Boston Globe -- Obituaries

Fred Joseph, at 72; former CEO of Drexel Burnham

Globe Staff And Wire Reports — 2009-11-30T06:08:16Z

As a teenager, Fred Joseph became a fighter on the streets of Dorchester and Roxbury. To many in the boardrooms of high finance, he remained a fighter the rest of his life.

Mike Penner, sports writer who struggled with sexual orientation

John Rogers, Associated Press — 2009-11-30T05:58:01Z

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Times sports writer Mike Penner, who announced two years ago he was a transsexual and was changing his name to Christine Daniels, died Friday at a hospital, said Los Angeles County coroner’s Lieutenant Brian Elias. He said coroner’s officials hadn’t yet issued an official cause of death.

Hale Smith; composer straddled classical, jazz

William Grimes, New York Times — 2009-11-30T05:57:55Z

NEW YORK - Hale Smith, a classical composer who also worked as a performer and arranger with jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie and Chico Hamilton, died Tuesday at his home in Freeport. He was 84.

Pauline Golder, 103; led Hadassah chapter

Emma Stickgold, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-30T05:57:37Z

Pauline (Glass) Golder was 6 when President William Howard Taft came to Malden to make a speech, and a school field trip to hear him speak fed her precocious sense about politics, family said.

Lauren Frechette, 24; teacher battled tough odds

J.M. Lawrence, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-30T05:57:22Z

Lauren Elizabeth Frechette of Braintree, a substitute teacher for Quincy and Weymouth schools, drove a blue Ford Escort with a bumper sticker proclaiming “Love is my religion.’’

Nona Mahoney, 86; ‘heroic survivor’ endured many of life’s trials

Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff — 2009-11-30T05:56:56Z

Part way through the summer that Nona Rohan Mahoney’s daughter spent cooking and cleaning for Lillian Hellman, the aging writer inquired about the family of her young domestic. Learning that Rosemary’s father had died, leaving Nona a widow with seven young children, Hellman wondered, “How on earth did she manage?’’

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2009-11-30T05:56:56Z

Francis McDonnell; built empire from trucking firm

Emma Stickgold, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-29T07:43:53Z

He started out with a dump truck, hauling loam and gravel and plowing snow off the streets for the city of Lynn. Little by little, Francis C. “Skip’’ McDonnell went from trucks to developing apartment complexes, running restaurants, and owning horses.

Bernard Birnbaum, longtime CBS news producer; at 89

Associated Press — 2009-11-29T07:31:15Z

Bernard Birnbaum, a CBS News producer who worked with Walter Cronkite and Charles Kuralt and helped craft reports on subjects ranging from poverty to the Watergate scandal, has died.

Mark Pittman, 52; reporter who foresaw subprime crisis

Bob Ivry, Bloomberg News — 2009-11-28T03:38:45Z

Mark Pittman, the award-winning investigative reporter whose fight to open the Federal Reserve to more scrutiny led Bloomberg News to sue the central bank and win, died Wednesday in Yonkers, N.Y. He was 52.

Robert Fuhrman, engineer, Lockheed executive

Elaine Woo, Los Angeles Times — 2009-11-28T03:37:51Z

Robert A. Fuhrman, a pioneering Lockheed engineer who played a central role in the creation of the Polaris and Poseidon missiles before rising to the top of the aeronautics and aerospace giant, died Nov. 21 in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Al Alberts, singer in Four Aces

Associated Press — 2009-11-28T03:37:28Z

Al Alberts, a founding member of the singing group The Four Aces and a longtime TV talent show host in Philadelphia, has died at 87.

Ali Kordan, Iranian minister dismissed in degree scandal

Nazila Fathi, New York Times — 2009-11-28T03:36:43Z

Ali Kordan, a hardline ally of Iran’s president who was dismissed a year ago as interior minister for lying about having received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University, died Nov. 22 in Tehran. He was 51.

William Budris; cultivated passion for healthy lifestyle

Gloria Negri, Globe Staff — 2009-11-28T03:35:39Z

He was a regular at D.W. Field Park into his 90s, a ruggedly handsome man with a mane of white hair who for years had walked regularly to the park a mile from his Brockton home. That was nothing for William J. Budris.

Lester Shubin, 84, chemist who developed Kevlar vests

Patricia Sullivan, Washington Post — 2009-11-27T02:54:30Z

WASHINGTON - Lester Shubin, the Justice Department researcher who turned a DuPont fabric intended for tires into the first truly effective bulletproof vest, saving the lives of more than 3,000 law enforcement officers, died after a heart attack at his Virginia home.

Edward Stimpson, 75; fought suits v. small-aircraft makers

John Miller, Associated Press — 2009-11-27T02:54:15Z

BOISE - Edward Stimpson, an aviation advocate who pushed to rejuvenate struggling small aircraft manufacturers in the 1990s by limiting lawsuits against them, died Wednesday after an extended illness. He was 75.

