2024 Departures

WORLD News Group lost a Founding Father in 2024. Joel Belz, who launched It’s God’s World in 1981 and later WORLD Magazine, and who oversaw the company’s growth into a multimedia nonprofit, died Feb. 4. From his youth, Joel dreamed of delivering the news with a distinctly Christian worldview, and he was a visionary whom God gifted to carry out the task, despite occasional setbacks—like the time his Linotype press plummeted down a flight of steps. Joel had his share of trouble, to be sure, but by God’s grace the fruit of his work lives on. Outside the WORLD family, the year was one of goodbyes to multiple pioneering journalists: CBS radio broadcaster Charles Osgood, NPR’s Bob Edwards, PBS’ Robert MacNeil, and Lou Dobbs of CNN and Fox. We also saw the loss of musical pioneers and masters like Duane Eddy, Cissy Houston, and Richard M. Sherman; evangelical influencers like George Sweeting, Beverly LaHaye, and Henry Blackaby; and not-so-evangelicals whose memorable personalities nevertheless left their mark, like Bob Newhart and Phil Donahue. Read on for WORLD’s 2024 list of notable departures. ­—Daniel James Devine

January

Glynis Johns

Jan. 4 | 100 | Grande dame of Hollywood’s Golden Age who featured as the suffragette mother in Mary Poppins (1964) during a stage and screen career that earned her a Tony Award and an Oscar nomination.

Letha Dawson Scanzoni

Jan. 9 | 88 | Evangelical author who argued in the 1970s for the church to be more open to feminists and homosexuals through her books All We’re Meant To Be and questioned established sexual ethics in Is the Homosexual My Neighbor?

David Soul

Jan. 4 | 80 | Blond singer and actor who played half of a crime-fighting duo in the ’70s TV series Starsky & Hutch and whose song “Don’t Give Up on Us” topped music charts.

Bill Hayes

Jan. 12 | 98 | Singer and soap opera star who notched a No. 1 hit, “The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” in 1955. Hayes later starred in NBC’s Days of Our Lives from 1970 until 2024.

Peter Schickele

Jan. 16 | 88 | Classical musician and humorist who blended music and comedy for popular albums and performances under the name P.D.Q. Bach.

Roger Forster

Jan. 17 | 90 | Founder of Ichthus Christian Fellowship, a British neo-charismatic movement and church planting network that numbered more than 40 congregations in the 1990s. Forster helped found the March for Jesus movement in 1987.

Jack Burke Jr.

Jan. 19 | 100 | Hall of Fame golfer who won the Masters and the PGA Championship in 1956 en route to 16 PGA tour victories before founding the Champions Golf Club in Houston.

Dexter King

Jan. 22 | 62 | Civil rights leader, son of Martin Luther King Jr., and former head of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, who questioned the conviction of his father’s assassin and alleged a conspiracy.

Frank Farian

Jan. 23 | 82 | German-born record producer who spun out hits for Boney M. and Milli Vanilli and controversially employed fashion-­forward frontmen to lip-sync the latter band’s most popular songs.

Charles Osgood

Jan. 23 | 91 | Veteran radio broadcaster who logged 46 years of Osgood Files radio commentaries for CBS until 2017 while also serving as a CBS News Sunday Morning host between 1994 and 2016.

Jimy Williams

Jan. 26 | 80 | Veteran Major League Baseball coach who won American League Manager of the Year in 1999 leading the Boston Red Sox.

Jean Carnahan

Jan. 30 | 90 | Former first lady of Missouri who served nearly two years in the U.S. Senate in the place of her husband Mel Carnahan: He had died weeks before the 2000 election but still won the vote.

Chita Rivera

Jan. 30 | 91 | Broadway legend and two-time Tony Award–winner who starred in the original casts of Bye Bye Birdie and Chicago after getting her start as a dancer in Guys and Dolls in 1950.

Glynis Johns (left) and Toby Keith JOHNS: 20th Century Fox/Getty Images; KEITH: Chris Pizzelo/Invision/AP

February

Carl Weathers

Feb. 1 | 76 | An athlete with a short-lived career as a linebacker for the NFL’s Oakland Raiders who went on to find stardom playing Apollo Creed in the Rocky movie franchise.

Rod Rosenbladt

Feb. 2 | 82 | Seminary professor, Lutheran theologian, and original contributor for the White Horse Inn radio program and podcast featuring panel discussions on theology and culture.

