IN MEMORY OF CLORIS LEACHMAN - APRIL 30, 1926 - JANUARY 27, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Cloris Leachman who struggled with COVID-19 when she had a stroke and died.
“The Last Picture Show” made her a star, but she may be best remembered for drawing laughs on “Mary Tyler Moore,” “Phyllis” and “Malcolm in the Middle.”
Cloris Leachman, who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of a neglected housewife in the stark drama “The Last Picture Show” but who was probably best known for getting laughs, notably in three Mel Brooks movies and on television comedies like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Malcolm in the Middle,” died at her home in Encinitas, Calif. She was 94.
Ms. Leachman entered the spotlight as a Miss America contestant in 1946 and was still in the public eye more than 74 years later, portraying offbeat grandmothers on television and film and competing with celebrities less than half her age on “Dancing With the Stars.” In between, she won admiring reviews for her stage, film and television work, as well as Emmy Awards for performances in both dramas and comedies.
Her movie career began in 1955 when she played a doomed hitchhiker in “Kiss Me Deadly,” a hard-boiled detective film based on a novel by Mickey Spillane. She was already a seasoned stage and television actress by then, and throughout the rest of the 1950s and the ’60s she appeared in big roles on the small screen — she preceded June Lockhart as the mother in the 1957-58 season of “Lassie” — and small roles on the big screen, including as a prostitute in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969).
But she did not become a star until Peter Bogdanovich cast her in “The Last Picture Show,” his 1971 adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s novel about life in a small Texas town in the early 1950s. Her nakedly emotional portrait of a lonely middle-aged woman who has a brief affair with a high school football player won her the Oscar for best supporting actress.
“I’m at a point where I’m free to go out and have a little fun with my career,” she said after winning. “Some Oscar winners have dropped out of sight as if they were standing on a trapdoor. Others picked it up and ran with it. I’m going to run with it.”
She did, and more awards and acclaim quickly followed. She never received another Oscar nomination, but between 1972 and 2011 she was nominated for 22 Primetime Emmys and won eight.
Cloris Leachman was born on April 30, 1926, in Des Moines to Berkeley and Cloris (Wallace) Leachman. Her father worked at his family’s lumber company. She began acting in children’s theater when she was 7 (her younger sister would also become an actress, under the name Claiborne Cary) and went on to study drama at Northwestern University, which would award her an honorary degree in 2014.
Ms. Leachman remained in show business almost to the end of her life. (“They are going to have to take a lead pipe and beat me over the head with it to get me to stop,” she told an interviewer in 2011.) In 2008, she finished seventh out of 13 contestants on “Dancing With the Stars,” the popular ABC competition pairing celebrities with professional dancers. At 82, she was the oldest contestant to take part in that competition.
We will honor and remember Cloris on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JAN JUDMAN - 1941 - 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Marcy in California in honor and memory of Jan Judman who died of COVID-19.
Marcy writes: Thank you for sewing this quilt. My friend Rachel sewed this. She didn't know my friend Jan who was a school nurse who also volunteered for many community projects.
Jan would also say, "Is there anything you need?"
We will honor and remember Jan on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF DR. ALYCE CHENAULT GULLATTEE - JUNE 28, 1928 - APRIL 30, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Dr. Alyce Chenault Gullattee who died of COVID-19.
Dr. Gullattee, who died of the coronavirus, taught at Howard University and served on White House committees for Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter.
For more than a half-century, Dr. Alyce Gullattee treated countless drug addicts, AIDS patients and prostitutes in Washington, even if it meant taking to some of the city’s more dangerous streets to help those in desperate need.
“Dr. G,” as she was affectionately called by patients, became a nationally recognized expert on substance abuse as an associate professor of psychiatry at Howard University and director of Howard’s Institute on Drug Abuse and Addiction. She served on White House committees on substance abuse for three presidents: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.
Dr. Gullattee (pronounced guh-LAH-tee) died on April 30 in Rockville, Md., after testing positive for Covid-19, her daughter Aishaetu Gullattee said. She was 91. She had suffered a stroke in February and had been hospitalized for weeks.