Waldo Hunt, 88, pop-up book promoter and collector

Margalit Fox, New York Times — 2009-11-27T02:53:46Z

NEW YORK - On the flat, foursquare pages of a printed book, Waldo H. Hunt could part the Red Sea. He could make hearts beat, lungs fill, and bones rattle. He could make dinosaurs rear up, ships set sail, and bats quiver in belfries.

Dr. Kenneth Baughman, 63; was cardiologist at Brigham

Melody N. Wright, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-27T02:53:23Z

As one of the nation’s leading experts and innovators in the treatment of heart failure, Dr. Kenneth Baughman emphasized the importance of exercise and healthy eating and tried daily to lead by example.

Alejandro Ruiz, 85; stormed Japanese gun bunker twice

T. Rees Shapiro, Washington Post — 2009-11-26T06:11:03Z

WASHINGTON - Alejandro R. Ruiz Sr., 85, a US Army infantryman in World War II who received the Medal of Honor after single-handedly storming a Japanese machine gun bunker, twice, during the Battle of Okinawa, died Monday at a hospital in Napa, Calif. He had congestive heart failure.

Tom Janik; back turned interception of Namath into TD

Associated Press — 2009-11-26T06:10:42Z

POTH, Texas - Tom Janik, a former AFL-NFL player who intercepted a pass by Joe Namath in 1968 and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown, has died. He was 69.

Ira Hanford; rode 20-1 shot to 1936 Kentucky Derby win

Beth Harris, Associated Press — 2009-11-26T06:10:13Z

NEW YORK - Ira “Babe’’ Hanford, who as an 18-year-old apprentice rode 20-1 shot Bold Venture to victory in the 1936 Kentucky Derby, has died. He was 91.

H.C. Robbins Landon, 83; pioneering expert on Haydn

Robert Barr, Associated Press — 2009-11-26T02:28:07Z

LONDON - H.C. Robbins Landon, a musicologist noted for his pioneering research on Franz Joseph Haydn and for writing popular works on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, has died at 83.

Mary Knox; her fashion shows boosted needy, many egos

Gloria Negri, Globe Staff — 2009-11-26T02:26:48Z

In Winchester, where she lived for 54 years, there are countless lives that Mary Knox touched of people unaware that she had. She made good works happen behind the scenes, friends said.

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2009-11-26T02:26:48Z

Charis Wilson, 95; was muse, model for Edward Weston

Associated Press — 2009-11-25T06:07:13Z

Charis Wilson, who modeled in more than half of the nude portraits by celebrated photographer Edward Weston, died Friday at her home in Santa Cruz, the New York Times reported. She was 95.

Samak Sundaravej, 74, former prime minister of Thailand

Denis D. Gray, Associated Press — 2009-11-25T06:06:21Z

BANGKOK - Samak Sundaravej, a firebrand right-wing politician and TV cooking show host who served a brief and tumultuous term last year as Thailand’s prime minister, died of cancer yesterday. He was 74.

John Bradley; taught biology in Medford

Maria Chutchian, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-25T03:42:00Z

John M. Bradley, a longtime biology teacher at Medford High School, died Saturday of heart failure at Winchester Hospital. The Winchester resident was 84.

Yang Xianyi, 94; translated classics of China

Associated Press — 2009-11-25T03:41:13Z

BEIJING - Renowned Chinese literature translator Yang Xianyi has died, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said yesterday. He was 94.

Tom Naughton; shared adventures with family

Hannah McBride, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-25T03:40:35Z

Thomas Naughton was not a typical father. He gave his only son, Thomas Jr., his first car - a 1964 Chevy Corvair - when he was 10. Tom Jr. crashed it into the family car, but Mr. Naughton never yelled at him. Father and son repaired the dents on the car together.

Abe Pollin, 85, owner of Washington Wizards

Joseph White, Associated Press — 2009-11-25T03:37:55Z

Abe Pollin, the Washington Wizards owner who brought an NBA championship to the nation’s capital and later had the mettle to stand up to Michael Jordan, died yesterday. He was 85.

Frank Dardeno, 88, lawyer had a love for languages

Emma Stickgold, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-25T03:36:39Z

Of all the languages Frank Dardeno could comfortably converse in (Italian, Russian, German, and French, to name a few), the language of the law was most handy for him in a legal career that spanned six decades. In courtrooms throughout Massachusetts, his low-key oratory style offered well-prepared arguments, often in defense of the US Constitution’s First Amendment, and always in ...

Dennis Cole, at 69; starred in television’s ‘Felony Squad’

Dennis Hevesi, New York Times — 2009-11-25T03:33:24Z

NEW YORK - Dennis Cole, a blond, chiseled former model whose face became familiar to television viewers in the 1960s when he played the first of his panoply of roles in more than a dozen prime-time series, died Nov. 15 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he resided. He was 69.