Obituaries for 2017

[musiclady]

Reportedly posted on Facebook:

Oh, how sad....... 



I hate cancer.  It's evil.  EVIL.

[mountaineer]

Silence Of The Lambs director Jonathan Demme dead at 73
The Oscar-winning director died from complications of his esophageal cancer
By Emmeline Saunders
    15:54, 26 APR 2017
Mirror (UK)

Jonathan Demme, the director of huge films including Silence Of The Lambs, Philadelphia and Rachel Getting Married has passed away at the age of 73.

A source close to his family revealed to IndieWire that his cause of death esophageal cancer and complications from heart disease.

He had originally been treated for his cancer in 2010 but it returned in 2015.

We'll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.

[Gefn]

Silence Of The Lambs director Jonathan Demme dead at 73
The Oscar-winning director died from complications of his esophageal cancer
By Emmeline Saunders
    15:54, 26 APR 2017
Mirror (UK)

Jonathan Demme, the director of huge films including Silence Of The Lambs, Philadelphia and Rachel Getting Married has passed away at the age of 73.

A source close to his family revealed to IndieWire that his cause of death esophageal cancer and complications from heart disease.

He had originally been treated for his cancer in 2010 but it returned in 2015.

We'll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.

Oh wow. That movie scared the you know what out of me.

RIP

[sneakypete]

Oh, how sad....... 



I hate cancer.  It's evil.  EVIL.

@musiclady

The number 1 cause of death world-wide is birth.

Living causes dying.

[sneakypete]

Oh wow. That movie scared the you know what out of me.

RIP

@Freya en

You should try reading the book and watching the other related films after reading those books.

I had never heard of the author,but when the paperback first came out I was at a K-Mart waiting to have the oil and filters changed in my new car,and discovered I didn't have a book with me to read while waiting,so I went inside the store to buy one.

The selection sucked unless you were a fan of romance novels,including cowboy romance novels. So I picked out the book that seemed to be the oddball book and bought it to read. The hair was standing up on the back of my neck by the end of the second chapter,but I couldn't put the damn thing down until I finished it.

The movie WAS very,very good,though.

[Cripplecreek]

Oh, how sad....... 



I hate cancer.  It's evil.  EVIL.

My cousin's toddler had cancer and died a few years ago yet the cancer didn't kill her directly. She was so weak from the chemo and the cancer that she suffocated in her sleep simply because she turned her head to the right angle.

[musiclady]

@musiclady

The number 1 cause of death world-wide is birth.

Living causes dying.

As much as I understand that, I still think cancer is a stinky way to die.  The treatment is often worse than the disease, but if you want to stay alive a while longer, you need to deal with the horror of the treatment.

I hate cancer.

[Wingnut]

@musiclady

The number 1 cause of death world-wide is birth.

Living causes dying.

No one gets out alive.  However, I prefer to go out at a very old age and very peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather...not as the 5 other screaming passengers in his car did when it went off the cliff.

[musiclady]

No one gets out alive.  However, I prefer to go out at a very old age and very peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather...not as the 5 other screaming passengers in his car did when it went off the cliff.

That may be an old joke, but it always brings a smile to one's face.

(A kind of sadistic smile, I guess....   )

[truth_seeker]

My father died from esophageal cancer, five years after the initial surgery for it. One week short of age 70.

His death was actually from infections contracted in the hospital for the second surgery.

The surgery for esophageal cancer, is more invasive than open heart, since they go in from the front AND the back.

[Sanguine]

As much as I understand that, I still think cancer is a stinky way to die.  The treatment is often worse than the disease, but if you want to stay alive a while longer, you need to deal with the horror of the treatment.

I hate cancer.

I want to correct that for those of you who may have to deal with this:  the treatment may not be very bad.  Not a fun way to spend a year, but not horrible either.

[Cripplecreek]

I want to correct that for those of you who may have to deal with this:  the treatment may not be very bad.  Not a fun way to spend a year, but not horrible either.

True enough. My grandmother was diagnosed as terminal within 6 months by the local hospital but the VA gave her nearly 6 and a half more good and relatively pain free years. (not every story out of the VA is bad)

[musiclady]

I want to correct that for those of you who may have to deal with this:  the treatment may not be very bad.  Not a fun way to spend a year, but not horrible either.

Depends on what the treatments are and what the cancer is.  Chemo and palliative care has improved much since my younger sister died from melanoma in 1976, but with a son in law presently dealing with the treatment for late stage colon cancer, I'd say it still can be pretty awful.

[Sanguine]

Depends on what the treatments are and what the cancer is.  Chemo and palliative care has improved much since my younger sister died from melanoma in 1976, but with a son in law presently dealing with the treatment for late stage colon cancer, I'd say it still can be pretty awful.

I'm speaking from personal experience.

[musiclady]

I'm speaking from personal experience.

I understand that situations and treatments are different, and that they've come very, very far in the last decades.

And I am very thankful that our son in law, now in experimental treatments because he has outlived the standard treatments, is still alive and able to teach and live a semi-normal life.  The longer he lives, the better off the world is.

I still hate cancer. 

[Sanguine]

I understand that situations and treatments are different, and that they've come very, very far in the last decades.

And I am very thankful that our son in law, now in experimental treatments because he has outlived the standard treatments, is still alive and able to teach and live a semi-normal life.  The longer he lives, the better off the world is.

I still hate cancer. 

Now, on that last point I heartily agree!

[musiclady]

Now, on that last point I heartily agree!

I somehow knew you would.  ^-^

I'm also glad you're OK now....

[EasyAce]

I'm speaking from personal experience.

Once upon a time, the only thing they could do for you if you had lung cancer and it was
too advanced to consider removing part or all of a lung was to pump your chest cavity
around the lungs with sulfa drugs. I saw my father go through it for ten months before
he died in 1966.

[Sanguine]

Once upon a time, the only thing they could do for you if you had lung cancer and it was
too advanced to consider removing part or all of a lung was to pump your chest cavity
around the lungs with sulfa drugs. I saw my father go through it for ten months before
he died in 1966.

Sounds horrible.  And, not very effective.

[Machiavelli]

Jonathan Demme, Oscar-Winning Director, Is Dead at 73

Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning filmmaker who observed emphatically American characters with a discerning eye, a social conscience and a rock ’n’ roll heart, achieving especially wide acclaim with “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia,” died on Wednesday at his home in Manhattan.

He was 73.

His publicist, Leslee Dart, confirmed the death. Mr. Demme disclosed that he had cancer in 2015.

Mob wives, CB radio buffs and AIDS victims; Hannibal Lecter, Howard Hughes and Jimmy Carter: Mr. Demme (pronounced DEM-ee) plucked his subjects and stories largely from the stew of contemporary American subcultures and iconography. He created a body of work — including fiction films and documentaries, dramas and comedies, original scripts, adaptations and remakes — that resists easy characterization.

More

Wikipedia

IMDb

[sneakypete]

I want to correct that for those of you who may have to deal with this:  the treatment may not be very bad.  Not a fun way to spend a year, but not horrible either.

@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.

[Sanguine]

@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.

That it does, Pete!  However, when it's my turn I'm happy to move on to the next plane of existence.

[Cripplecreek]

That it does, Pete!  However, when it's my turn I'm happy to move on to the next plane of existence.

Just hope it isn't United airlines helping you move

[Sanguine]

Just hope it isn't United airlines helping you move

LOL.  No, I'm planning on going with a bigger line.

[bigheadfred]

LOL.  No, I'm planning on going with a bigger line.

I don't know if I'm going with a bigger line. Prolly just stick with "Geronimo!!!" 

[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.