Joel Belz

Feb. 4 | 82 | Enterprising Christian publisher who founded WORLD Magazine in 1986 and presided over its growth into the multimedia WORLD News Group.

Toby Keith

Feb. 5 | 62 | Country music Hall of Famer whose debut single, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” became a hit in 1993. He landed 61 singles on the Billboard country charts, including 20 No. 1 hits and 22 additional Top 10 hits. Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” channeled popular anger and patriotism following the 9/11 terror attacks.

Henry Blackaby

Feb. 10 | 88 | Canadian evangelical pastor whose bestselling Experiencing God Bible study materials, first published in 1990, have been translated into some 60 languages.

Bob Edwards

Feb. 10 | 76 | Radio broadcaster who hosted NPR’s drive-time shows All Things Considered and Morning Edition for decades.

Kelvin Kiptum

Feb. 11 | 24 | Kenyan distance runner who in 2023 set a confirmed world record for fastest-ever marathon at 2:00:35.

Alexei Navalny

Feb. 16 | 47 | Russian political dissident who accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of corruption, led an opposition political party, and in 2020 survived a nerve agent poisoning.

Charles “Lefty” Driesell

Feb. 17 | 92 | Hall of Fame college basketball coach who led four separate schools to the NCAA men’s tournament while amassing 786 wins.

Richard Lewis

Feb. 27 | 76 | Actor and comedian whose stand-up career, featuring angsty complaints about his personal life, preceded a two-decade run playing a stylized version of himself on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Brian Mulroney

Feb. 29 | 84 | Canadian conservative politician who served as prime minister from 1984 to 1993 and helped shape global public opinion against apartheid.

March

Chris Mortensen

March 3 | 72 | Veteran sports journalist who covered the NFL for ESPN for more than three decades beginning in 1991 and routinely scooped other NFL reporters.

Steve Lawrence

March 7 | 88 | Actor and crooner who regaled audiences with pop hits for decades, often alongside his wife Eydie Gormé.

Herbert Kroemer

March 8 | 95 | German-American physicist who won a Nobel Prize in physics in 2000 for his research on semiconductors. His early work on transistors helped pave the way for mobile phones.

Paul Alexander

March 11 | 78 | Dallas lawyer and polio survivor who maintained a law practice despite living much of his life in an iron lung. After teaching himself to breath outside the lung long enough to attend law school, Alexander took on clients for decades and became a social media star.

Sandra Crouch

March 17 | 81 | Gospel singer who paired with her brother Andraé Crouch on the 1970s hit “Jesus Is the Answer” and later won a Grammy for her 1983 album We Sing Praises.

Thomas P. Stafford

March 18 | 93 | Astronaut who commanded the Apollo 10 mission in 1969. In 1975, he led an American crew for the Apollo-Soyuz project, and his historic handshake in space with his Soviet counterpart symbolized an era of thawing Cold War tensions.

Gene Elders

March 20 | 66 | A notable fiddle and mandolin player who toured with George Strait’s Ace in the Hole band from 1984 until his death. When Strait opted to tour less, Elders and his fiddle caught on with Lyle Lovett’s Large Band from 1999 until 2009.

Martin Greenfield

March 20 | 95 | Auschwitz Holocaust survivor and master tailor based in New York City who made suits for six U.S. presidents including Eisenhower, Johnson, Ford, Clinton, Obama, and Trump, as well as numerous actors and sporting figures.

Peter Angelos

March 23 | 94 | Baltimore lawyer and sports franchise owner who purchased the Baltimore Orioles in 1993 one year after winning a massive judgment in a class-action asbestos poisoning case. Along with a later tobacco case in 1996, Angelos earned nearly $500 million from two 1990s cases.

Daniel Kahneman

March 27 | 90 | Economist, psychologist, and bestselling Thinking, Fast and Slow author who won a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Studies for his work on cognition and human decision-­making.

Joe Lieberman

March 27 | 82 | Longtime Democratic senator from Connecticut who was unafraid to break with his party. He was vice presidential running mate to Democrat Al Gore in 2000 but later became an independent and, in 2007, endorsed Republican John McCain for president.

Louis Gossett Jr.

March 29 | 87 | Stage and screen veteran best remembered for his Oscar-winning 1982 performance as an army sergeant in An Officer and a Gentleman.