A determined and outspoken advocate, Dr. Gullattee spent a lifetime trying to break down racial barriers for the most vulnerable members of the African-American community.
The Rev. Willie Wilson, a retired pastor at Union Temple Baptist Church in Washington, told NPR in May about the stories he had heard from victims of the drug crisis in the 1980s. “I was working with a lot of people who had problems with substance abuse,” he said, “and they were telling me about this doctor who was going up to 7th and T, into the crack houses, pulling people out and taking them to Howard University for treatment.”
Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, Howard’s president, said in a statement that Dr. Gullattee’s service to the university had been “unparalleled.”
“She played a significant role in the education and training of literally thousands of physicians,” he said, “including a significant percentage of the African-American physicians practicing in this country.”
Alyce Chenault was born on June 28, 1928, in Detroit to Bertha and Earl Chenault. Her father stoked furnaces at a Chrysler plant. Though neither of her parents attended high school, they insisted that their children get an education.
We will honor and remember Dr. Gullattee on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF WILSON ROOSEVELT JERMAN - JANUARY 21, 1929 - MAY 16, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Wilson Roosevelt Jerman who died of COVID-19.
Wilson Roosevelt Jerman was one of the last people alive who could remember watching from the door of the White House as President John F. Kennedy’s casket, placed on an artillery carriage and led by a team of gray horses, left the Northeast Gate on its way to the Capitol.
“We were standing out on the North Portico, and it was just a quiet day, couldn’t hear anything but those horses — click, click,” he recalled in a gentle voice when I interviewed him several years ago. “It was a very sad day.”
Jerman, who died in May at 91 years old from Covid-19, served 11 presidents as a butler and doorman, making him one of the longest-serving employees at the White House — and a first-hand witness to decades of American history.
He started at “the house,” as he and other Residence staffers call it, as a cleaner in 1957, during the Eisenhower administration. During the Kennedy administration, he was promoted to butler. He retired as a White House doorman in 2012, during Barack Obama’s presidency. No matter who held the nation’s highest office, Jerman was known for displaying a sense of duty and decorum, never seeking the spotlight and fiercely guarding every president and his family.
Jerman was born on January 21, 1929, in Seaboard, North Carolina. He dropped out of school at 12 years old to work on a farm. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1955 and catered Georgetown dinner parties before he got a job as a cleaner at the White House.
Like most of his colleagues who work on the Residence staff, Jerman considered discretion and loyalty to be the most important parts of his job description. He tried not to talk about his job if he could help it. “There would be too many questions asked,” he told me. He went so far as to avoid revealing where he really worked. “I’d say, ‘I work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,’ and 99 percent of the people don’t know where that is. They’d ask you, ‘What warehouse is that? What building is that?’ I’d say, ‘It’s downtown,’” he said.
As a butler, he saw presidents and their families alone in the Residence. As a doorman, he saw everyone coming and going. But he said he would go to the grave with some of the most private things he witnessed — and he did. Jerman viewed his loyalty to the first family and his guarding of their privacy as a natural response to the trust they placed in him. “It makes you feel good that you could just go up there and walk in the first lady’s bedroom and pick up whatever she asked you to go get,” he said.
One of his close relatives remembered how every president and first lady were like Jerman’s second family. And they loved him back. When Jerman’s wife was sick, the relative said, first lady Mamie Eisenhower would sometimes send him home with meals to help feed his five children.
When the Obamas moved in, Jerman, who was African American, was amazed and honored that he would be serving the first Black first family, he told me. In Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, she included a photo of Jerman standing in the White House elevator with the Obamas. He was wearing a white bow tie and smiling broadly. In a statement after his passing, the former first lady said, “With his kindness and care, Wilson Jerman helped make the White House a home for decades of first families, including ours.”
We will honor and remember Wilson on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF LaVERNE LAND - 1943 - 2020
LaVerne Land who died of COVID-19.
Vicki writes: I am sending a quilt square for a friend’s Mom. Thank you for doing this with your daughter Madeleine. She’s a VERY special young lady; a hero too.
As she’s honoring all these loved ones she is lifting so much pain from the families left behind. To know that they will be remembered, seen as individual victims and prayed over thousands of times by viewers is a comforting and healing gift.
