In Memory, 2020
We have a tradition at UUFM that goes back to 1999 when our part-time minister then, Rev. Sarah Oehlberg, celebrated Memorial Day by remembering those who had died in the last year. While she would deliver her sermon at Nora Church in Hanska, I would read it to us on Pohl road. After she retired, I continued the practice on my own. With the Covid Crisis and social distancing, this year is a little different. I will not deliver the whole memorial—it is available on our website, if you are interested. It is just too long for an online recitation. Instead, I will focus here primarily on those who have died from our region and from our congregation.
The crisis is driving home how many of us are used to stability (at least in the United States, at least for those who are not living every day with poverty). How we plotted our career paths, how we insured our economic security, how we interpreted our domestic and international and global striving—they all were made on the assumption that the environment was stable. Any change would come from our behavior, our intentions, our efforts; and the fault (or success) would be on us. But now, failure is out of our hands—people are dying because they were exposed to something they could not perceive or avoid; people are out of work not because they or their company failed but because they could not go to work; retirement plans, customer bases and company “good will,” athletic and performance careers are evaporating despite the best-laid plans. The ways that our lives are inherently contingent, rather than a reward or punishment for our moral choices, is driven home. Despite that, today is a time to hold in memory, if only briefly, a few (only a few, although it might not seem so) of the people who, for better or ill, have brought us to where we are today as we, all, build on the memories that will carry forward those who are coming behind us.
Lest we forget, this was, yet again, a year marked by violence—
- 49 US soldiers were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since January, 2019
- 454 people killed in mass shootings in the US
- And, so far, Covid 19 has claimed over 218,000 people worldwide, over 59,000 in the US, and over 300 in Minnesota. Among them:
- Ellis Marsalis, 85. Patriarch of the New Orleans musical family..
- Terrence McNally, 81. Playwright who wrote Kiss of the Spiderwoman and Ragtime.
- Roy Horn, 75. Half of the illusionist act, Siegfried and Roy. Their on-stage career ended when one of their tigers mauled him on stage.
- William Helmreich, 74. Son of Holocaust survivors, he became a sociologist and wrote a book about walking every street in New York. He was working on a book about each of he Burroughs when he died.
- John Prine, 73. Two-time Grammy winner, the gravel-voiced folk singer has been called the Mark Twain of music.
International Affairs
Javier Perez de Cuellar, 100. Peruvian diplomat. Two-term Secretary General of the UN, he brokered the ceasefire between Iran and Iraq in 1988. He also came out of retirement to help re-establish democracy in Peru.
Robert Mugabe, 95. A Marxist guerilla leader in Rhodesia during the strife that led to independent Zimbabwe, he ruled first as Prime Minister and then as President from independence in 1980 until forced out by a coup in 2017. In the beginning, he stressed the need for education and health care, encouraged tourism, and reached out to Whites. But he became increasingly autocratic, and in a 2000 land reform dispossessed 4500 white descendants of the farmland and redistributed it to his cronies. This, and subsequent economic sanctions, destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy and he resorted to violence and voter fraud to hold on to power. His rule became a case study in how power corrupts.
Ernesto Cardenal, 95. Priest, poet, and Minister of Culture for Nicaragua in the first term of the Sandinista president, Daniel Ortega. His political activism put him at odds with Pope John Paul II, who suspended him from priestly duties (he was reinstated by Pope Franics in 2019.
Daniel Arap Moi, 95. President of Kenya from 1978-2002. Son of a herdsman (“arap” means “son of”) from a minority tribe, he became a teacher and school headmaster before coming to the attention of Jomo Kenyatta, founder of Kenya’s independence, and became his vice president. On Kenyatta’s death, he was elected president and initiated many reforms, including free milk for children and encouraging agriculture and tourism. He also became corrupt and autocratic, embezzling billions and torturing opponents. Nonethless, when his presidency came up against constitutional time limits, he peacefully stepped aside and lived quietly the rest of his life.
Hosmi Mubarak, 91. He became President of Egypt when Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981. He partnered with the US in the 1990 Gulf War and pursued peace efforts in the Israel/Palestine conflict. His rule, noted not for any major reforms but for steady economic growth, ended 30 years later with the Tahrir Square protests in 2011.
Jacques Chirac, 86. For 12 years the President of France, he was the first to acknowledge France’s role in the Holocaust and he opposed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 (giving us “freedom fries” in the US). He publicly called for against climate change at the Johannesburg World Summit in 2002: “Our house is burning down and we’re blind to it.” Born into a well-to-do business family, he was expelled from school for shooting paper wads at a teacher (so I guess there’s hope for the rest of us), and later while attending summer school at Harvard he worked as a fork-lift operator in St. Louis and a soda jerk at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant.