Joe Lieberman (left) and O.J. Simpson LIEBERMAN: Brian Bohannon/Sygma via Getty Images; SIMPSON: Mike Nelson/AFP via Getty Images

April

Peter Higgs

April 8 | 94 | Nobel Prize–winning British physicist whose study of subatomic particles led him to accurately predict the existence of a particle colloquially known as the Higgs boson.

William J. Byron

April 9 | 96 | An Army paratrooper turned Jesuit priest who served as head of the University of Scranton from 1975 to 1982 and then president of Catholic University of America for a decade.

O.J. Simpson

April 10 | 76 | Football icon who followed a 1968 Heisman Trophy win with a successful NFL career before starring in The Naked Gun movie franchise. Simpson’s trial and subsequent acquittal for the 1994 murders of his ex-wife and her friend riveted the nation.

Robert MacNeil

April 12 | 93 | Canadian-American journalist who pioneered PBS’ evening news broadcast beginning in 1975, later co-hosting with Jim Lehrer until 1995.

Beverly LaHaye

April 14 | 94 | Pastor’s wife who became an evangelical power player, forming Concerned Women for America in 1979 as a response to feminist women’s groups like the National Organization for Women.

Jerry Savelle

April 15 | 77 | Texas-based televangelist who fashioned himself after Oral Roberts and Kenneth Copeland. Savelle promulgated his prosperity gospel teachings through Christian television broadcaster Daystar and multiple books.

Whitey Herzog

April 15 | 92 | Hall of Fame baseball manager known for tailoring his teams to match their home fields. He won the 1982 World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals using rangy defense and base stealing to take advantage of Busch Memorial Stadium’s fake turf.

Jerry Savelle

April 15 | 77 | Texas-based televangelist who followed in the footsteps of Oral Roberts and Kenneth Copeland, promulgating prosperity gospel teachings through Christian TV broadcaster Daystar and multiple books.

Bob Graham

April 16 | 87 | Popular Florida Democrat known for his conservation efforts and elected twice to the governor’s mansion and three times to the U.S. Senate.

Dickey Betts

April 18 | 80 | One half of the Allman Brothers Band’s original famed twin-guitar sound. “Ramblin’ Man,” which Betts wrote and sang, became a Top 10 hit.

Mandisa Hundley

April 18 (c.) | 47 | American gospel singer who rose to prominence as a contestant on American Idol in 2006. Her 2013 album Overcomer won a Grammy for best contemporary Christian music album.

Daniel Dennett

April 19 | 82 | American secular philosopher, author of Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, and one of the so-called “Four Horsemen” of the New Atheism movement.

Roman Gabriel

April 20 | 83 | Sixteen-year NFL veteran who quarterbacked for the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles, earning MVP in 1969 after accruing 24 touchdown passes in a season.

Marla Adams

April 25 | 85 | Soap opera star who appeared on CBS’ The Secret Storm and The Young and the Restless. Adams debuted her Dina Abbott Mergeron character in 1983 and would win a Daytime Emmy for her portrayal.

Wally Dallenbach Sr.

April 29 | 87 | Racing patriarch who competed in open-wheel races from 1965 to 1979—winning the 1973 California 500—before becoming a racing league executive.

Duane Eddy

April 30 | 86 | Early electric guitar instrumentalist whose twangy deep register guitar work on his 1958 single “Rebel Rouser” and on Henry Mancini’s The Music From Peter Gunn helped define an era of rock ’n’ roll solos.

May

Paul Parkman

May 7 | 91 | American virologist who in the early 1960s identified the virus behind rubella, also known as the German measles, and by 1966 had helped develop a vaccine to combat it.

Jim Simons

May 10 | 86 | American investor who leveraged his academic career in mathematics to strike gold on Wall Street. Simons’ Medallion Fund, arguably the first quantitative hedge fund, earned investors an average annual return of 66 percent for three decades beginning in 1988.

David Sanborn

May 12 | 78 | American saxophonist, session musician, and television personality who won six Grammys and hosted two seasons of the jazz television show Sunday Night.

Alice Munro

May 13 | 92 | Canadian author who claimed she didn’t have time to write novels but produced 14 collections of short stories, winning the Nobel Prize in literature in 2013.

Bud Anderson

May 17 | 102 | Until his death, the last living American World War II triple ace. Beginning in 1944, Anderson secured 16.25 air victories against the Luftwaffe while flying the P-51 fighter.

Alice Stewart

May 18 (c.) | 58 | Republican political operative who served as the communications director for Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential run and appeared as a political commentator on CNN.

