Obituaries for 2017

[jmyrlefuller]

Michael Mantenuto dies at 35

Mantenuto was a college hockey player at the University of Maine. In 2004, he earned his only acting credit of note, that of USA Hockey "Miracle on Ice" team member Jack O'Callahan, in the film Miracle. After a few other bit parts, Mantenuto joined the U.S. military.

He was found dead in his car Thursday of a suspected suicide.

Obituary from Variety

Wikipedia

IMDB

Career hockey stats

[DCPatriot]

@jmyrlefuller

Do you know who you look like?   Saw 'you' in Starship Troopers the other day.

You're Ace Levy  - Jake Busey

 

[Machiavelli]

Former Santa Clara, NBA forward Ken Sears dies at 83

Ken Sears, an All-America basketball player for Santa Clara in the 1950s who later played eight seasons in the NBA, died Sunday in his hometown of Watsonville, the university announced Monday. He was 83.

Mr. Sears played from 1951 through ’55 for the Broncos under head coach Bob Feerick and started as a freshman on their Final Four team of 1952.

He was twice named the WCC Player of the Year, beating out USF’s Bill Russell for the honor in 1955.

More

Ken Sears dies; Santa Clara University player became NBA All-Star

Wikipedia

NBA career stats

[Gefn]

@Sanguine

And it STILL beats the hell out of dying.

Something is always better than nothing. A bit of wisdom I remind myself of more often than before,now that I am in my 7th decade of excellence.

h

Sometimes living is so bad that dying is preferable

[Cyber Liberty]

h

Sometimes living is so bad that dying is preferable

I know you've had a rough patch recently, I hope that hasn't been crossing your mind.  You have a lot of friends here who would miss you terribly, and friends with you who would wonder if there was anything they could have done better. 

[sneakypete]

h

Sometimes living is so bad that dying is preferable

@Freya

Maybe,but living is a temporary thing,and dying is forever.

[montanajoe]

Sometimes living is so bad that dying is preferable

My fear, and what I'm facing is living after dementia set in.

As I have gotten older and with reflection I find I'm pretty satisfied with how I have lived..but for me dying is clearly preferable to years of dementia in diapers in a nursing home...YMMV.

[Smokin Joe]

My fear, and what I'm facing is living after dementia set in.

As I have gotten older and with reflection I find I'm pretty satisfied with how I have lived..but for me dying is clearly preferable to years of dementia in diapers in a nursing home...YMMV.

But you get to meet all those nice people all over again in the morning...

Seriously, I hear you.

[sneakypete]

My fear, and what I'm facing is living after dementia set in.

As I have gotten older and with reflection I find I'm pretty satisfied with how I have lived..but for me dying is clearly preferable to years of dementia in diapers in a nursing home...YMMV.

@montanajoe

A fear shared by every intelligent being.

The up side is IF that happens to you,me,or anyone else,we won't know anything about it,and we will be providing jobs for people that need them.

We all contribute on whatever level we can contribute,voluntarily or otherwise.

[montanajoe]

@montanajoe
.....
We all contribute on whatever level we can contribute,voluntarily or otherwise.

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to supply side economics

[sneakypete]

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to supply side economics

@montanajoe

Yeah,the airheads refer to it as "the Circle of Life".

I see it more as being in the shape of a colostomy bag,but by then you won't care. You might even say that for many folks their lives were bleep anyhow,so it's just a minor adjustment for them.

[TomSea]

Ray Perry, WWII tail gunner and father of U.S. energy chief Rick Perry, dies at 92
Written by Marc Ramirez, Dallas Morning News

Joseph "Ray" Perry, the 92-year-old father of U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, has died.

The former World War II tail gunner served nearly 30 years as a Haskell County commissioner, the Houston Chronicle reported. For years, he and his wife operated a farm operation near rural Paint Creek, Texas, where they raised their children, including Rick, who would go on to become the state's longest-serving governor.

Continued: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2017/04/28/ray-perry-wwii-tail-gunner-father-us-energy-chief-rick-perry-dies-92

[Applewood]

Rest in peace, Mr. Perry. 

Sad to see the heroes of the Greatest Generation are leaving us so quickly.

[Machiavelli]

RIP Don Gordon

R.I.P., DON GORDON (November 13, 1926 – April 24, 2017), movie and TV character actor. He had recurring roles on THE BLUE ANGELS (1960-61), PEYTON PLACE (1966), and LUCAN (1977-78). He appeared with his friend Steve McQueen in BULLITT (1968), PAPILLON (1973) and THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974) and two episodes of WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE.