Thank you and all your volunteers for this huge gift of love
We will honor and remember LaVerne on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF PAUL LEIGHTON JOHNSON - JANUARY 11, 1971 - AUGUST 4, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Paul Leighton Johnson who died of COVID-19.
Paul Leighton Johnson was one of a kind. Even in the face of enormous adversity, the Chicago icon lived life with the same irrepressible spirit you can hear all over his classics. After a publicized struggle with Covid-19 in recent weeks, he passed away on the morning of August 4th 2021, leaving behind a chasm in house music.
Johnson was one of the most visible disabled DJs on the world stage, a wheelchair user from the age of 16 after a stray bullet left him paralyzed from the waist down. What’s less well-known is that he suffered years of noise-triggered PTSD as a result of the accident, which frames his career in music through the lens of resilience, commitment and love for craft.
By 2010 he was a double-amputee: ongoing pains claimed his left leg in 2003, and a severe accident required the removal of his right leg seven years later, as well as crushing his hip and damaging his spine. Yet Johnson remained undeterred in his mission to bring authentic, heartfelt house music to anyone willing to accept it. As it transpired, there were millions of eager listeners in all four corners of the globe.
Paul Johnson is best known for 1999’s ‘Get Get Down’, an inescapable anthem which landed in the top 5 of the UK Singles Chart, and was the penultimate Billboard Dance Club #1 of the 20th century.
As much as having a hand in the direction house music travelled, Paul Johnson should be remembered for his ribald sense of humor and tenacious spirit. That’s who he was, at the core: a man with stories for days and an undimmed sense of adventure; someone who could beckon for the mic at shows and cuss out President Trump with absolute authority; a force of nature in the booth, and a sweet soul in person.
Paul Johnson’s final service to the world came in July 2021. Over a series of harrowing Instagram posts spanning just three days, he told us he had been hospitalized with Covid-19, began to say his goodbyes, and then, finally, admitted that he would be moved to the ICU for intubation. There were no more posts after that.
We will honor and remember Paul on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF HERMAN CAIN - DECEMBER 13, 1945 - JULY 30, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Herman Cain who died of COVID-19.
Herman Cain, who captured the nation's attention with his pursuit of the presidency and made a major impact on American business, passed away July 30, 2020, exactly 18 years to the day that he was licensed to preach the Word of God in his home church, Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta.
Mr. Cain was born in Memphis, Tennessee on December 13, 1945, and soon moved to Atlanta where he grew up in poverty and spent much of his childhood on his grandparent's dirt farm near Atlanta. But his parents, Luther Cain Jr. and Lenora Davis Cain, provided him with a loving and supportive environment and many valuable life lessons.
Mr. Cain graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 and took a civilian job with the U.S. Navy. Mr. Cain then moved into a business career, starting with the Coca Cola Company and later moving to the Pillsbury Company where he became one of Pillsbury's vice presidents.
He then accepted positions as: an executive with Burger King, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, CEO of Godfather's Pizza, and president of the National Restaurant Association.
After capturing America's attention during a televised encounter with President Bill Clinton on the matter of health care policy, and after coming in an impressive second in his 2004 bid for the United States Senate in Georgia, Mr. Cain became host of his own show on Atlanta's WSB Radio in addition to becoming an author and columnist.
In 2011, he sought the Republican nomination for president, and surprised the political world by rising to the top of the polls on the strength of his 9-9-9 tax proposal.
The Rev. Kenneth L. Alexander, pastor of the west side Atlanta church, said his friend never lost his sense of humor despite several battles with cancer as he climbed to the top ranks of business and politics.
“No matter what Rev. Cain was going through, he usually didn’t let you see it on his face,” Alexander said in his eulogy. “He always smiled. He always had a joke that he thought was funny.”
“He had an abundant life,” Alexander added.
We will honor and remember Herman on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF PATRICIA BOSWORTH - APRIL 24, 1933 - APRIL 2, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Patricia Bosworth who died of COVID-19.
She gave up the stage for the writing life, publishing biographies of some famous friends and two powerful memoirs. She died of the coronavirus.