Mohamed Morsi, 67. An engineer by training, he led the Islamist Freedom and Justice Party and was the first democratically elected president of Egypt. He served for a year until he was overthrown in a coup led by General Al-Sisi. Seven years after his military arrest, he collapsed and in a Cairo courtroom.
Qassem Soleimani, 62. Iranian general who led the Quds Force, Iran’s regional security force which directed its shadow wars with Hezbollah and other units. He was assassinated in Iraq by an American drone strike.
James LeMesurier, 48. Despite his name, he was a British Army officer who had served in civilian conflict zones in Northern Ireland and the Balkans. He founded Mayday Rescue, which among other things trained the Syrian White Helmets who rescued people trapped in buildings collapsed by the fighting in the Syrian civil war. He was found dead on the street beneath the balcony of his apartment in Istanbul; the Turkish police treated his death as a suicide.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, 48. Iraqi-born leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), he died by his own hand when his safe house was raided by US forces.
National Affairs
John Paul Stevens, 99. Nominated by Pres. Ford, he became the Supreme Court’s leading liberal Justice. In his 35 years on the bench, he wrote opinions limiting the death penalty, squelching official prayer in schools, establishing gay rights, promoting racial equality, preserving legal abortion, protecting the rights of crime suspects and illegal immigrants facing deportation. He didn’t consider himself a liberal, but felt instead that the Court had shifted far to his right.
Joseph Lowery, 98. Alabama preacher, friend of Martin Luther King Jr, one of the founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. At Coretta King’s funeral, with the Iraq War raging and both Bush Presidents behind him in the sanctuary, he preached “For war, billions more, but no more for the poor.” Giving the invocation at Barack Obama’s inauguration, he preached “We as you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back; when brown can stick around; when yellow will be mellow; when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right.” He was not afraid to speak truth to power.
Lowell Bruce Laingen, 96. After almost 30 years in the diplomatic corps (he was ambassador to Malta), he accepted the position of charge d’affaires for Iran as the Revolutionary Guard were taking over. He accepted knowing it was a dangerous post, and when the Teheran embassy was taken, he and 51 others were held captive for 444 days, bringing down the Carter administration. He was born on a farm near Butterfield and graduated from St Olaf and the University of Minnesota.
Paul Volcker, 92. Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board under Carter and Reagan, and of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board under Obama. Faced with double-digit inflation, he raised interest rates to historic highs and triggered a recession. Bitter medicine.
John Conyers, 90. For 52 years a US Congressman from Detroit, he founded the Congressional Black Caucus and authored the Bill creating the Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday. One of his first Congressional hires was Rosa Parks, who worked for him until her retirement 30 years later.
Henry Ross Perot, 89. Billionaire, philanthropist, and politician. He founded EDS (Electronic Data Systems), and ran as a third-party candidate for President in 1992 and 1996. In his first race, he won 18.9% of the vote (but no electoral votes)—the most of any third-party candidate. He campaigned on a balancing the budget, ending the outsourcing of jobs, and expanding direct democracy through digital means. Sound familiar?
Paul Krassner, 87. The youngest person to play violin at Carnegie Hall (he was 6), he studied journalism and became an advocate for freedom of the press, publishing the satirical magazine, The Realist. He was also a standup comedian, edited the autobiography of Lenny Bruce, and wrote freelance for Mad Magazine. But you probably know him for founding the Youth International Party (the Yippies) in 1967 and being part of Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters. They pulled such pranks as running a pig for President and throwing dollar bills onto the trading floor of the NY Stock Exchange.
William Ruckleshaus, 89. He is being haled as a conservative who was a conservationist because of his role as EPA Director under both Nixon and Reagan. He was serving as deputy to Attorney General Richardson when Nixon ordered him to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Like Richardson, Ruckleshaus resigned instead.
Ram Dass, 88. Born Richard Alpert, he earned his PhD in Psychology at Stanford and taught at Harvard, where he met Timothy Leary and conducted experiments and published books and articles on the use of LSD to achieve spiritual enlightenment. Eventually he went to an ashram in India and on his return changed his name to Ram Dass, which means Servant of God. He founded the Center for Conscious Living and Dying (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross was one of his students), and is best known for his books, Be Here Now and Polishing the Mirror.
Elijah Cummings, 68. The “lion of Congress,” he was chair of House Committee on Oversight and Reform when he died. Son a sharecropper, when he was 11 he helped integrate a swimming pool in South Baltimore. Trained as an attorney, he served 14 years in the Maryland Legislature and 19 years in the US House. In his closing statement at the end of testimony from one of the President’s lawyers before his committee last year, Cummings thundered, “We have to get back to normal!”
