Obituary Stories category, Page 26
‘Chernobyl’ and ‘Harry Potter’ actor Paul Ritter dies at 54Video
LONDON — Versatile British actor Paul Ritter, whose roles ranged from a hapless suburban patriarch in sitcom “Friday Night Dinner” to a Soviet engineer who helps cause a nuclear disaster in “Chernobyl,” has died, his agent said Tuesday. He was 54 and had been suffering from a brain tumor. A...
Retired Norwin teacher loved traveling, going to Olympics
Retired Norwin High School teacher Leslie “Les” M. Harvath had a lifelong love for the game of baseball, from playing on a Little League championship team to starring for the Norwin Knights and Duquesne Dukes that led to a tryout with the Pittsburgh Pirates and then imparting his knowledge of...
Larry Davis, pioneering dean of Pitt School of Social Work, dies at 74
Editor’s note: Mr. Davis’ age was incorrect in the original version of this story. When Larry Davis was promoting his most recent book “Why Are They Angry With Us?” in February 2016, he shared his frustration over the lack of progress when it came to race relations in America. “The...
G. Gordon Liddy, unrepentant Watergate burglar who became talk show host, dies at 90
G. Gordon Liddy, the tough-guy Watergate operative who went to prison rather than testify and later turned his Nixon-era infamy into a successful television and talk show career, has died at age 90. Liddy died Tuesday at his daugher’s house in Virginia, his son Thomas P. Liddy told The Washington...
Harrison World War II veteran Howard Traenkner dies at 100
Howard Traenkner of Harrison was born at the end of one pandemic and died in the midst of another one. A World War II Navy veteran, he was born as the Spanish flu pandemic was trailing off. He died Saturday, at 100, of natural causes, his family said. “I think...
Obama family matriarch has died in a Kenyan hospital at 99
Sarah Obama, the matriarch of former U.S. President Barack Obama’s Kenyan family has died, relatives and officials confirmed Monday. She was at least 99 years old. Mama Sarah, as the step-grandmother of the former U.S. president was fondly called, promoted education for girls and orphans in her rural Kogelo village....
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry dies at 84
DALLAS — Larry McMurtry, the prolific and popular author who took readers back to the old American West in his Pulitzer Prize-winning “Lonesome Dove” and returned them to modern-day landscapes in works such as his emotional tale of a mother-daughter relationship in “Terms of Endearment,” has died. He was 84....
‘Arrested Development’ actor Jessica Walter dies at 80
LOS ANGELES — Jessica Walter, who played a scheming matriarch in TV’s “Arrested Development,” has died. She was 80. Walter’s death was confirmed Thursday by her daughter, Brooke Bowman. The actor’s best-known film role included playing the stalker in Clint Eastwood’s 1971 thriller, “Play Misty for Me.” Walter’s daughter said...
‘Virginia Woolf,’ ‘Goldbergs’ star George Segal dies at 87
LOS ANGELES — George Segal, the banjo player turned actor who was nominated for an Oscar for 1966’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” and starred in the ABC sitcom “The Goldbergs,” died Tuesday in Santa Rosa, Calif, his wife said. He was 87. “The family is devastated to announce that...
Texas Roadhouse CEO Kent Taylor dies amid covid-19 struggle
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kent Taylor, founder and CEO of the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain, has died. He was 65. His family and the company say he took his own life as a result of suffering from symptoms related to covid-19, including severe tinnitus. Taylor’s family and the company on Sunday...
‘Amityville Horror’ killer Ronald Defeo Jr. dies in prison at age 69
NEW YORK — Convicted “Amityville Horror” killer Ronald DeFeo Jr., who in 1974 shot and killed his parents and four younger siblings inside their Long Island home in a grisly case that inspired a book and a movie, has died in prison, officials said. He was 69. DeFeo was serving...
Roger Mudd, longtime network TV newsman, dies at 93Video
Roger Mudd, the longtime political correspondent and anchor for NBC and CBS who once stumped Sen. Edward Kennedy by simply asking why he wanted to be president, has died. He was 93. CBS News says Mudd died Tuesday of complications of kidney failure at his home in McLean, Va. During...
