Passings 2007: Notable Figures
Vincent Sardi Jr., 91
Consummate host of Sardi's, famed Broadway watering hole. Jan. 4.
Larry Stewart, 58
Anonymous philanthropist known as Secret Santa. Jan. 12. Cancer.
Eleanor McGovern, 85
George McGovern's wife; outspoken campaigner in his 1972 presidential run. Jan. 25.
Emma Faust Tillman, 114
Four days after becoming the world's oldest-known living person, in East Hartford, Conn. Jan. 28
David Berger, 94
Class-action lawsuit pioneer who won major cases in the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. Feb. 22.
Helen Robson Walton, 87
Widow of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton;philanthropist. April 19.
Yahweh Ben Yahweh, 71
Former cult leader in Miami linked to nearly two dozen gruesome killings in the 1980s. May 7.
Fannie Lee Chaney, 84
Mother of one of three civil-rights workers killed in 1964 "Mississippi Burning" case. May 22. Carolyn Goodman, one of the other two mothers, died Aug. 17 at 91.
Barbara Cox Anthony, 84
Heiress to Cox media fortune; one of world's richest women. May 28
Richard Jewell, 44
Former security guard wrongly linked to 1996 Olympic bombing in Atlanta. Aug. 29. Heart disease.
Gene Savoy, 80
Explorer who discovered lost Inca and pre-Inca cities in Peru. Sept. 11.
Barbara West Dainton, 96
Englishwoman believed to be one of the last two survivors from the Titanic. Oct. 16.
Catherine Roraback, 87
Attorney who won 1965 Supreme Court that established the right to contraceptives and privacy. Oct. 17.
Ruth Graham, 87
Rev. Billy Graham's closest confidante, providing a solid foundation for her husband's evangelism career. June 14.
Charles W. Lindberg, 86
Helped raise first American flag over Iwo Jima. June 24.
Lady Bird Johnson, 94
Former first lady who championed conservation, worked tenaciously for the political career of her husband, Lyndon B. Johnson. July 11. |
Norma Gabler, 84
Influential Texas crusader against what she saw as anti-American errors in textbooks. July 22.
Irene Morgan Kirkaldy, 90
A black woman whose refusal to give up her bus seat led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in the 1940s. Aug. 10.
Brooke Astor, 105
Philanthropist who gave millions to New York City institutions, large and small. Aug. 13. |
Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, late 30s
Iraq sheik who helped American strategy of enlisting aid of Sunni tribes. Sept. 13. Bomb.
Vernon Bellecourt, 75
Fought use of Indian nicknames for teams as a leader of the American Indian Movement. Oct. 13.
Paul Tibbets, 92
Piloted the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Nov. 1.
Charlie Brady "C.B." Hauser, 90
College professor who took a stand against segregation in 1947 by refusing to give up a bus seat to a white. Nov. 11.
Milo Radulovich, 81
Serviceman championed by Edward R. Murrow when the military threatened to decommission him during the anti-communist crackdown of the 1950s. Nov. 19.
Silvestre Herrera, 90
Awarded Medal of Honor for a one-man assault on an enemy position during World War II. Nov. 26.
J. Russell Coffey, 109
Oldest known surviving U.S. veteran of World War I. Dec. 20.
Passings 2007