Science & Business
Gyorgy “George” Rosenkranz, 102. Working in Mexico for Syntex on a synthetic hormone to help prevent miscarriages, he and two colleagues stumbled on an affordable, fairly foolproof compound that would prevent pregnancy. Although it was approved by the FDA in 1959, Syntex’s partner, Parke Davis, refused to market it for fear of blowback from the Catholic Church. Johnson & Johnson picked it up in 1962 and marketed it as Ortho-Novum—“the pill.” He also was the first to develop a synthetic cortisone. Born in Budapest, he earned his doctorate in Switzerland but fled to the Americas when the Nazis came to power. He also studied piano under Bela Bartok, spoke multiple languages, and was a world-class Bridge player (the “Rosenkranz double and redouble” is named for him).
Katherine Johnson, 101. The last of the “Hidden Figures,” the women “computers” who manually calculated the trajectories for the early NASA missions. When NASA brought on the new IBM 7090 to do the calculations, before he would launch into orbit John Glenn insisted, “Get that girl to check the numbers.” She broke barriers both of race—she was among the first African-American scientists at NASA—and gender—she was the first woman to be listed as principle author of a NASA report. Her work at NASA continued through to the Shuttle program.
Gloria Vanderbilt, 95. The “poor little rich girl” (she hated that label), she was heir to a $5million trust fund when her father died and she was 1 year old. At age 10 she was the object of a nasty custody fight in which her aunt won custody. At age 17, her aunt disinherited her for marrying without permission. She was married four times (Leopold Stokowski was one of her husbands), but only her last marriage was happy. She is known for her line of clothing, for her patronage of the arts, and for her youngest son, the TV journalist Anderson Cooper.
Lee Iacocca, 94. President of Ford and of Chrysler, he was responsible for the Ford Mustang and Pinto and the Chrysler K-cars and the Minivan (both ideas he had proposed but Ford had rejected). He also negotiated a government bailout when Chrysler was on the ropes (and paid off the loan before he retired). When Iacocca asked Henry Ford II why he fired him when the company had just posted a $2billion profit, young Henry is supposed to have replied, “Frankly, Lee, I never liked you.”
George Laurer, 94. An IBM engineer, he invented the now ubiquitous UPC/bar code in the 1970s, and introduced automation to product pricing and inventory control. IBM considers his work one of its 100 iconic products.
Cesar Pelli, 92. Argentine-born architect, he designed some of the world’s tallest buildings—the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the World Financial Center in New York City, and the TWA Terminal at JFK Airport. He also designed the Wells Fargo Center, Gaviidae Commons, and the Minneapolis Central Library.
Lew Klein, 91. Philadelphia broadcaster who directed “Romper Room” and “Captain Noah and his Magical Ark”—and went on to become executive producer of “American Bandstand” and telecasts for the Phillies. He taught communications at his alma mater, Temple University, for 65 years.
Barron Hilton, 91. Although he is known for expanding his father’s hotel chain, he first made his own fortune in orange juice and oil and aircraft-leasing. He also founded the LA Chargers and the American Football League.
- Boone Pickens, 91. Oil tycoon and corporate raider. Towards the end of his career he became an advocate of renewable energy. “I’ve been an oilman all my life, but this is one emergency we can’t drill our way out of.”
Joseph Coulombe, 89. Founder of the Trader Joe’s, the grocery chain known for its unusual foods, generous wine selection, and laid-back style. He insisted that everything sold in his store be first taste-tested—“I must sample about 4,000 wines a year he once said.” Hard work, but someone had to do it.
Alexei Leonov, 85. First human to walk in space. Before settling on aviation school, he considered going to art school and he took colored pencils with him into space. He exited his Voskhod 2 capsule in March, 1965, three months before US astronaut Ed White did the same. “I stepped into the void and I didn’t fall in,” he said. He almost didn’t get back—his suit overinflated in the vacuum of space and he had to vent some of his oxygen so he could fit back into the hatch. He also commanded the Soviet half of the Soyuz-Apollo 19 flight ten years later—a joint space mission while we were still in the Cold War.
Jim Lehrer, 85. Founder with Robin MacNeal of PBS NewsHour (it used to be called The MacNeal-Lehrer Report), and moderator of 11 presidential debates.
Jack Welch, 84. CEO OF FE from 1981-2001. His focus on results and hands-management turned GE around—while costing thousands of his employees their jobs as he cut costs and shed unprofitable business lines.
