Departures

Raquel Welch

Welch, an actress whose bikini-clad roles turned her into an international sex symbol, died Feb. 15. She was 82. The daughter of a Bolivian immigrant father and American mother, Welch began winning beauty contests in California in her teens. She had just three lines of dialogue in the 1966 film One Million Years B.C., but her role as a cavewoman wearing a skimpy fur two-piece made her an international star and pop culture icon. Later in life, Welch rediscovered her religious roots. In her 2010 autobiography, she said her mother’s death caused her to look for a Christian church for the first time in 50 years. She found one, she said, outside Los Angeles where, “When I’m in their midst, I’m just Raquel, not anybody special.”

Tim McCarver

McCarver, whose life in professional baseball stretched from the playing field to the broadcast booth for six decades, died Feb. 16. He was 81. McCarver made his big league debut for the St. Louis Cardinals at age 17. During a 21-year playing career, he twice earned All-Star honors and finished second in MVP voting in 1967. He immediately transitioned to broadcasting after his playing career, calling his first World Series in 1985 for ABC. By the time he’d finished, McCarver had provided color commentary for 24 World Series. He concluded his broadcast career back in St. Louis, announcing Cardinals games for local television.