obituary

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Former House Speaker Tom Foley Dead at 84

Foley also served as US ambassador to Japan

(Newser) - The former leader of the US House of Representatives, Tom Foley, has died at the age of 84 in his Washington home. Foley's wife, Heather, confirmed the death of the Washington state Democrat. Foley also served as US ambassador to Japan for four years during the Clinton administration. But...

&#39;Prison Angel&#39; Nun Dead at 86
 'Prison Angel' Nun Dead at 86 
obituary
Oct 18, 2013 11:08 AM CDT

'Prison Angel' Nun Dead at 86

California native spent decades living in Tijiuana prison

(Newser) - Sister Antonia Brenner was raised in Beverly Hills, with people like Cary Grant for neighbors. But as an adult she spent more than three decades living, by choice, in a Tijuana prison cell, surrounded by the convicts she ministered to. Inmates and guards alike referred to Sister Brenner as the...

He Was a Pioneering Astronaut— Aquanaut, Too

NASA's Scott Carpenter dead at 88

(Newser) - Astronaut Scott Carpenter, the second American to orbit the Earth and first person to explore both the heights of space and depths of the ocean, died today after a stroke at age 88. Along with John Glenn, who flew three months before him, Carpenter was one of the last two...

Military Mourns Oldest Medal of Honor Recipient

Veterans, soldiers watched over WWII hero

(Newser) - World War II hero Nicholas Oresko has died at the age of 96—more than 68 years after he was shot and left for dead by a German machine-gunner during the Battle of the Bulge. The New Jersey native, who wiped out two enemy machine gun bunkers despite his injuries,...

Author Tom Clancy Dead at 66
 Author Tom Clancy Dead at 66 
Oct 2, 2013 9:34 AM CDT

Author Tom Clancy Dead at 66

Reportedly died last night in Baltimore hospital

(Newser) - Outlets including Publishers Weekly and the New York Times are reporting on Twitter that bestselling author Tom Clancy has died, Business Insider reports. The president of Putnam, Clancy's publisher, reportedly told the NYT that Clancy, whose bestselling books include Patriot Games and The Hunt for Red October, "was...

Nuke Honcho Who Signed Hiroshima Bomb, Filmed Blast, Dies

Los Alamos director Harold Agnew helped build 75% of US' nuclear stockpile

(Newser) - Harold Agnew, a physicist who helped build the first atomic bomb and served as a director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, died yesterday at his home in Solana Beach, Calif. He was 92. Agnew, who was suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia, died while watching football on TV, the AP...

'Mother of Italian Cooking' in US Dead at 89

Marcella Hazan published 7 bestselling cookbooks

(Newser) - Marcella Hazan—"the first mother of Italian cooking in America," according to restaurateur Lidia Bastianich—has died at age 89 in her Florida home, after years of emphysema. Even if you've never heard her name, Hazan may have influenced your cooking, the New York Times points out;...

Man Whose Skin Was Blue Dead at 62

 Man Whose 
 Skin Was Blue 
 Dead at 62 
obituary
Sep 25, 2013 2:13 PM CDT

Man Whose Skin Was Blue Dead at 62

Paul Karason's skin changed color because of his use of silver

(Newser) - As far as obituaries go, it's not your everyday death notice: Paul Karason died Monday in a Washington hospital after suffering a heart attack, at age 62. Had his death occurred five years earlier it likely would have gone quietly unnoticed. But in 2008, Karason went on the Today ...

Ace Who Brought You Nintendo Dead at 85

Hiroshi Yamauchi turned company into videogame powerhouse

(Newser) - Hiroshi Yamauchi, who ran Nintendo for more than 50 years and led the Japanese company's transition from traditional playing-card maker to videogame giant, has died. He was 85. Kyoto-based Nintendo says Yamauchi, who owned the Seattle Mariners before selling it to Nintendo's US unit in 2004, died today...

Boxer Ken Norton Dead at 70
 Boxer Ken Norton Dead at 70 
Sep 18, 2013 7:26 PM CDT

Boxer Ken Norton Dead at 70

He was ring nemesis of Muhammad Ali

(Newser) - Former heavyweight champion Ken Norton, who beat Muhammad Ali and then lost a controversial decision to him in Yankee Stadium, died today in Las Vegas at age 70. Norton had been in poor health for the last several years after suffering a series of strokes, a friend said. Norton broke...