Dabney Coleman

May 16 | 92 | Mustachioed character actor known for bringing bad-guy roles to life on TV and in film, including as a hated boss in the 1980 film 9 to 5.

Jim Otto

May 19 | 86 | Oakland Raiders center and Pro Football Hall of Famer who never missed a game during his 1960-1974 football career.

Ebrahim Raisi

May 19 | 63 | So-called “Butcher of Tehran” who occupied several posts in the Islamic Republic of Iran before taking office as the nation’s president and serving until his death in a helicopter accident.

Sam Butcher

May 20 | 85 | Artist who turned a series of Christian-themed cartoon drawings into a lucrative business selling dolls, figurines, and other collectibles under the name Precious Moments.

Morgan Spurlock

May 23 | 53 | Documentarian best known for his 2004 film Super Size Me in which he ate McDonald’s every day for a month to expose the adverse health effects of fast food.

Grayson Murray

May 25 | 30 | PGA golfer who notched tour victories at the 2017 Barbasol Championship and the 2024 Sony Open.

Richard M. Sherman

May 25 | 95 | Disney legend and songwriter who, with his brother Robert, wrote more movie songs than any other songwriting team, including hits for Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Bill Walton

May 27 | 71 | Hall of Fame basketball player who won championships for UCLA, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Boston Celtics before assuming a role as a TV basketball color commentator.

Dabney Coleman (left) and Willie Mays COLEMAN: CBS via Getty Images; MAYS: Kidwiler Collection/Diamond Images

June

Larry Allen

June 2 | 52 | Powerful blocker who played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1994 to 2005, winning one Super Bowl. He earned a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

Jürgen Moltmann

June 3 | 98 | Former German soldier who came to faith in an Allied prisoner of war camp and became a theologian. He pushed the boundaries of orthodox Christian thought, leading critics to accuse him of universalism.

Parnelli Jones

June 4 | 90 | Courageous racer who bucked norms driving a rear-engine car to victory in the 1963 Indianapolis 500. Jones came within a few laps of winning again in 1967 in an experimental turbine-­powered vehicle.

William Anders

June 7 | 90 | Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic Earthrise photograph. While in lunar orbit on Christmas Eve 1968, Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman read from Genesis 1 for a satellite broadcast.

David Boaz

June 7 | 70 | Thought leader at the Cato Institute who helped popularize libertarian views on drug legalization, school choice, and gay marriage.

Paul Pressler

June 7 | 94 | Houston-based lawyer, politician, and lay leader within the Southern Baptist Convention who helped lead the conservative takeover of the denomination but was later mired in accusations he sexually assaulted boys and men.

Howard Fineman

June 11 | 75 | Political reporter notable for spearheading Newsweek’s political coverage for decades and appearing regularly as a political analyst on PBS, CNN, and NBC.

Jerry West

June 12 | 86 | Basketball star and Los Angeles Lakers guard who won a league championship in 1972 and whose silhouette the NBA used as its logo.

Willie Mays

June 18 | 93 | Era-defining baseball player whose 660 career home runs placed him behind only Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron when he retired in 1973.

Donald Sutherland

June 20 | 88 | Lanky, quirky Canadian actor known for his roles in a trio of war flicks between 1967 and 1970—The Dirty Dozen, M*A*S*H, and Kelly’s Heroes—as well as the more recent Hunger Games.

Kinky Friedman

June 27 | 79 | Texas novelist, songwriter, and raconteur whose satirical tunes earned him a spot on tour with Bob Dylan.

Orlando Cepeda

June 28 | 86 | Hall of Fame slugger and league MVP-winner who played with the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals. As one of the first Puerto Rican baseball stars, Cepeda helped open the major leagues to Spanish-speaking ballplayers.

July

Joe Bonsall

July 9 | 76 | Tenor vocalist for the Oak Ridge Boys whose high harmonies and occasional leads helped the country and gospel quartet chart crossover hits like “Elvira” and “American Made.”

James Inhofe

July 9 | 89 | Conservative Oklahoma politician who held elective offices in his home state beginning in 1966 and served in the U.S. House and Senate between 1987 and 2023. He opposed abortion and climate change alarmism but supported balanced budgets.

Maxine Singer

July 9 | 93 | American molecular biologist whose research into how enzymes affect nucleic acids served as spadework for future genetic discoveries.