Patricia Bosworth, who gave up acting for the writing life, turning her knowledge of the theater into a series of biographies and mining her own extraordinary life for a pair of powerful memoirs, died on Thursday in Manhattan. She was 86.
Her stepdaughter, Fia Hatsav, said the cause was complications of pneumonia brought on by the coronavirus.
Ms. Bosworth had some success as an actress. She was admitted to the Actors Studio in its glory days, learning method acting alongside Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe. She won some important roles onstage and appeared alongside Audrey Hepburn on film.
But she always wanted to write, and she found material in the many friendships she had cultivated with luminaries in Hollywood, the theater world and elsewhere — Brando, Montgomery Clift and the photographer Diane Arbus among them.
She became a successful journalist as well, as an editor and writer for several publications. She was a contributing editor at Vanity Fair for many years.
Ms. Bosworth’s best subject, and the one that underlay most of her work, was her own eventful life. She explored it in “Anything Your Little Heart Desires: An American Family Story” (1997), which centers on her charismatic father, a lawyer who defended two of the Hollywood Ten in the postwar anti-Communist hysteria and saw his career destroyed by the blacklist; and “The Men in My Life: A Memoir of Love and Art in 1950s Manhattan” (2017), about her coming-of-age and emergence as a writer.
Suicide haunted her. Her father, who had long abused barbiturates and alcohol, killed himself, on his second try, in 1959. And her beloved younger brother shot himself in his dorm room at Reed College in Oregon in 1953, tormented by depression and conflicted over his homosexuality.
The subjects of Ms. Bosworth’s biographies were either suicides (Arbus), survivors of a relative’s suicide (Jane Fonda) or flamboyantly self-destructive (Clift, Brando). She explained that writing these books was “one of the ways I coped with and tried to understand why the two men I loved most in the world had decided to kill themselves.”
In addition to her stepdaughter, Ms. Bosworth is survived by her partner, Douglas Schwalbe; a stepson, Léo Palumbo; and five step-grandchildren.
She taught literary nonfiction at Columbia University and Barnard College and for some years ran the Playwright-Directors Unit at the Actors Studio.
We will honor and remember Patricia on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF ARNIE ROBINSON JR. - APRIL 7, 1948 - DEC 1, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us in honor and memory of Arnie Robinson, Jr., who died of COVID-19.
The fact Arnie Robinson learned to long jump using a discarded mattress in the driveway of his Paradise Hills home offered the first hint of his fiery drive. Winning a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal revealed his talent, focus and unflinching commitment.
Beyond the world-class ability, the global track and field fame, the pile of titles at the USA Outdoor Championships, the NCAA championships with San Diego State, the Pan American Games and more, Robinson’s legacy reverberates in San Diego because of a warming blend of humility and service in the shadows.
Robinson, the man who fought an aggressive brain tumor since 2005, died Tuesday morning, according to his son Paul. He was 72.
“His accomplishments, he didn’t wear them on his shoulder,” said Paul Robinson, who said his father had contracted COVID-19. “Leading through example, that’s who he was. He wasn’t about the noise.”
To understand the fiber of Robinson’s unassuming, sleeve-rolling being, dig into the things he didn’t talk about. Paul learned his father owned a gold medal when he was about 6 or 7. Coaches, administrators and friends marveled that he never discussed his enormous accomplishment, defying gravity and bicycling through space to go 27 feet, 4 3/4 inches at Olympic Stadium.
No Wheaties box awaited, like decathlete Bruce Jenner. No lucrative athletic and TV careers loomed, like sweet-swinging boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. Robinson’s ’76 gold represented self-fulfillment, plain and brilliantly simple.
“Those days, they weren’t making much money,” said Bryan Kyle, a close family friend. “It was about heart and wanting to compete.”
Fellow Morse graduate Monique Henderson, a two-time gold medalist in the 4x400-meter relay, vividly recalled seeing Robinson at meet after meet as a kid. Even in relative anonymity, the two-time Olympic medalist — Robinson won bronze in 1972 — left an impression.
“I had no idea who the man was or what his accomplishments were,” Henderson told the Union-Tribune in 2018. “I just knew this man was making our meets as professional as he could. … He didn’t have anybody assisting him. You go to a track meet now and there are five guys in a tent running the timing system. It was just Arnie. The time he spent learning the system, it’s unbelievable.
