obituary

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Fred Smith Thought Up FedEx in College
Fred Smith Thought Up
FedEx in College
obituary
Jun 22, 2025 10:00 AM CDT

Fred Smith Thought Up FedEx in College

Founder said the know-how came from his time in Marines

(Newser) - Fred Smith, the FedEx Corp. founder who revolutionized the express delivery industry, has died. He was 80. FedEx started operating in 1973, delivering small parcels and documents more quickly than the postal service. Over the next half-century, Smith, a Marine Corps veteran, oversaw the growth of a company that became...

HGTV Exec, House Party Host Loren Ruch Dies at 55
HGTV Loses
a 'Warm Light in
a Dark World'
OBITUARY
Jun 20, 2025 7:50 AM CDT

HGTV Loses a 'Warm Light in a Dark World'

Longtime network exec, House Party host Loren Ruch dies of acute myeloid leukemia at age 55

(Newser) - Loren Ruch, a longtime HGTV executive and co-host of the 2021 HGTV series House Party, died on June 12 at age 55 from acute myeloid leukemia, report Variety and People . According to an internal memo from Channing Dungey, chair of Warner Bros. Television Group, Ruch died "surrounded by...

She Began as a Headhunter, Ended Up as a Top Chef
She Began as
a Headhunter,
Ended Up as
a Top Chef
OBITUARY
Jun 18, 2025 6:34 AM CDT

She Began as a Headhunter, Ended Up as a Top Chef

Anne Burrell of Food Network's Worst Cooks in America has died at age 55

(Newser) - TV chef Anne Burrell, who coached culinary fumblers through hundreds of episodes of Worst Cooks in America, died Tuesday at her New York home. She was 55. The Food Network, where Burrell began her two-decade television career on Iron Chef America and went on to other shows, confirmed her death....

Lilo & Stitch Actor Dies Weeks After Release
Lilo & Stitch Actor Dies
Weeks After Release
OBITUARY
Jun 17, 2025 9:30 AM CDT

Lilo & Stitch Actor Dies Weeks After Release

David Hekili Kenui Bell, a native Hawaiian, was 46

(Newser) - A rising actor has tragically died while his most recent movie, the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch, is still in theaters. David Hekili Kenui Bell, a member of SAG-AFTRA who also appeared in episodes of Hawaii Five-0 and Magnum PI, joined "the company of our Heavenly Father,"...

He Turned His Family's Cosmetics Firm Into a Giant

Leonard Lauder, son of Estee Lauder, dies at 92

(Newser) - Leonard A. Lauder, who helped transform his family's cosmetics business into a global powerhouse and went onto to become a major philanthropist, has died at age 92, reports the BBC . The son of company founders Estee and Joseph Lauder died at home in Manhattan on Saturday, per the...

MTV's Ananda Lewis Dies at 52
MTV's
Ananda Lewis
Dies at 52
OBITUARY
Jun 12, 2025 6:27 AM CDT

MTV's Ananda Lewis Dies at 52

Former VJ dies of breast cancer

(Newser) - Ananda Lewis, the former MTV VJ who hosted Total Request Live and Hot Zone before heading the short-lived The Ananda Lewis Show, died at home in Los Angeles on Wednesday. She was 52. Lewis died of breast cancer, which she'd reportedly been fighting since 2019. She was initially diagnosed...

Beach Boys' Brian Wilson Dead at 82
Beach Boys Leader
Brian Wilson Dead at 82
obituary
Jun 11, 2025 12:11 PM CDT

Beach Boys Leader Brian Wilson Dead at 82

The AP calls him 'summer's poet laureate'

(Newser) - Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys' visionary and fragile leader whose genius for melody, arrangements, and wide-eyed self-expression inspired "Good Vibrations," "California Girls" and other summertime anthems and made him one of the world's most influential recording artists, has died at 82. Wilson's family posted news...

Sly Stone, Influential Funk Pioneer, Dies at 82
Sly Stone
Dies at 82
Jun 9, 2025 4:10 PM CDT

Sly Stone Dies at 82

Funk pioneer joyfully crossed musical lines

(Newser) - Sly Stone, a groundbreaking musician who crossed the lines separating rock, pop, funk, and soul to produce a string of often celebratory hits in the late 1960s and early '70s — including "Dance to the Music" and "Everyday People"—died Monday in Los Angeles. He was...

King of the Hill, Parks and Rec Actor Is Fatally Shot

Jonathan Joss, who voiced John Redcorn on King of the Hill , was 59

(Newser) - Jonathan Joss, an actor with roles on King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation, is dead at age 59 after a shooting over the weekend in San Antonio, Texas, reports NBC News .
  • Joss is probably best known for voicing the character of John Redcorn in the animated King
...

Boardwalk Empire Star Dies at 41
Boardwalk Empire
Star Dies at 41
obituary
Jun 2, 2025 7:14 AM CDT

Boardwalk Empire Star Dies at 41

Devin Harjes had cancer

(Newser) - Boardwalk Empire fans will know him as boxing champ Jack Dempsey. The actor who starred in that role, Devin Lee Harjes, died last week at age 41, reports the Hollywood Reporter . Harjes, who was diagnosed with cancer in February, died in Mount Sinai West Hospital in New York City from...