David Koch, 79. Businessman, philanthropist, political activist, and chemical engineer, he was half of the fabled “Koch brothers.” His philanthropies included the Lincoln Center, Sloan Kettering, NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital, the Dinosaur Wing at the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center, home of the New York City Ballet. In politics, he was a Libertarian (he ran as VP on the Libertarian ticket in 1980) and later a Republican, and was founder and Board Chair of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation. He opposed the war on drugs, the war in Iraq, and the Affordable Care Act and he supported women’s right to choose, gay rights, same-sex marriage, prison reform and stem-cell research.
Dr. Patricia Bath, 76. First African-American female doctor to receive a medical patent for her photoablative laser device for cataract surgery. Born in Harlem, she earned an NSF scholarship as a teenager. She was the first African American surgeon, the first woman ophthalmologist faculty member, and the first woman in the United States to head an ophthalmology residency program, all at UCLA Medical Center. She focused her career on treating blindness from preventable causes, in the US and abroad, co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, and pioneered the medical discipline of community ophthalmology.
Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne “Cokie” Roberts, 75. Journalist for ABC and NPR, she covered politics from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump. She came by it honestly—her father was Hale Boggs, House Majority Leader, her mother Lindy held the seat after him for another 18 years. She started her career as Congressional correspondent for NPR—she knew how Congress worked better than most. She also reports that, when a Legislator would put his hand on her knee, “I would just sort of pick it up and put it on the table and say ‘I think this belongs to you.’” She also worked on PBS Newshour and ABC This Week. The ABC News President said she is probably the only reporter to file stories for “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” World News Tonight,” and “Nightline”—all in a single day. She also wrote 6 books, including Founding Mothers and Capital Dames.
Kary Mullis, 74. He was awarded the Nobel in Chemistry in 1993 for his work developing polymerase chain reaction (PCR, as it is fondly known)—the technique that allows scientists to create millions of copies of a single DNA molecule. In high school, he designed a rocket fueled by sugar and potassium and launched a frog 7000 feet into the air—and parachuted it back safely. In college he developed an electronic device that could control a light switch with brain waves. After completing his doctorate, he dropped out to pursue fiction writing and to work at a bakery, before returning to the work that earned the Nobel.
Larry Tessler, 74. Working at Xerox and Apple, he pioneered the development of the “cut and paste” technique used in desktop computing.
Writers
Mary Higgins Clark, 92 & Clive Cussler, 88. Authors of popular adventure and mystery novels.
Albert Uderzo, 92. You probably don’t recognize his name, but you know his characters—Asterix and Obelix, the cartoon Gauls. Or, if you don’t, you are in for a comic-book treat.
Judith Krantz, 91. Initially a magazine writer and fashion editor, at age 50 she started writing novels. Her first, Scruples, became a New York Times bestseller, and she went on to write 9 more over the next 20 years, including Princess Daisy, Mistral’s Daughter and I’ll Take Manhattan. She also wrote an autobiography, Sex and Shopping: Confessions of a Nice Jewish Girl.
Harold Bloom, 89. Literary critic, defender of tradition, and longtime Yale professor, he wrote The Anxiety of Influence, The Western Canon, and The Book of J. He referred to himself as a Marxist critic—Groucho, not Karl.
Gahan Wilson, 89. Cartoonist known for his often ghoulish, sometimes outlandish, always bizarrely humorous work. One of my favorites portrayed a parade with a large zero being pulled down the street; one bystander turns to another and says “Is nothing sacred?”
Toni Morrison, 88. Author of The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved. In her writing and in her life, she had a gaze that was direct and unflinching. Her writing earned her the Nobel, the Pulitzer, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (among other honors). Her given name was “Chloe,” but when she was a student at Howard University she found that Washingtonians couldn’t figure our how to pronounce it. When someone called her “Toni,” she said “Alright. That will be my name now.”
Ernest Gaines, 86. Author of 8 novels, including The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and A Lesson Before Dying. All were set in the fictional town of Bayonne, Louisiana. He received a MacArthur Grant and the National Medal of Arts.
Tomie dePaola, 85. Author of over 260 children’s books, including Strega Nona, he was awarded the Children’s Literature Legacy Award in 2011.
Actors & Film
Issur Danielovitch (Kirk Douglas), 103. Born to an impoverished Russian Jewish family (his first autobiography was titled The Ragman’s Son), he appeared in over 80 films that spanned almost the entire history of film. Although he starred in Lust for Life, The Champion, Paths of Glory, Gunfight at the OK Corral, and perhaps most famously, Spartacus. By the way, his most famous line is one that he never delivered—he stands to speak, and everyone around him declares “I am Spartacus!” but he never says it. He was proudest of crediting Dalton Trumbo, a blacklisted communist, for writing that script, helping undo the practice of blacklisting.