Joe Engle

July 10 | 91 | American pilot and astronaut who test-flew the X-15 and commanded the second Space Shuttle mission in 1981.

Monte Kiffin

July 11 | 84 | Legendary assistant football coach known for revolutionizing defenses in professional and college football. Kiffin served a 13-year stint as the defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Ruth Westheimer

July 12 | 96 | Popular liberal sex ­therapist whose frank talk about a taboo subject drew 2 million weekly TV viewers to The Dr. Ruth Show by 1985.

Shannen Doherty

July 13 | 53 | American actress who began her career as a child (most notably as Jenny Wilder on Little House on the Prairie) but rose to fame playing Brenda Walsh from 1990 to 1994 on Fox’s teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210.

Richard Simmons

July 13 | 76 | Flamboyant fitness instructor and popular television personality whose aerobic workout videos, including Sweatin’ to the Oldies, led to cameo roles for TV shows, movies, and commercials.

Lou Dobbs

July 18 | 78 | Cable news veteran who was with CNN for its 1980 debut, hosting Moneyline (later renamed Lou Dobbs Tonight) for the network until 2009. His show moved to Fox Business until its cancellation in 2021.

Bob Newhart

July 18 | 94 | Stand-up comedian and television icon who became a master of deadpan delivery and one-sided telephone call skits. He starred in CBS sitcoms The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart and portrayed Papa Elf in the 2003 movie Elf.

Sheila Jackson Lee

July 19 | 74 | Houston politician and Democratic Party stalwart who was active in the Congressional Black Caucus as a U.S. House member from 1995 until her death.

Duke Fakir

July 22 | 88 | Singer and co-founder of the Motown quartet the Four Tops. The group recorded such hits as “Reach Out I’ll Be There” and “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch).”

Kelly Nelon Clark

July 26 | 64 | Southern gospel singer who was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2016 as a member of the Nelons.

Bob Newhart (left) and Phil Donahue NEWHART: CBS via Getty Images; DONAHUE: Michel Delsol/Getty Images

August

Doris Brougham

Aug. 6 | 98 | Musician, educator, and Christian missionary who in the 1960s produced and aired a popular Christian music television show in Taiwan, which later granted her residency status for her decades of service there.

Chi-Chi Rodriguez

Aug. 8 | 88 | Golf Hall of Famer who learned to play the game practicing with a tree branch and a metal can. Rodriguez won eight PGA tour events and more than 20 tournaments.

Lee Spetner

Aug. 9 | 91 | MIT-trained physicist and engineer whose 1997 book Not by Chance! Shattering the Modern Theory of Evolution argued for an evolutionary theory that didn’t depend on random selection.

Susan Wojcicki

Aug. 9 | 56 | Tech executive who became Google’s 16th employee and went on to manage the company’s AdSense program. After Google purchased YouTube, she became the video platform’s CEO from 2014 until 2023.

Charles Walker

Aug. 12 | 89 | Arguably the best checkers player to live, who set a Guinness World Record in 1994 by playing in 306 simultaneous games and losing only one.

Betty Cooke

Aug. 13 | 100 | Iconic jewelry designer who saw her works displayed in the Museum of Modern Art.

Wally Amos

Aug. 13 | 88 | Creator and namesake of Famous Amos cookies. A onetime talent agent, he sent cookies to potential clients to sweeten deals before getting into the cookie business full time.

Gena Rowlands

Aug. 14 | 94 | Four-time Emmy-winning actress who starred alongside James Garner in The Notebook. Rowlands received Academy Award nominations for her part in A Woman Under the Influence and Gloria.

Peter Marshall

Aug. 15 | 98 | Former U.S. Army disc jockey during WWII who became the Emmy-winning host of Hollywood Squares from 1966 to 1981.

Phil Donahue

Aug. 18 | 88 | Revolutionary daytime talk show host who booked controversial guests and made the audience part of his show. At its height, his nationally syndicated program had nearly 9 million viewers.

Thelma Davidson Adair

Aug. 21 | 103 | Lay leader in the mainline Presbyterian church who served as president of Church Women United and moderator of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1976.

John Amos

Aug. 21 | 84 | American actor who portrayed the adult Kunta Kinte in the miniseries Roots. He also played family patriarch James Evans Sr. in Good Times.

Roger Cook

Aug. 21 | 70 | New England landscaper who appeared on the PBS series This Old House for decades as the show’s landscaping expert.

Bill Pascrell Jr.

