http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/obituary/ en-us Sat, 4 Jul 2009 18:36:58 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2285552/posts Budapest - Bela Kiraly, a key figure in Hungary's ill-fated anti-Soviet revolution in 1956, died at the age of 97, the Ministry of Defence told MTI on Saturday. Inaugurated as an officer in 1935, Kadar graduated from the Budapest Military Academy in 1942, then took part in the Second World War. Promoted to general in 1950, he became commander of the Military Academy. A year later, however, he was sentenced to death, later mitigated to life imprisonment, under the trumped-up charge of conspiracy against the state. A key phase of his life was the 1956 revolution and freedom fight when... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2285552/posts#comment Sat, 4 Jul 2009 18:36:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284577/posts VETERAN newspaper columnist and editor Frank Devine has died. He was 77 years old. Friend and former New South Wales Opposition leader Peter Coleman, writing on The Australian website where Devine was a former columnist and editor, described him as the "laughing cavalier of Australian journalism". Devine had been editor of the Chicago Sun-Times and the New York Post, a senior editor at the American edition of Reader's Digest and editor-in-chief of the Australian Reader's Digest. news.com.au http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284577/posts#comment Fri, 3 Jul 2009 02:34:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284331/posts SAN DIEGO — Herbert G. Klein, the former Nixon aide whose 52 years with Copley Newspapers and active role in civic affairs made him a San Diego icon, died Thursday. Mr. Klein, who lived in La Jolla, was 91. Mr. Klein was the first White House director of communications, in Richard Nixon's embattled administration, until he resigned in July 1973, 13 months before the Watergate scandal forced the president himself to step down. He first tasted the world of politics as a reporter covering Nixon's 1946 congressional campaign. That association with Nixon eventually led him to the White House. Mr.... Sign on San Diego http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284331/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 19:34:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281409/posts Retired Marine Corps Col. Kenneth L. Reusser, called the most decorated Marine aviator in history and was shot down in three wars, has died at age 89. Reusser flew 253 combat missions in World War II, Korea and Vietnam and was shot down in all three, five times in all. His 59 medals included two Navy Crosses, four Purple Hearts and two Legions of Merit. In 1945, while based in Okinawa, he stripped down his F4U-4 Corsair fighter and intercepted a Japanese observation plane at a high altidude. When his guns froze, he flew his fighter into the observation plane,... Democrat Herald http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281409/posts#comment Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:57:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2279499/posts LA Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2279499/posts#comment Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:45:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2279271/posts Farrah Fawcett, who skyrocketed to fame as one of a trio of impossibly glamorous private eyes on TV's Charlie's Angels, has died after a long battle with cancer. She was 62. Fawcett died at 9:28 a.m. PST at St. John’s Heath Center in Santa Monica, Calif. She had recently returned to St. John's for treatment of complications from anal cancer, first diagnosed three years ago. Her longtime partner Ryan O'Neal was at her side throughout her final days. Like so much about Fawcett's life – including her bumpy relationship with O'Neal – her heroic struggle to beat the disease was... people http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2279271/posts#comment Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:51:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281323/posts LOS ANGELES – Gale Storm, whose wholesome appearance and perky personality made her one of early television's biggest stars on "My Little Margie" and "The Gale Storm Show," has died at age 87. Storm, who had been in failing health in recent years, died Saturday at a convalescent hospital, said her son, Peter Bonnell. Before landing the starring role in "My Little Margie" in 1952, Storm starred in numerous B movies opposite such stars as Roy Rogers, Eddie Albert and Jackie Cooper. After her last TV series, "The Gale Storm Show," ended in 1960 she went on to a successful... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281323/posts#comment Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:17:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2279410/posts Sky Saxon, founder of the brilliant ’60s garage band the Seeds, died Thursday morning at St. David’s Hospital. The newly minted Austinite, born Richard Marsh, was hospitalized Monday with what doctors suspected was an infection of the internal organs, but cause of death has not yet been released. Saxon fell ill last Thursday, but performed at Saturday at Antone’s with recent Austin collaborators Shapes Have Fangs. Sky’s wife Sabrina Saxon posted news of his passing on Facebook this morning: “Sky has passed over and YaHoWha is waiting for him at the gate. He will soon be home with his Father.... Austin 360 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2279410/posts#comment Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:48:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2278815/posts (CNN) -- Nearly a decade after she was rescued from a remote Antarctic research station after diagnosing herself with breast cancer, Dr. Jerri Nielsen died early Tuesday, her brother said. She was 57. Jerri Nielsen treated herself for breast cancer while stationed at the South Pole in 1999. Jerri Nielsen treated herself for breast cancer while stationed at the South Pole in 1999. Nielsen had been fighting the latest round of cancer for the past five years, brother Eric Cahill said. She died just before 4 a.m. in Massachusetts, surrounded by her family, he said. "She would want to be... CNN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2278815/posts#comment Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:00:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2277636/posts Multiple sources have reported that Billy "Red" Lyons has passed away from a long battle with cancer. The Examiner - Los Angeles http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2277636/posts#comment Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:01:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277429/posts Ed McMahon passed away this morning at age 86. FOX NEWS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277429/posts#comment Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:22:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277064/posts ROME — A Palestinian man who helped plan the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship during which an American passenger was killed has died in an Italian jail. Lawyer Sandro Clementi said Khaled Hussein died of a heart attack early Monday in a jail in Benevento, near Naples. He was 73. Sign on San Diego http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277064/posts#comment Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:51:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275552/posts TOKYO – Tomoji Tanabe, the world's oldest man, died in his sleep at his home in southern Japan on Friday, a city official said. He was 113. "He died peacefully. His family members were with him," said Junko Nakao, a city official in Miyakonojo on Japan's southern island of Kyushu. Tanabe died of heart failure, she said. Tanabe, who was born on Sept. 18, 1895, had eight children — five sons and three daughters. The former city land surveyor also had 25 grandchildren, 53 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren, according to a statement from Miyakonojo city. He was certified by the... Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275552/posts#comment Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:29:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2269762/posts Guitar legend Huey Long, the last surviving member of the original Ink Spots, died June 10 in Houston at the age of 105. Long was born in Sealy, Texas. He worked various jobs in the Houston area until he got his big break playing banjo in the Frank Davis Louisiana Jazz Band. In 1936, Bill Kenny, the leader of the Ink Spots, talked Long into leaving the jazz trio joining the Ink Spots. ...He moved back to Houston in the 90s, having written and arranged more than 80 songs. Long is survived by his daughter, Houston resident Anita Long, and... KHOU 11 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2269762/posts#comment Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:52:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266898/posts Gabon President Omar Bongo Ondimba, whose reign as Africa's longest-serving leader was overshadowed by allegations of massive corruption, has died aged 73, a source close to the French government said. Also announced on the Internet site of French weekly newspaper Le Point, Bongo's death was not officially confirmed by either Gabon or France's foreign ministry. "I was very surprised, like many of my compatriots, to learn of the death of of the Gabonese president via French television," Gabon Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong said in Libreville. "There are procedures: to begin with, the president has a family." Bongo, who led... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266898/posts#comment Mon, 8 Jun 2009 02:12:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266740/posts MIAMI – Bernard Leon Barker, one of the five Watergate burglars whose break-in led to America's biggest political scandal, died Friday in suburban Miami. He was 92. The Cuban-born former CIA operative who also participated in the Bay of Pigs invasion died at his home after being taken to the Veteran's Administration Medical Center the night before, said his stepdaughter, Kelly Andrad. He appeared to have died from complications of lung cancer, and he had also suffered from heart problems. Barker was one of five men who broke into the Watergate building in Washington on June 17, 1972. A piece... Yahoo - AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266740/posts#comment Sun, 7 Jun 2009 19:29:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266050/posts Medal of Honor recipient, George Wahlen dies June 5th, 2009 @ 6:30pm Salt Lake City -- Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and Utah resident George E. Wahlen died Friday morning after an extended illness. Wahlen was 84-years-old. Wahlen earned the Medal of Honor as a Navy Corpsman at the battle of Iwo Jima where he is credited for saving countless lives. He was injured on three separate occasions but refused to leave the battlefield. President Harry S. Truman presented the Medal of Honor to Wahlen in 1945. He later re-enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he served during the Korean... KSL.