Gian Franco Zeffirelli, 96. Italian director best known for his film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet and for Taming of the Shrew (starring Burton & Taylor). He began his career as a scenographer and directed in the great opera houses around the world, working with Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland. “I am not a film director,” he once said. “I am a director who uses different instruments to express his dreams and stories—to make people dream.”
Jerry Stiller, 92. Comedian, actor, and author. He started in comedy with his wife, Anne Meara, and was known to younger audiences as Frank in Seinfeld and Arthur in King of Queens.
Harold Prince, 91. 21 Tony Awards—I don’t have time to list them all here, but they include Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Evita, Phantom of the Opera.
Max von Sydow, 90. Some know him for his work as leading man for Ingmar Bergman’s films in the 1950s and 60s, like Wild Strawberries and Seventh Seal. Others might know him for his title role in the 1973 film The Exorcist or the villain Ernst Blofeld in the 1983 Bond film Never Say Never Again or the title role in the 1988 Pele the Conqueror. And yet another generation know him as the Three-Eyed Raven in The Game of Thrones.
Arte Johnson, 90. His filmographer lists two dozen appearances, but he is best known for his roles on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. He created the roles of the dirty old man, Tyrone F. Horneigh, who would proposition Ruth Buzzi only to be hit with her purse until he fell off the park bench, and Wolfgang, the WWII German soldier who lurked in bushes around the set and commented “Very interesting….”
Michael Lupu,89. A Romanian film critic, he immigrated to the United States in his 40s and studied at Penn. When Liviu Ciulei came to the Guthrie as artistic director, he brought Miki with him as dramaturg. In his 30-year career there, Lupu redefined the role and developed what came to be known around the world as “Minneapolis dramaturgy.”
Jonathan Miller, 85. Co-creator with Dudley Moore of the British comedy revue, “Beyond the Fringe,” his career spanned theater, television, and opera. Initially, he was training for a medical career in neurology, which eventually led to his television series “The Body in Question.” He directed Olivier in “The Merchant of Venice,” a BBC adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland,” and a long-running production of “Cosi Fan Tutti.” In his spare time, he wrote books and took up sculpting and photography.
Caroll Spinney, 85. For 50 years he gave Oscar his grouch and Big Bird his warmth. To play Big Bird, he strapped a TV monitor to his chest (he could not see outside the costume), continuously held his right arm up to operate the head and used his left hand to operate both arms. The bird tended to slouch more as the years progressed.
Diahann Carroll, 84. Actress and singer, she was the first Black woman to star in a non-servant role in a TV series. She won a Tony for her role in No Strings and an Academy Award nomination for Claudine. Her TV series was Julia, in which she played a nurse and mother whose husband was killed in Viet Nam.
Robert Conrad, 84. He was born Konrad Robert Falkowski. Star of the TV shows “Hawaiian Eye,” “Wild Wild West,” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep.”
Fred Silverman, 82. Programming director who brought to TV such shows as “Mary Tyler Moore Show,” All in the Family,” “Maude,” “M*A*S*H,” “Roots,” and “Hill Street Blues.”
Brian Dennehey, 81. A winner of two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, a Golden Globe, and a recipient of six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and a Golden Globe for his role as Willy Loman in the television film Death of a Salesman. He regularly appeared on the stage at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, but I remember him best for his role as Walter in Cocoon.
Valerie Harper, 80. Three-time Emmy winner for her supporting role on the Mary Tyler Moore TV show, and another for lead actress on Rhoda. She played an overweight, brash, Jewish version of the girl next door although, as she said, “I’m not Jewish, I’m not from New York, and I have a small shiksa nose!”
Peter Henry Fonda, 79. Actor, director, screenwriter, he is best known for his role as Captain America in Easy Rider, a film that he also wrote and directed. He was very active in films before that, and had earned a reputation as a long-haired, LSD-dropping counterculture type. He continued to be active in film until he died.
Don Imus, 79. Radio DJ who was one of the early “shock jocks,” he lived on the edge. He combined memorable comedy with ugly personal attacks and racial slurs, which finally cost him his job.
Terry Jones, 77. Founding member of Monty Python, he began his career writing and performing when he was a student at Oxford with Michael Palin. He often performed the female roles because, he said, “no one else wanted to.”
Margaret Ann “Peggy” Lipton, 72. She played Julie Barnes on The Mod Squad, for which she won a Golden Globe for best actress, and Norma Jennings in Twin Peaks.
Cameron Boyce, 20. Actor who portrayed Carlos devil in the Descendents movies, among other roles. He was also a philanthropist, supporting water projects in Africa and homelessness projects in LA. He died in his sleep of epilepsy.
Music & Art
Robert Frank, 94. A giant in post-War photography, the Swiss-born photographer has been called “the deTocqueville of photography” and his impact compared to that of Walker Evans during the Depression. His most famous work is The Americans, a collection of 83 black-and-whites from the mid-50s.