Aug. 21 | 87 | Democrat from New Jersey who served in the U.S. House for nearly 30 years.

September

James Darren

Sept. 2 | 88 | Crooning heartthrob actor who became a star in Gidget. In the 1960s he recorded the hit “Goodbye Cruel World” and later took on roles in TV’s T.J. Hooker and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Sergio Mendes

Sept. 5 | 83 | Brazilian bossa nova icon and bandleader who found breakthrough success with his 1966 rendition of “Mas que Nada.”

James Earl Jones

Sept. 9 | 93 | Stage and screen actor who won Tony Awards in 1969 and 1987 but achieved international stardom playing an admiral in The Hunt for Red October and voicing Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in The Lion King. Jones credited poetry and acting for helping him overcome a childhood stutter.

George Sweeting

Sept. 10 | 99 | Pastor who became president of the Moody Bible Institute in 1971 and launched a syndicated radio program.

Joseph G. Gall

Sept. 12 | 96 | American biologist dubbed the “Father of Modern Cell Biology” who developed a technique in the 1960s to map the location of genes in DNA.

Tito Jackson

Sept. 15 | 70 | Founding member of the Jackson 5 who became a global sensation alongside his famous brother Michael Jackson.

J.D. Souther

Sept. 17 | 78 | Singer-songwriter who made his name collaborating with more well-known artists. Souther co-wrote “Best of My Love,” “Heartache Tonight” and “New Kid in Town” for the Eagles.

Roy Clay Sr.

Sept. 22 | 95 | Computer scientist and technology pioneer who overcame racial barriers to lead the first computer division at Hewlett-Packard in 1965.

John Warwick Montgomery

Sept. 25 | 92 | Lutheran theologian known for his work in Christian apologetics who battled liberal theological forces within his denomination and earned 11 academic degrees.

Maggie Smith

Sept. 27 | 89 | Versatile British actress known for her abilities in both comedic and dramatic roles, including for Downton Abbey and Harry Potter.

Kris Kristofferson

Sept. 28 | 88 | Country music icon and songwriter who penned “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.”

Dikembe Mutombo

Sept. 30 | 58 | NBA Hall of Fame center and Denver Nuggets star known for his humanitarian work in his native Congo.

Pete Rose

Sept. 30 | 83 | Baseball’s hit king and most famous exile who amassed a record 4,256 hits in his 24-year career. The 17-time All-Star won MVP in 1973 and led three teams to World Series victories—but as a coach, his betting on games led to a lifetime ban from the major leagues.

James Earl Jones (left) and Teri Garr JONES: CBS via Getty Images; GARR: CBS via Getty Images

October

Bruce Ames

Oct. 5 | 95 | American biochemist whose development of the “Ames test” improved scientific understanding of carcinogens in the environment and workplace. He criticized over-regulation of pesticides, saying the public fear wasn’t supported by science.

Cissy Houston

Oct. 7 | 91 | Soul and gospel singer (and mother of Whitney Houston) who was a background vocalist for Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, and others before going on to win two Grammy Awards during a solo career.

Tim Johnson

Oct. 8 | 77 | Longtime South Dakota Democratic politician who represented his state in Washington, D.C., winning five terms in the U.S. House and three in the Senate.

Ethel Kennedy

Oct. 10 | 96 | Human rights activist and fundraiser (and mother of 11) who was also spouse to Robert F. Kennedy until his 1968 assassination.

Dorothy “Dottie” Leonard Miller

Oct. 11 | 79 | Businesswoman whose distribution company filled Christian bookstores across the nation with Christian books, music, and apparel. The co-founder of Daywind Music Group, she garnered a spot in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame as a major Christian music publisher.

Lilly Ledbetter

Oct. 12 | 86 | A supervisor at Goodyear Tire & Rubber and title plaintiff in a landmark pay discrimination lawsuit. She lost her case at the Supreme Court in 2007 but inspired the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which expanded the statute of limitations for pay discrimination complaints.

Donald Hall

Oct. 13 | 96 | Philanthropist, greeting card magnate, and son of Hallmark Cards founder Joyce Hall. He served as president of the family company from 1966 until 1983.

Philip Zimbardo

Oct. 14 | 91 | Controversial American psychologist who designed the infamous 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment to see how volunteers would behave while role-playing as guards and prisoners.

Liam Payne

Oct. 16 | 31 | British pop sensation who found fame as a member of the boy band One Direction.

