Obituaries for 2025

[verga]

Pope Francis passed away 7:35 am Monday morning.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/pope-francis-died-cardinal-kevin-075353546.html
Pope Francis, the 266th leader of the Roman Catholic Church who ushered in a progressive era for the Vatican, died Monday.He was 88.

Francis’ death follows a five-week hospitalization in February and March, initially for bronchitis and then also for pneumonia in both of his lungs. He was released March 23 and had just celebrated Easter Mass on Sunday.

[jmyrlefuller]

Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve "Mongo" McMichael dies at 67

McMichael, a defensive tackle, spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Bears, including on the team that won Super Bowl XX in early 1986. As gregarious as he was fearsome, McMichael had a brief professional wrestling and coaching career after his retirement, and a stint in sports talk radio.

In 2021, McMichael was diagnosed with amyotropic lateral sclerosis. By the time of his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2024, he had been almost completely incapacitated by the disease, from which he died April 23, 2025.

https://wgntv.com/sports/bears-report/bears-great-steve-mongo-mcmichael-dies-at-age-67/

[mountaineer]

ALS is so very devastating. Sad.

[jmyrlefuller]

Comedian and gospel singer Lulu Roman dies at 78

Roman, who began her career as the fat comic relief in some Dallas strip clubs owned by Jack Ruby (yes, that Jack Ruby who killed the guy who killed JFK), was discovered by Buck Owens and became a "Hee Haw Honey" (or, in her case, a "Hee Haw Homely") on the TV show Hee Haw. Drug addiction derailed her career for a time in the early 1970s, but she recovered and embraced Christianity, becoming an acclaimed gospel singer (as a natural talent with no formal musical training) and toning down her previously bawdy act. She returned to Hee Haw and stayed with it until the show ended its run in 1993.

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/singer-comedian-hee-haw-star-lulu-roman-dies

[mountaineer]

She had a rough life. Put into an orphanage and pretty much abandoned by her family at age 2-1/2, she didn't leave until her high school graduation. She overcame drug addiction and was on Hee Haw for decades.

Variety:

“You have to choose to be a forgiver,” Roman said about finding a way to release her birth family from the animus she held against them from abandoning her at 4. “Then I had to forgive myself for all the stupid choices I made in my life… You can allow the blood of Jesus to define who you are, and in that is freedom.”

[deb]

She had a rough life. Put into an orphanage and pretty much abandoned by her family at age 2-1/2, she didn't leave until her high school graduation. She overcame drug addiction and was on Hee Haw for decades.

Variety:

She finished strong. Rest in peace, sister in Christ.

[jmyrlefuller]

Stan Love, pro basketball player and Beach Boys relative, dies at 75

Stan had a four-year career in the NBA during the 1970s, though his son, Kevin Love, had a much longer career.

He also had a few other famous relatives, including his older brother Mike, who was in a little group called the Beach Boys with their cousins, Carl, Dennis and Brian Wilson.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/miami-heat/article305204821.html