Jerry Herman, 88. Tony Award winning composer of Mame, Hello Dolly!, and La Cage aux Folles.
Jack Sheldon, 88. Successful jazz trumpeter and TV actor, he is best known for his singing for the TV series Schoolhouse Rock. That’s him singing “Conjunction Junction” and “I’m Just a Bill.” If you don’t know those songs, look them up—you’ll learn something.
Richard Penniman, 87. We knew him as “Little Richard.” Self-proclaimed architect of Rock ‘n Roll, he is acknowledged as a major influence on the Beatles, Otis Redding, Credence Clearwater Revival and David Bowie. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its inaugural class.
Bob Shane, 85. Last surviving member of the original Kingston Trio, the breakthrough folk music group (there wasn’t even a category for it at the time—their first awards were for “country music.” He sang lead on “Tom Dooley”, which sold over a million copies in 1958.
Jessye Norman, 84. 5 Grammies, at age 52 the youngest artist at the time to be awarded the Kennedy Center Honor, and recipient of the National Medal Arts, and founder of the Jessye Norman School of the Arts, and after-school free fine arts program for disadvantaged kids in Augusta GA. She began her professional career at age 24, singing Wagner with the Berlin Opera. She sang extensively in Europe, but didn’t debut in America until she was 37 (it was hard for Black artists to break into American classical music in those times). She did go on, however, to sing more than 80 performances with the NY Metropolitan Opera.
Jim Pike, 82. Founder and lead singer of the Lettermen, the 1960s most popular boy band. They had such hits as “The Way You Look Tonight,” “When I Fall in Love,” and “Goin’ Out of My Head”
Kenny Rogers, 81. Country music legend who crossed over into pop, folk, and jazz. Among his hits were “Lucille,” with the refrain “You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille” making you think it was about his wife only to discover it was his car; “Lady,” written by Lionel Ritchie; and “The Gambler.” You gotta know when to fold ‘em.
McCoy Tyner, 81. Jazz pianist, perhaps best known for his performances with the John Coltrane quartet—including My Favorite Things and A Love Supreme. He often voiced his chords in fourths, rather than using the standard fifths. He won 5 Grammies
Bill Withers, 81. Writer and singer of Soul ballads, including Lean on Me and Ain’t No Sunshine—two songs listed among Rolling Stone’s top 500 songs of all time. He won three Grammies for his work.
Joseph Shabalala, 79. Founder of Ladysmith Black Mambazo (“mambazo” means “axe” in Zulu, and describes how this group of a capella Black singers from Ladysmith township would cut down their competitors in weekly songfests). The group won 2 Emmies and was nominated for another 8. They recorded with Paul Simon and Dolly Parton, among others, and probably their best-known song in the US is “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.” While he and one of his brothers died of natural causes, he lived with tragedy—two of his brothers were shot in racial incidents in South Africa, and his wife of 30 years also died by gunfire. They recorded a children’s album, Gift of the Tortoise. Let’s listen to the last cut, “Peace Be With You.”
Tony “Little Sun” Glover, 79. Part of the MN trio, Kerner Ray & Glover, he taught harmonica to Mick Jagger. The Beatles, the Stones, the Doors and Bonnie Raitt all hailed him as an influence on their music.
Malcolm Rebennack, Jr–Dr. John, 77. Expelled from high school (in part because of his music), he bounced around the New Orleans underworld in the ‘50s while developing his music. The ring finger of his left hand was injured by a gunshot in 1960 (which put a crimp in his guitar playing) and he was imprisoned in 1963 for selling drugs (he was addicted to heroin for a while). When he came out, he relocated to Los Angeles and became part of the legendary “Wrecking Crew” of backup musicians, and reinvented himself as “Dr. John,” playing blues and New Orleans funk—with a voodoo tinge. One of his better-known hits was Iko-Iko. He won 6 Grammies and is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Rick Ocasek, 75. Frontman for The Cars. He sang, played guitar, and wrote most of the band’s songs. They had 13 singles on the Billboard Top 40, including “Good Times Roll,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” and “Just What I Needed.”
Florian Schneider, 73. Co-founder of Kraftwerk, the influential electronic pop group which created hits like “Autobahn.” His influence extended from technomusic to hip-hop.
Edward “Eddie Money” Mahoney, 70. Singer-songwriter and former NYC police officer, he wrote “Two Tickets to Paradise,” “Baby Hold On,” and “Take Me Home Tonight.”