Mitzi Gaynor

Oct. 17 | 93 | Hollywood Golden Age actress known for her starring roles in South Pacific, There’s No Business Like Show Business, and We’re Not Married!

Thelma Mothershed Wair

Oct. 19 | 83 | Oldest member, at age 16, of the Little Rock Nine group that braved violent crowds to break the color barrier at Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957.

Richard A. Cash

Oct. 22 | 83 | Public health researcher who helped develop a rehydration technique (using potable water, salt, and sugar) to combat cholera in the 1960s, a treatment credited with saving up to 50 million lives.

Gustavo Gutiérrez

Oct. 22 | 96 | Peruvian priest reputed to be the father of liberation theology, the theory that blends Catholic social teaching with Marxist economics.

Fernando Valenzuela

Oct. 22 | 63 | Screwball-throwing Mexican American pitcher who became a national sensation as a rookie for the LA Dodgers in 1981.

Jack Jones

Oct. 23 | 86 | Smooth-voiced crooner who charted easy-­listening hits in the 1960s (“The Race Is On,” “The Impossible Dream”) and later sang the theme song on TV’s The Love Boat.

Phil Lesh

Oct. 25 | 84 | Founding member of the Grateful Dead who played bass for the iconic band throughout its three-­decade career.

Teri Garr

Oct. 29 | 79 | Comedic actress who played notable supporting roles in 1970s and ’80s films such as Young Frankenstein and Tootsie.

November

Quincy Jones

Nov. 3 | 91 | Jazz trumpeter, music arranger, and record producer who won 28 Grammy awards. Jones produced the 1985 charity hit “We Are the World” and collaborated with Michael Jackson on three of his most memorable records, including Thriller.

Bernard Marcus

Nov. 4 | 95 | Conservative philanthropist and co-­founder of the Home Depot who made billions of dollars running the home improvement warehouse as CEO for nearly two decades.

Elwood Edwards

Nov. 5 | 74 | American voice actor whose utterances became synonymous with the early days of the internet. In 1989, Edwards recorded audio greetings like “You’ve got mail” for the company that became America Online.

Bobby Allison

Nov. 9 | 86 | Champion race car driver who won NASCAR’s Daytona 500 in 1978, 1982, and 1988 and entered the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992.

John Robinson

Nov. 11 | 89 | Hall of Fame football coach at USC who prevailed in four Rose Bowls and won a national championship in 1978.

Ted Olson

Nov. 13 | 84 | Power lawyer who worked in Reagan’s Department of Justice and served as George W. Bush’s solicitor general.

Bela Karolyi

Nov. 15 | 82 | Controver­sial gymnastics coach who propelled Romanian Nadia Comăneci to Olympic gold in 1976 before he defected to the U.S. and coached Mary Lou Retton and others.

Tony Campolo

Nov. 19 | 89 | Pastor, author, and thought leader for the American evangelical left whose views on social issues led to clashes with Christian conservatives.

Fred L. Smith

Nov. 23 | 83 | Political writer and founder of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The libertarian-­oriented Smith argued against climate change radicalism.

Chuck Woolery

Nov. 23 | 83 | Original game show host for Wheel of Fortune and Love Connection whose TV career spanned more than three decades.

Barbara Taylor Bradford

Nov. 24 | 91 | Writer of 40 bestselling novels, some of which—like 1979’s A Woman of Substance—were adapted into TV miniseries.

Hal Lindsey

Nov. 25 | 95 | Author of bestselling The Late Great Planet Earth who popularized premillennial dispensationalism and heightened interest in the fate of Israel.

Lou Carnesecca

Nov. 30 | 99 | Legendary basketball coach at St. John’s University who cultivated more than 40 NBA Draft picks over the course of 24 seasons.

Bobby Allison (left) and Chuck Woolery ALLISON: Focus on Sport via Getty Images; WOOLERY: Bob Riha Jr./Getty Images

December

Neale Fraser

Dec. 2 | 91 | Champion Australian tennis player who triumphed at Wimbledon in 1960 and swept U.S. singles, doubles, and mixed titles in 1959 and 1960. He served as Australia’s longtime Davis Cup captain.

Kushang Dorjee Sherpa

Dec. 7 | 59 | Indian mountaineer and Mount Everest veteran climber. He became the first to summit Everest from three different directions.

—compiled by John Dawson

This webpage includes additional deaths we didn’t have room for in the January issue.