More

Wikipedia

IMDb

[catfish1957]

From the obit add, I was guessing maybe Prince Phillip died again.

[Wingnut]

Do you have Prince Phillip in a Can?

[Smokin Joe]

Do you have Prince Phillip in a Can?

Might be in one of these, but they call it "the loo".

[EasyAce]

R.I.P. Saxa From The (English) Beat 1938-2017

The original saxophonist for the English Beat (actually the Beat, but a U.S. band of the time known as the
Beat---and very different from the British sextet---compelled the name change for the U.S.) passed away
3 May at 87.

The English Beat, I Just Can't Stop It

[Machiavelli]

Sam Mele, Major League Player, Manager and Scout, Dies at 95

Growing up in Queens, where he played high school baseball, Sam Mele had no shortage of advice on the fine points of the game. His uncles Tony and Al Cuccinello were major league infielders, and Tony’s Brooklyn Dodgers teammate Al Lopez, who was their catcher and a future Hall of Fame manager, dropped by to give him a tip or two.

Mele became an outstanding baseball and basketball player at New York University, played for 10 seasons in the major leagues, mostly in the outfield, then managed the Minnesota Twins to the 1965 American League pennant.

He died on Monday at his home in Quincy, Mass., at 95, remembered for a baseball career spanning nearly half a century. His death was announced by his first major league team, the Boston Red Sox, with whom he had a long association.

Mele (pronounced MEE-lee) had been a coach for the original Washington Senators and their successors, the Twins, when he was named their manager in June 1961, the Twins’ first season in Minneapolis, succeeding Cookie Lavagetto.

More

Wikipedia

Manager stats

Player stats

@EasyAce

[EasyAce]

Sam Mele, Major League Player, Manager and Scout, Dies at 95
More

Wikipedia

Manager stats

Player stats

@EasyAce

@Machiavelli
1955: Sam Mele got one of the only two hits in Sandy Koufax's first major league win, against the Reds.
1965: Mele's Twins got their tails waxed by Koufax on two shutouts in the World Series.

[jmyrlefuller]

Olympic gold medalist bobsledder Steven Holcomb found dead at 37



Holcomb was a participant in the 2010 Winter Olympics, where he led the U.S. four-man bobsled team to its first gold medal in the sport since 1942. He then returned in 2014, earning a bronze medal for the U.S. two-man bobsled team.

Holcomb was training for the 2018 Olympics in Lake Placid where he was found dead. No cause of death was given.

Obituary from the Syracuse Post-Standard

Wikipedia

U.S. Olympic Committee bio

[TomSea]

Life well lived: Polio vaccine pioneer Dr. Julius Youngner dies at 96
May. 7, 2017 at 8:40 AM
TODAY

In this week’s Life Well Lived, we look back at the important research done by Dr. Julius Youngner as part of a team that developed the Salk polio vaccine in 1955. Youngner died April 27 at the age of 96.

http://www.today.com/news/life-well-lived-polio-vaccine-pioneer-dr-julius-youngner-dies-t111238

Not sure if this was listed.

[Just_Victor]

Not sure if this was listed.

My paternal grandfather died of polio in 1935, when my father was just shy of 2.  If only...

Of course part of that "if only" is that I might not exist...

[EC]

Richard Basciano, Times Square Pornography Magnate, Dies at 91

Richard Basciano, who fended off decades of legal challenges to preserve Show World as the last outpost of his vast New York pornographic empire, allowing him to reign for a time as the only surviving Times Square sultan of smut, died on Monday in Manhattan. He was 91.

His death was confirmed by his lawyer, Thomas A. Sprague.

A former boxer who pleaded no contest to a store coupon scam in his native Baltimore and who once peddled raunchy magazines in New York, Mr. Basciano made millions of dollars from the quarters that his customers deposited for peep shows and more interactive forms of entertainment.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/06/nyregion/richard-basciano-dead-show-world-owner-in-times-square.html

[mountaineer]

Wife Of ESPN Broadcaster Chris Berman Dies In Crash

WOODBURY, Conn. (AP) – The wife of longtime ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman has died in a traffic crash in Connecticut.

State police say 67-year-old Katherine Ann Berman, of Cheshire, was one of two victims in the two-vehicle crash at about 2:15 p.m. Tuesday in Woodbury. The other victim was 87-year-old Edward Bertulis, of Waterbury.

ESPN President John Skipper said in a statement the death is a “devastating tragedy and difficult to comprehend” and pledged to give Chris Berman “the love and support he will surely need in this hour.”   .... More.