Leon Redbone, 69. Gravel-voiced singer & guitarist who performed jazz, ragtime and Tin Pin Alley songs. His signature was a white suit with sunglasses and panama hat. He was the voice of the snowman in Elf and sang “Baby It’s Cold Outside” in a duet with Zoey Deschanel.
Sports
Don Shula, 90. Winningest coach in NFL history, he led the Dolphins to two Super Bowls, including the only NFL perfect season in 1972.
Robert Glen Johnson, Jr., 88. Known as “Junior,” he ran moonshine in North Carolina. He came from a family of Ulster Scots who came to this country in the 17th century, and bootlegging had long been the family’s business (his father served 20 years in prison for it). He started driving at age 11 and was running moonshine by age 16. The troopers never caught him, but in 1955 he served a year in prison for owning an illegal still. When he got out, he started racing NASCAR. He won 50 races and innovated the technique of drafting. He was inducting into the initial class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and was granted a pardon for his moonshining conviction by President Reagan. Goes to show, there can be redemption for scoundrels.
Howard “Hopalong” Cassady, 85. 1955 Heisman Trophy winner from Ohio State University and running back for 8 seasons with the Detroit Lions (his starting salary was $15,000). He also played baseball in college and was a first-base coach for a New York Yankees farm team (George Steinbrenner was the first to tell him he had won the Heisman).
Fred Cox, 80. Longtime Vikings placekicker. He scored 1365 points in 15 seasons, still the Vikings’ record. And he invented the Nerf football.
Fred “Curly” Neal, 77. Dribbling wizard of the Harlem Globetrotters, from 1963-85. He shaved his head.
Jake Burton Carpenter, 65. Founder of Burton snowboards, and key figure in making snowboarding an Olympic sport. At one time or another, he sponsored just about every big name in the sport.
Chris Doleman, 58. Defensive end for the Vikings, he was 8 times a Pro-Bowler and was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame.
Kobe Bryant, 41. 20 years with the LA Lakers, and 5 championships. 18 times an All-Star, he also earned two Olympic Gold Medals and an Oscar for his animated short film, Dear Basketball. He was killed when his helicopter crashed.
Tavaris Jackson, 36. MN Vikings quarterback.
Regional
Herbert W. Chilstrom, 88. Born in Litchfield, he was senior pastor at First Lutheran in St. Peter when he was elected first presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. In his retirement, he became a master gardener and was interim director of the Linnaeus Arboretum at Gustavus.
Harry Flynn, 86. Former archbishop of Minneapolis-St. Paul Catholic Diocese. He was known for his advocacy of social justice and Catholic education and his opposition to the war in Iraq. He also refused communion to parishioners who were openly gay and, under orders from the Vatican, banned laypeople from preaching at the Mass. After his resignation, his administration’s lax handling of pedophile priests came to light.
Barry ZeVan, 82. The popular “peek-a-boo weatherman” on KSTP and KARE11 during the 70s and 80s.
Ron Edwards, 81. President of Minneapolis Urban League, civil rights advocate for more than 60 years, and journalist-advocate in print, radio, and cable TV.
Bill Wilson, 79. St. Paul’s first Black City Council member and founder of Higher Ground Academy, a K-12 charter school known for helping kids “beat the odds.” A civil rights activist, he pointed to the young people around the stage at the 1992 MLK gathering at the State Capitol and said “What a beautiful, beautiful representation of the dream. Let us make their paths a little clearer.”
Gerry Spiess, 79. He sailed his home-built, 10-ft. sailboat, Yankee Girl, solo across the Atlantic and the Pacific. He also flew his small aircraft into every airport in Minnesota and around the US border—in both directions. He also biked around Europe and the US and took up rock climbing. This was in his spare time—he worked as an electronics instructor for 3M. As his wife said, “He was easily bored.”
Doug Woog, 75. For 14 years, coach of the MN Gophers hockey team. His teams won 4 WCHA championships, and he was named Coach of the Year in 1990. Born in St. Paul, he played hockey for South St Paul and for the University of Minnesota.
John Borger, 68. For 4 decades at Faegre Baker Daniels law firm in Minneapolis, he represented the StarTribune and other media organizations. In 2018, he became the third person to receive the Champion of the First Amendment award from the American Bar Association.
Paul Sirba, 59. Bishop of Duluth. He collapsed from a heart attack, preparing to celebrate Sunday Mass. A life-long Minnesotan, he was born in Bloomington and educated at St. Thomas.
Local
Chuck Frost, 97. Son and father of pharmacists, and a pharmacist himself at Frost Drugs in North Mankato.
Sr. Mary Donald Miller, 92. Founded the Good Counsel Learning Center in 1967.
