PM

Raymond Tomlinson, the inventor of modern email and selector of the "@" symbol, has died. He was 74.

Raytheon Co., his employer, on Sunday confirmed his death; the details were not immediately available.

Email existed in a limited capacity before Tomlinson in that electronic messages could be shared amid multiple people within a limited framework. But until his invention in 1971 of the first network person-to-person email, there was no way to send something to a specific person at a specific address.

Here are five things to know about Tomlinson's invention:

1. The first email was sent on the ARPANET system. The computer network  created for the U.S. government is considered a precursor to the Internet. Tomlinson also contributed to its development....

http://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2016/03/email_inventor_raymond_tomlins.html

He was quite young

[EasyAce]

George Martin, producer and arranger for the Beatles, dies at 90

He gave the Beatles their head from the outset, helped them shape their more sophisticated ideas, turned
a lot of their ideas into the best accompanying arrangements especially after they came off the road,
and together they made a music catalog to envy.

Paul McCartney
settles it: George Martin was the fifth Beatle

RIP Sir George.