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266050/posts#comment Sat, 6 Jun 2009 08:08:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2265480/posts • –––––CONWAY — Pvt. William Andrew “Andy” Long, 23 of Conway, died Monday, June 1, 2009. Andy was born June 26, 1985, in Long Beach, Calif., to Daris and Janet (Roberson) Long. Andy recently finished Army training at Ft. Benning, Ga., and was on his way to Korea. He attended Sunny Gap Baptist Church in Conway. His family says he had an infectious smile, a great sense of humor, and a brilliant mind. He is a hero. Andy is survived by his parents, Daris and Janet Long of Conway; sister Vanessa Rice and husband Robert of Conway and brother Triston... Arkansas Democrat Gazette (subscription may be needed) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2265480/posts#comment Fri, 5 Jun 2009 14:16:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2265424/posts <p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Jack Henning, a pioneering leader of California's labor movement who served under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, has died at his home in San Francisco. He was 93.</p> <p>Henning served 26 years as executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, which represents more than 2 million workers.</p> Associated Press (via google) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2265424/posts#comment Fri, 5 Jun 2009 13:08:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2265037/posts ORLANDO, Fla. – Charles Donald Albury, co-pilot of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, has died after years of congestive heart failure. He was 88. Albury died May 23 at a hospital, Family Funeral Care in Orlando confirmed. Albury helped fly the B-29 Bockscar that dropped the weapon on Aug. 9, 1945, and witnessed the deployment of the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima three days earlier as a pilot for a support plane. His plane dropped instruments to measure the magnitude of the blast and levels of radioactivity for the Hiroshima mission led by Col. Paul... Yahoo - AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2265037/posts#comment Fri, 5 Jun 2009 00:13:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2263442/posts AUSTRALIA'S oldest man and last remaining World War I digger Jack Ross has died, aged 110. Mr Ross died peacefully in his sleep at the Golden Oaks Nursing Home in the central Victorian city of Bendigo about 4am (AEST) this morning. Mr Ross turned 110 on March 9 this year. As an 18-year-old Mr Ross enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in January, 1918 and trained at the wireless training school before he was posted to the 1st Battalion at Broadmeadows camp in Victoria. But the war ended before he could be posted overseas and he was demobilised on Christmas... news.com.au http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2263442/posts#comment Wed, 3 Jun 2009 02:25:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2261730/posts The last survivor of the sinking of the Titanic has died aged 97. Millvina Dean was nine weeks old when the liner sank after hitting an iceberg in the early hours of 15 April 1912, on its maiden voyage from Southampton. The disaster resulted in the deaths of 1,517 people in the north Atlantic, largely due to a lack of lifeboats. Miss Dean, who remembered nothing of the fateful journey, died on Sunday at the care home in Hampshire where she lived, two of her friends told the BBC. Her family had been travelling to America, where they hoped to... BBC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2261730/posts#comment Sun, 31 May 2009 19:57:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2260866/posts "The Golden Greek" John Tolos, perhaps one of the finest interviews in the history of wrestling, has been silenced. Tolos, a native of Hamilton, Ontario, died Thursday night in Los Angeles. He was 78. CANOE -- SLAM! Sports http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2260866/posts#comment Fri, 29 May 2009 22:19:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2260827/posts Navajo Code Talker dies Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr., offers condolences to family WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr., today conveyed his condolences to the family of the late Navajo Code Talker and Navajo Tribal Councilman John Brown, Jr., of Crystal, N.M., who died this morning at home. He was 88. “Today, with sadness, we heard of the passing of Mr. John Brown, Jr., one of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers and one of the Navajo Nation’s great warriors,” President Shirley said. “For so long, these brave men were the true unsung heroes of... native times dot com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2260827/posts#comment Fri, 29 May 2009 20:49:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2259043/posts Peter Zezel, Former NHL Player, Dies of Blood Disorder at 44 Former New Jersey Devils forward Peter Zezel dead at 44 Kevin Larkin/Associated Press Former Devil Peter Zezel, shown fighting for the puck in the 1997 Eastern Conference semi-final, died Tuesday after battling a blood disorder. Former NHL forward Peter Zezel, who played 23 games for the Devils in 1996-97 and 1997-98, died Tuesday in a Toronto hospital after battling a longtime blood disorder. Zezel, who fought hemolytic anemia for the past 10 years, recently underwent surgery to have his spleen removed and had also received chemotherapy treatments. He was... Star Ledger http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2259043/posts#comment Wed, 27 May 2009 14:51:03 GMT