“And Arnie didn’t charge any of the youth organizations a dime.”
The financial challenges of rising through the amateur track ranks failed to faze Robinson or derail his emerging dream. While navigating the track circuit through Europe, Robinson learned a teammate who lacked the money to secure a hotel room. Though Robinson had enough to grab a small room for himself, he decided to sleep in a park with his teammate.
Robinson’s riches came in the form of sweat equity and compassion.
“A very unique, beautiful mind,” Paul said.
Two years ago, Robinson was asked what he saw when looking at a photo of his winning jump, a moment of excellence frozen forever in time. Cancer and medication limited his ability to communicate, even then. Pride glimmered in his eyes.
Robinson flashed a rare moment of self-acknowledgment.
“The best in the world, that’s what I was,” he said.
We will honor and remember Arnie on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF CHRISTINE ALLDAY - MAY 2, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Christine Allday of Florida who died of COVID-19.
Christine Allday, 78, of Pensacola, FL peacefully left us for Heaven, surrounded by her family on Sunday, May 2, 2021 after a difficult battle with COVID-19.
Christine and her husband, Herman, have been prominent members of the Escambia County community for years. Mr. and Mrs. Allday were involved with the youth of Escambia County for decades taking school and sports photography.
She is survived by her husband, Herman Allday; sons, Scott Allday (Jennifer), Daryn Allday (Michelle); 3 grandchildren, Harper, Piper, and Cannon; nephew, Carey Christensen; nieces, Raeann Silvers, and Metta Christensen.
Please keep the Allday family in your thoughts as they deal with this difficult loss.
Christine will be fondly remembered and sorely missed.
We will honor and remember Christine on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF DOMENIC AMORE - OCTOBER 17, 1952 - MARCH 12, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Domenic Amore who died of COVID-19.
Domenic "Nick" Joseph Amore, 68, recently passed away after a courageous battle with COVID-19. Domenic was born in Washington, D.C., to the late Alphonso Amore and the late Helen Rice.
He spent his adult life in Miami, FL raising his children, Marc Adam, Brett Justin, Daniel Travis and Lauren Nicole with his wife of 41 years, Pamela Shane. He is also survived by his 3 siblings and their spouses, Gary and Judi Amore, Adele and Marty Wheeler, and Mike and Dawn Amore.
He was a successful businessman, he was the founder of Action Carpet & Tile with his brothers which operated from 1974 to 2001. Thereafter, he founded Pride Flooring & Home Décor where he shared a thriving business with his sons.
His children will continue in the family business where they will honor his legacy each day. Nick, as he was better known as, liked to simply be near the water, loved being a coach to his kids in all their sports activities, enjoyed playing poker, driving down to the keys, and spending time with his growing family – granddaughters Abigail Rose, Mia Italia and grandson Thomas James.
To all who had the pleasure of knowing him, he was a great man with a kind soul. He was truly a family man who will be deeply missed by all.
We will honor and remember Nick on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF ARTHUR "ARTY" FALK - AUGUST 9, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Arthur "Arty" Falk who died of COVID-19.
Arty Falk passed away peacefully in the early hours of Monday, August 9, 2021 at 67 years young. He was adored by friends and family and consistently fostered an atmosphere of fun and laughter.
He had a positive influence on countless students during his 40+ years as an educator–in Brooklyn as a special education teacher and at Palm Beach Gardens Community High School as a science teacher, founder of the Five Star Magnet Program, and an evening school administrator.
Arty's dedication to education extended beyond the classroom and his two master's degrees. At PBGHS, he coached girls' basketball, loved announcing the football games, and led the Homecoming Parade Kazoo Band every year.
He immersed himself in volunteer work with organizations such as Relay for Life, Kayla Cares 4 Kids, and Junior Achievement. The Arty Falk Golf Classic will forever hold his name as a memory of his boundless efforts.
Arty's 30+ year struggle with cancer was an inspiration to many, as he maintained his joy for life and good spirits. He brought excitement and silliness to every occasion. From family vacations and holiday dinners to fantasy football drafts and New Year's Eve parties–each was made more memorable by his presence. Arty will be forever loved by his son, Michael, and daughter, Samantha.