Hugo John, 90. Earned his PhD in Forestry from the University of Minnesota and went on to establish the School of Natural Resources at the University of Vermont (among other academic postings). He also served as a Forestry and development consultant for the UN. He retired to Mapleton, where he became a friend of Dick & Tricia Nienow.
Joe Abdo, 89. Founder of Abdo, Eick & Meyers CPA firm, and Abdo Publishing (a children’s book company), he was born in Mankato of Lebanese immigrant parents. Taking his morning walk, he passed a woman and greeted her, “Isn’t a beautiful morning?” and, a few blocks later, collapsed from a heart attack. Good last words.
Shirley Higginbotham, 88. Former director of the Mankato Library, very active in many community organizations, and YWCA Woman of Distinction.
Robert Martens, 87. Nicollet veterinarian (and past president of the MN Veterinary Medicine Association), and mayor and school board member in Nicollet.
Wayne Comstock, 85. Former North Mankato Councilman and civic activist.
Joel Albrecht, 83. 18 years on New Ulm City Council, 8 of them as mayor.
Joe Koberoski, 82. Second generation of four generations of nurserymen in the area, he and his wife owned Kober’s Nursery, noted for its evergreen trees.
Sara McKay, 79. Co-founder of the St. Peter Choral Society and 22 years a music teacher in Arlington.
Jerome Huettl, 73. Former Director of Public Safety for Mankato.
Mechtild “Meggy” Becker, 69. Friend of many, she was one of the organizers each year of the Rock Bend Music Festival in St. Peter.
Marilee Rickard, 64. Longtime general manager for KMSU radio.
Bernie Lindberg, 62. Nothing special about him, just an ordinary guy. He was the long-time crossing guard at Lincoln School, waving to the cars that regularly passed and pulling candy out of his pockets for the kids who crossed. One of those “neighborhood regulars” who make us feel welcome.
Tamara Rovney, 50. Mankato City Councilor, Human Services Director for Sibley County, and Jim & Connie Rovney’s daughter.
Schools—Gustavus
Aaron Everett, 93. For 22 years, professor of French at Gustavus.
Schools—MSU
Andrew Een, 98. Founding director of the Wilson Campus School, Associate Vice President and Vice Provost of MSU for many years.
Aileen Eick, 91. Taught in Home Economics and helped establish the Dietetics program.
George Green, 91. Professor of Political Science for 25 years.
Wayne Sandee, 83. Founded MSU’s Social Work department, as well as helped to found Mankato Area Coalition for Affordable Housing and ECHO Food Shelf.
Patricia Palm, 79. Professor of Communications for 39 years.
Gary Hudson, 79. Counselor at MSU for 31 years.
Lance Leipold, 79. Music librarian at MSU for 42 years.
Carl Anderson, 78. For 38 years a repairman at MSU, he was also AFSCME President for several years.
Gene Sellner, 75. Computer Services Director at MSU.
Margaretta Sinton Handke, 72. Longtime Professor of Medieval History at MSU, and wife of Leigh Pomeroy, a friend of our congregation.
Schools—SCC
Anne Mrotz, 77. Home Economics and Custom Training at SCC.
Schools—K-12
Norm Gullickson, 95. Taught science and photography at West High.
Don Miller, 88. Founding athletic director at East High, and founding member of the Riverblenders choral group.
Lois Anderson, 87. For 50 years a teacher in Waterville and Mankato, she also earned a PhD in Animal Therapy and served on the Board of BENCHS for almost 40 years.
Bette Wortman, 80. Music Teacher to every grade in Mankato School District.
Barbara Ann Knutson, 75. Phys Ed teacher at West High for 33 years.
UUFM Members, Relatives & Friends
Emibel Bruning, 100. Sarah Siefers’ grandmother.
Leslie Shepherd, 95, Sue Chambers’ uncle.
Thomas Hanson, 92 & Margaret Hanson, 90. Carrie McNea’s parents. They died within two months of each other, here mother joining her father on Valentine’s Day.
Robin Grinnell, 87. John Grinnell’s father.
JoAn Bakker, 85. Special friend of Toria Bayer.
Marion Lichtenberg, 82. Friend of our congregation.
Maurice Rennotte, 82. Close friend of Ted Downey.
Richard Davis, 80, father of Sara Davis
Harold “Stu” Johnson, 80. Twin brother of Eloise “Sam” Hayman, longtime member and friend of UUFM.
Shirley Bohlmann, 78. Christa’s Aunt.
August Powell, 72. Mike Powell’s father.
Earl Young, 65. Friend in our congregation.
Gary Petrovich, 57. Barb Keating’s nephew.
Kristy Baldwin, 43. MayLea’s sister-in-law.
Carson Ruth, 26. Friend of Toria Bayer
Simone Brady, 19. Friend of Toria Bayer.