His Music for The Simpsons Won Him 2 Emmys
His Music for
The Simpsons
Won Him 2 Emmys
OBITUARY
May 31, 2025 10:30 AM CDT

His Music for The Simpsons Won Him 2 Emmys

Danny Elfman wrote show's theme song, but composer Alf Clausen did almost all the rest

(Newser) - Alf Clausen, the Emmy-winning composer whose music provided essential accompaniment for the animated antics of The Simpsons for 27 years, has died. Daughter Kaarin Clausen told the AP that her father died Thursday at his home in Los Angeles after struggling with Parkinson's disease for about a decade. He...

Loretta Swit of M.A.S.H. Fame Dies at 87
Loretta Swit of M.A.S.H.
Fame Dies at 87
obituary
May 30, 2025 2:55 PM CDT

Loretta Swit of M.A.S.H. Fame Dies at 87

She played Margaret Houlihan in the hit show

(Newser) - Loretta Swit, who won two Emmy Awards playing Major Margaret Houlihan on the pioneering hit TV series M.A.S.H., has died at 87. Publicist Harlan Boll says Swit died Friday at her home in New York City, likely from natural causes. Swit, who played the demanding head nurse...

Actor Who Played Child's Play Doll 'Chucky' Dead at 61

Ed Gale was also known for playing Howard the Duck

(Newser) - Ed Gale, the actor and stuntman known for such roles as possessed doll Chucky in Child's Play and Howard the Duck, has died at age 61. Gale, born with dwarfism, "hitched a ride to California when he was twenty years old, with $41 and a dream, and he...

Last Grandson of Our 10th President Dies
Last Living Grandson of
Our 10th President Dies
OBITUARY
May 29, 2025 5:37 AM CDT

Last Living Grandson of Our 10th President Dies

Harrison Ruffin Tyler preserved grandfather's legacy and historic Virginia landmarks

(Newser) - Harrison Ruffin Tyler, the last living grandson of President John Tyler, has died at 96, closing an extraordinary family chapter that stretched from the White House of the 1840s into the modern day. His grandfather, the nation's 10th president, was born in 1790 and served from 1841 to...

Rick Derringer of "Hang on Sloopy" Fame Dies at 77
'Hang on Sloopy'
Hitmaker Dead at 77
obituary
May 28, 2025 4:01 AM CDT

'Hang on Sloopy' Hitmaker Dead at 77

Rick Derringer won a Grammy for producing Weird Al's debut album, had a lengthy and varied career

(Newser) - Guitarist and singer Rick Derringer, who shot to fame at 17 when his band the McCoys recorded "Hang On Sloopy," had a hit with "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo," and earned a Grammy Award for producing "Weird Al" Yankovic's debut album, has died. He...

Charles Rangel Dies at 94
Charles Rangel Dies at 94
OBITUARY
May 26, 2025 1:08 PM CDT

Charles Rangel Dies at 94

'Lion of Harlem' served in the House for almost 50 years

(Newser) - Former Rep. Charles Rangel, a Democrat who represented New York City districts in the House for almost 50 years, has died at age 94. Rangel, who would have turned 95 next month, was born in Harlem and dropped out of high school to enlist in the Army in 1948, the...

Duck Dynasty Patriarch Phil Robertson Dead at 79

Robertson had been in poor health recently

(Newser) - Phil Robertson, patriarch of the Duck Dynasty clan, died Sunday at age 79. Multiple family members announced the news in social media posts, People reports. Robertson had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and a blood disorder, and his family revealed in December that he was in pain and not...

Pro Boxer Dies of Cancer at 25
Pro Boxer Dies of Cancer at 25
OBITUARY
May 23, 2025 8:50 AM CDT

Pro Boxer Dies of Cancer at 25

Georgia O'Connor said doctors didn't take her seriously before diagnosis

(Newser) - Georgia O'Connor died undefeated. The British boxer, who died from cancer Thursday at age 25, was a champ at the junior level and won all three of her paid fights after turning pro in 2021, the BBC reports. Her last fight was in October 2022. In 2023, she said...

Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly Is Dead at 75

The Democrat was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2024

(Newser) - Less than a month after announcing that "the sun is setting on my time in public service," Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia has died of esophageal cancer, his family confirmed Wednesday. He was 75.
  • "It is with immense sadness that we share that our devoted and
...

George Wendt Dead at 76
George Wendt
Dead at 76
May 20, 2025 3:32 PM CDT

George Wendt Dead at 76

He won fame as Norm on 11 seasons of Cheers

(Newser) - The man who played one of the most beloved barflies in TV history has died. Relatives say George Wendt, who appeared as Norm Peterson on 11 seasons of Cheers (1982 to 1993), died peacefully at home early Tuesday. He was 76 years old. "George was a doting family man,...

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