National Obituaries

Latest National Obituaries

• Harold Shapero, 93, American Neo-Classical Composer, Dies

  24 May 2013 | 9:47 am

  Mr. Shapero was a composer and a central figure of American Neo-Classicism, a school of composition that thrived in the 1940s and ’50s.

  
  
  
  Read more...

• Steve Forrest, ‘S.W.A.T.’ Actor, Dies at 87

  23 May 2013 | 10:10 pm

  Mr. Forrest starred in films, onstage and in British television but was best known for ABC’s “S.W.A.T.,” in which he played Lt. Dan Harrelson.

  
  
  
  Read more...

• Bonnie Faubus Salcido, Who Opposed Brother’s Segregationist Stance, Dies at 93

  23 May 2013 | 9:58 pm

  Mrs. Salcido criticized her brother Gov. Orval E. Faubus’s attempt to block the integration of an Arkansas school in 1957, leading to years of hard feelings between the two.

  
  
  
  Read more...

• Ray Manzarek, 74, Rock Keyboardist And a Founder of the Doors, Is Dead

  23 May 2013 | 8:32 pm

  Mr. Manzarek played a key role in creating the group’s psychedelic sound, which could be haunted, meditative and circuslike, but which was also widely imitated.

  
  
  
  Read more...

• George Sauer, Jets Receiver and Rebel, Is Dead at 69

  23 May 2013 | 4:37 pm

  Mr. Sauer, who was a wide receiver for the Jets, played a pivotal role in the team’s Super Bowl III win, but he grew to hate the life of a pro football player and retired at 27.

  
  
  
  Read more...

• Heinrich Rohrer, Physicist Who Won Nobel, Dies at 79

  23 May 2013 | 4:22 pm

  Dr. Rohrer helped invent the scanning tunneling microscope, which made it possible to see individual atoms and move them around.

  
  
  
  Read more...

• Vernon McGarity, Medal of Honor Winner, Dies at 91

  23 May 2013 | 3:47 pm

  Mr. McGarity, who received the Medal of Honor, was a technical sergeant in the 99th Infantry Division in December 1944 when Hitler mounted his last offensive of the war.

  
  
  
  Read more...

• Leonard Marsh, 80, Dies; a Founder of Snapple

  23 May 2013 | 12:02 am

  Mr. Marsh was a longtime chief executive of the beverage company, now part of the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

  
  
  
  Read more...

• Henri Dutilleux, Modernist Composer, Dies at 97

  22 May 2013 | 11:14 pm

  Mr. Dutilleux, between Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Boulez in age, was little affected by either.

  
  
  
  Read more...

• Geza Vermes, Dead Sea Scrolls Scholar, Dies at 88

  22 May 2013 | 8:25 pm

  Dr. Vermes, one of the scrolls’ essential translators, wrote several books that placed Jesus in the tradition of Jewish teachers.

  
  
  
  Read more...

• Bernard Waber, Children’s Author, Is Dead at 91

  22 May 2013 | 8:24 pm

  Mr. Waber’s most enduring creation was Lyle, a clever crocodile who lived on the Upper East Side.

  
  
  
  Read more...

• Mary Ward Brown, 95, Award-Winning Short Story Writer, Dies

  22 May 2013 | 5:29 pm

  Ms. Brown resumed a literary career 25 years after putting it aside to run the family farm, producing award-winning short stories set in the Deep South.

  Read more...

• Readers’ Submissions: Forgotten Heroes

  22 May 2013 | 11:59 am

  In response to an essay by Margalit Fox, we asked readers to submit stories of people who had an impact on society but had been lost to history. Here is a selection of the submissions.

  Read more...

• Aleksei Balabanov, Russian Film Director, Dies at 54

  21 May 2013 | 10:29 pm

  Mr. Balabanov’s movies offered up hit men, corrupt government officials and plenty of corpses.

  
  
  
  Read more...

• Albert Seedman, Former Chief of Detectives in New York, Dies at 94

  21 May 2013 | 8:27 pm

  Mr. Seedman was the New York Police Department’s chief of detectives for only 13 months, but he helped modernize and restructure the way detectives and patrol officers did their jobs.

  
  
  
  Read more...