Obituary Stories category, Page 28
‘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,...
Retired Larimer minister served church, community
Claudia Papenmeier grew up attending St. John’s United Church of Christ in Larimer, and she remained active in the church well into her 70s. Mrs. Papenmeier met her husband, Arthur, at the church, where he served as a pastor in the 1950s. It was a role that she herself took...
Patricia Rooney, wife of late Steelers owner Dan Rooney, dies at age 88
Patricia Rooney, the wife of late Pittsburgh Steelers chairman and Ambassador Dan Rooney, died Saturday night at her home, the team announced. She was 88. The matriarch of the Steelers, Mrs. Rooney had nine children, including Art Rooney II, the team’s president. “My family and I are mourning the passing...
Cicely Tyson, groundbreaking award-winning actor, dies at 96Video
NEW YORK — Cicely Tyson, the pioneering Black actor who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper’s wife in “Sounder,” a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers’ hearts in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” died Thursday at age 96. Tyson’s death...
Oscar and Emmy-winning actor Cloris Leachman dies at 94Video
LOS ANGELES — Cloris Leachman, an Oscar-winner for her portrayal of a lonely housewife in “The Last Picture Show” and a comedic delight as the fearsome Frau Blücher in “Young Frankenstein” and neighbor Phyllis on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” has died. She was 94. Leachman died in her sleep...
Longtime Norwin athletic director taught life lessons to students
Joseph E. Pellis taught many life lessons to his children and his students. “When you get knocked down, you get back up until you can’t get up anymore,” recalled his son, Mark Pellis. The longtime athletic director at Norwin High School, Pellis also coached football and wrestling. He was an...
Sister had respect of peers as she guided Catholic schools in Greensburg diocese
Sister Marguerite Moya Coyne, who served as the superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg from 1998 to 2003, was known for her love of children and education, her friends and co-workers said. “She was a stellar woman and one of the best persons I’ve ever worked with,”...
Ralph Snyder, architect of West Point youth softball program, dies at age 80
Ralph Snyder had just moved his family from Norvelt to West Point in 1977 and signed up his oldest daughter, Renee, in the West Point Little League. His daughter made the West Point fast-pitch all-star team in 1978 and competed in the state tournament in Williamsport. West Point was overmatched....
