Departures: Renowned saxophonist dies at 98

Gene Barge

A prolific musician whose screamin’ tenor saxophone found its way onstage with many of the biggest names in popular music, Barge died Feb. 2. He was 98. Barge toured with Little Richard and James Brown before returning to his native Norfolk, Va., and forming his own group, the Church Street Five, in 1960. The group recorded rhythm and blues instrumentals including the dance hit “A Night With Daddy G.” Singer Gary U.S. Bonds reworked the song in 1961 to include lyrics as “Quarter to Three,” and Barge became part of a No. 1 hit recording. The song name-checked Barge as Daddy G—a moniker he’d be known by the rest of his life. His sax solo work also contributed to Jimmy Soul’s 1963 hit “If You Wanna Be Happy.”

Marianne Faithfull

A singer and actress who became an icon of the British Invasion in the 1960s, Faithfull died Jan. 30. She was 78. Faithfull met the Rolling Stones at age 16 when the band’s manager spotted her at a party. The group helped Faithfull start her own music career, giving her permission to record “As Tears Go By,” the first song Mick Jagger and Keith Richards co-wrote together. The recording became a Top 10 hit for Faithfull in the United Kingdom. As the Stones found international success, Jagger and Faithfull became a romantic couple from 1966 to 1970, breaking up after Faithfull’s miscarriage and descent into drug addiction. At the height of her popularity, Faithfull starred in a series of films, including The Girl on a Motorcycle.

Dick Button

A figure skater whose gold-medal performances won him top awards and whose ­silver tongue earned him a career on television, Button died Jan. 30 at the age of 95. The New Jersey native dominated men’s figure skating in the United States as a teen, winning his first of seven U.S. men’s skating titles beginning in 1946 at just 16 years old. Button was the first to land a double axel and a triple jump in competition and took gold in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. His competitive career behind him, Button joined ABC to become an on-air analyst for the network’s figure skating coverage. Over the course of his nearly five-decade career as a broadcaster, Button became an enduring advocate for the sport.

Suzanne Massie

An author who helped explain Russia to President Ronald Reagan, becoming one of the most influential voices during the Cold War, Massie died Jan. 26. She was 94. Massie’s 1980 book Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia caught Reagan’s attention ahead of a crucial summit with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1984, Reagan invited Massie in for a five-minute meeting that stretched into a full hour. In that meeting and the others that followed, she gave the president a deeper understanding of the Russian people, culture, and traditions. In one such session, Massie taught Reagan the Russian proverb “Trust but verify”—a line the president used with Gorbachev during a 1986 Iceland summit.

Bob Uecker

A nominal big leaguer who nevertheless became known as “Mr. Baseball” through endless media appearances and acting gigs, Uecker died Jan. 16. He was 90. Uecker earned his first big-league call-up in 1962 with his hometown Milwaukee Braves. In 1971, he began a 54-year stint as a Milwaukee Brewers broadcast announcer and made the first of dozens of appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Uecker’s self-deprecation and comedic chops made Carson laugh. Those same qualities opened other doors for Uecker, leading to a long-running advertising campaign for Lite Beer, a role as the announcer in the baseball trilogy Major League, and a part in the ABC sitcom Mr. Belvedere.