Star of CDC Anti-Smoking Ad Campaign Dead at 53

Terrie Hall's cancer spread to her brain

(Newser) - A North Carolina woman featured prominently in a graphic government ad campaign to get people to stop smoking died yesterday of cancer. Terrie Hall died at a hospital in Winston-Salem, NC, federal officials said. She was 53. "She was a public health hero," said Dr. Tom Frieden, director...

New York's Oldest Taxi Driver Dies at 94

Johnnie 'Spider' Footman had been driving cabs about 70 years

(Newser) - Johnnie Footman has collected his last fare. Footman, the oldest cab driver in New York, died this week, age 94, reports the New York Times . "He was here Monday and he died Tuesday," says an owner of the 55 Stan cab depot in Queens where Footman worked. According...

Sound Genius Ray Dolby Dead at 80

 Sound Genius 
 Ray Dolby 
 Dead at 80 
obituary
Sep 12, 2013 6:50 PM CDT

Sound Genius Ray Dolby Dead at 80

That's his name synonymous with 'surround sound'

(Newser) - You know the name, even if you didn't know the man behind it: Engineer and prolific inventor Ray Dolby—as in Dolby surround sound—has died at age 80, reports the Los Angeles Times . His namesake company pioneered technology still widely used in cinemas, the recording industry, and maybe...

Man Who Made Washing Our Hands Easier Dead at 77
Man Who Made Washing Our Hands Easier Dead at 77
OBITUARY
Sep 12, 2013 9:50 AM CDT

Man Who Made Washing Our Hands Easier Dead at 77

Give your soap pump a push for Robert Taylor, who died Aug. 29

(Newser) - The man who took a huge gamble to bring you hand soap via pump has died at 77. Robert Taylor wanted to clean up the mess bar soap left in the soap dish, and so his company, Minnetonka, introduced Softsoap in a pump-topped plastic bottle in 1978. But in order...

Latest Viral Obituary: Mom Was 'Violent, Evil'

Obit describes woman as abusive, neglectful toward kids

(Newser) - "Viral obituaries" are quite trendy these days , and they're usually heartwarming—or at least hilarious —but not so in this latest case. Gawker spotted the obituary for Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick in the Reno Gazette-Journal, and though the paper removed it, Gawker has the full text. Whoever wrote...

Woman's Obit Shares Lessons on Life, Panty Hose

Mary 'Pink' Mullaney's family pays homage

(Newser) - The AV Club loves the obituary for an 85-year-old woman in Wisconsin named Mary "Pink" Mullaney. Why? Maybe because her family filled it with lessons imparted by Mullaney in life, including, “Never throw away old pantyhose. Use the old ones to tie gutters, child-proof cabinets, tie toilet flappers,...

Car Dealer Famous for Outlandish Ads Dead at 92

Cal Worthington and his 'dog Spot' appeared in California commercials

(Newser) - Cal Worthington, famous in Southern California for the outlandish TV commercials advertising his car dealership, died Sunday at age 92. Worthington, who bought his first LA-area dealership in 1950, started making the commercials in an attempt to drum up business because his location wasn't so hot, the New York ...

Hitler's Bodyguard Dead at 96

Rochus Misch was the last surviving witness from the bunker

(Newser) - There aren't many people who reminisce fondly about their days with Adolf Hitler, and the world just lost one of the last of them. Rochus Misch, Hitler's bodyguard and the last surviving witness to his final days in the bunker, died yesterday at age 96, surrounded by his...

Rocky V Boxer Tommy Morrison Dead at 44

Former heavyweight champ had tested positive for HIV in 1996

(Newser) - Former world heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison, best known for his role in Rocky V and a very public HIV diagnosis, died last night in Nebraska of undisclosed causes, reports the Tulsa World . He was 44. "It's true," says his former promoter. "He was with his wife...

Scientist Dies After 52 Years Spent Waiting for Drop
Scientist Dies After 52 Years Spent Waiting for Drop
in case you missed it
Aug 31, 2013 6:28 PM CDT

Scientist Dies After 52 Years Spent Waiting for Drop

John Mainstone was 'custodian of world's longest-running science experiment'

(Newser) - Last month we wrote about the pitch-drop experiment, which is meant to demonstrate the concept that pitch (a tar derivative) is actually a high-viscosity substance, meaning it appears solid but is actually slowly flowing. An experiment to prove just that has been running in Brisbane since 1927—and now comes...

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