Carla Wallenda, member of famed high-wire act, dies at 85
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Carla Wallenda, a member of “The Flying Wallendas” high-wire act and the last surviving child of the famed troupe’s founder, has died at the age of 85. Her son, Rick Wallenda, said on social media she died Saturday in Sarasota, Fla., of natural causes. She was...
Eileen Hertweck, wife of The Clarks guitarist, dies
Eileen Hertweck, wife of The Clarks guitarist Rob Hertweck, died on Saturday of leukemia, at the age of 42. The Pittsburgh music community is in mourning. Clarks bass player Greg Joseph posted a message on Facebook with a photo of the couple and their two daughters, ages 13 and 10....
Beat poet, publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti dies at 101
Poet, publisher and bookseller Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who helped launch and perpetuate the Beat movement, has died. He was 101. Ferlinghetti died at his San Francisco home Monday, his son Lorenzo Ferlinghetti told The Associated Press Tuesday. Ferlinghetti was known for his City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, an essential meeting...
Longtime editor Genevieve Young left legacy in publishing
NEW YORK — Genevieve Young was a publishing editor with a long and diverse legacy. She entered the business in the early 1950s, when there were few female editors and even fewer Asians. She worked with authors ranging from Herman Wouk to Betty Rollin and played a key role in...
West Leechburg mourns the loss of longtime borough Secretary Pat Grantz
The community of West Leechburg is mourning the loss of a longtime, steadfast borough employee. Patricia Ann Grantz of West Leechburg died Feb. 7. She was 82. Grantz served as borough secretary and treasurer for 43 years. “She was the rock that kept everything together,” West Leechburg Mayor Jim Gallucci...
Ex-Tribune-Review Sunday editor remembered as a ‘giant of a man’
William T. “Bill” Dymond, the first editor of the Sunday Tribune-Review, was a man great in stature and personality, a man who cared deeply about his family and community, his friends said. “He was a giant in so many ways. Not only in personal stature, but a giant in the...
Chick Corea, jazz great with 23 Grammy Awards, dies at 79Video
NEW YORK — Chick Corea, a towering jazz pianist with a staggering 23 Grammy Awards who pushed the boundaries of the genre and worked alongside Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, has died. He was 79. Corea died Tuesday of a rare form of cancer, his team posted on his website....
Shawn Kuhn leaves legacy of joy, service in Allegheny Township
Family members described Shawn Kuhn as “larger than life, a friend to all.” Kuhn was director of public works for Allegheny Township — but his involvement in the community reached far beyond his municipal duties. He was former president of the Allegheny Township Athletic Association and the Kiski Valley Baseball...
Hustler publisher Larry Flynt dies at 78
LOS ANGELES — Porn purveyor Larry Flynt, who built Hustler magazine into an adult entertainment empire while championing First Amendment rights, died Wednesday. He was 78. Flynt had been in frail health and died of heart failure at his Hollywood Hills home, said his nephew, Jimmy Flynt Jr. From his...
Folk singer-songwriter and political activist Anne Feeney dies at 69
A fierce activist who lent her voice and music to a range of grassroots causes — a self-described “hellraiser” and “troublemaker” — Anne Feeney spent decades turning the push for social justice into lyrics. “Anne, like a laser, would identify these issues and help people understand these in a very...
Sewickley centenarian, 1st female township supervisor helped push women’s rights
Sixty years ago, before the push for women’s rights gained widespread support, Mary Belak Zakutney of Herminie sought the same pay for the same job as a man in her rural community. Mrs. Zakutney was secretary-treasurer for Sewickley Township for almost 17 years, from the early 1940s to 1957, working...
Pittsburgh native Jamie Tarses, 1st female TV network entertainment head, dies at 56
Jamie Tarses, who helped bring “Friends” to NBC and broke the glass ceiling in network TV when she became the top entertainment executive at ABC, died Monday after suffering complications from a cardiac event last fall. She was 56. Tarses’ death was confirmed by her family. She was among the...
‘Saved by the Bell’ star Dustin Diamond dies of cancer at 44
“Saved by the Bell” star Dustin Diamond died Monday after a three-week fight with carcinoma, according to his representative. He was 44. “Dustin did not suffer. He did not have to lie submerged in pain. For that, we are grateful,” the actor’s spokesman, Roger Paul, said in a statement. Diamond,...