We will honor and remember Arty on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF DEBORAH MARY BRUMMETT - MAY 3, 1954 - JANUARY 14, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Deborah Mary Brummett who died of COVID-19.
Deborah Mary Brummett, 66, passed into eternal life on Thursday, January 14, 2021, at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany from COVID-19 complications. Deborah was the sister of Christopher; and daughter of Betty and Arthur Raymond Brummett.
Debbie was born in Saratoga but she grew up with Christopher in Glens Falls. She was proud to say that she was a St. Mary's girl. After graduating from the Glens Falls High School in 1972, Deb attended the Glens Falls Hospital nursing program where she became a licensed practical nurse.
Several years were spent working at the hospital and other skilled nursing facilities. Her interest in personal growth prompted her to further her education and she became a registered nurse and a graduate of SUNY Plattsburgh with a Bachelor of Science degree.
Debbie had numerous achievements but her proudest moment was the birth of her daughter Mariel Rose. Debbie relocated to Albany where she worked at St. Peter's Hospital and the Albany Medical Center in the Emergency Room, Critical Care, and Cardiac units. Additionally, Debbie worked as a private duty nurse by patient request. She lived with strong convictions, an iron-will and a deep love of family.
While working, Debbie raised Mariel and was the primary caregiver of Christopher, who passed from Gliobastoma, and Betty, who passed from Alzheimer's disease complications.
She worked until the day of her illness as a nurse supervisor at the Riverside Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing. Debbie loved "her girls," the staff, the Sisters, and the residents who were under her care. Debbie's interests were many. She was a talented seamstress and singer, a passionate reader and gardener, and she was an effective researcher.
She was intelligent, adventurous, fun-seeking and one who loved solo road trips. A memorable journey took her across prairies and through reservations where she obtained first-hand knowledge of Native American culture. Debbie was inspired by her own Choctaw descent and rich Irish heritage.
She adored animals, farmland, simple pleasures and traditions. Feral cats were fed and lovingly named, and she delighted in seasonal visits to u-pick orchards with Mariel and friends. Debbie canned pickles, jams and salsa and baked homemade cookies as special gifts for patients and friends. Debbie's heart had no boundaries. She gave of herself her entire life.
We will honor and remember Deborah on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JOSEPH "COACH" RADISICH - MARCH 25, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and in memory of Joseph "Coach" Radisich who died of COVID-19.
Joseph Radisich Sr., a 2006 inductee into the San Pedro Sportswalk of Fame who distinguished himself as a high school football coach at Mary Star of the Sea in the 1970s and 1980s, died March 25, after testing positive for COVID-19, his son, Joseph, said. He was 84.
“Last week he got sick and was in bad shape sweating and hallucinating,” Joseph Jr. said. “He had been having health problems. We called 911.”
He said his father was hospitalized and tested positive for COVID-19. Joseph, a former Los Angeles harbor commissioner, said he has put himself in self-quarantine because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Radisich was well known in the coaching community, having worked at Santa Fe Springs St. Paul, Bellflower St. John Bosco and San Pedro High, among others. He was head coach at Mary Star for 11 years.
Former San Pedro coach Mike Walsh played for Radisich for one year at the now closed Fermin Lasuen High in San Pedro.
“He’s a great man,” Walsh said. “He was hard-nosed. He spent a million hours preparing. You’d run through a brick wall for him. He was that kind of a coach.”
Among the players Radisich coached was former NFL tight end Tim Wrightman, who wrote on Facebook, “Today, I lost my ‘coach,’ my mentor and a father figure during the most formative years of my life. He didn’t just coach kids how to play football, but how to be men.”
We will honor and remember Joseph on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF CLARK ALLEN - JULY 22, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Clark R. Allen who died of COVID-19.
Clark R. Allen of Lantana, Florida, passed away on July 22, 2021, at the age of 84. Clark died due to COVID-19. He was infected by someone who chose to not get vaccinated and his death was preventable. It is the wish of his family that everyone get vaccinated in order to prevent further death, sickness and heartbreak.
Clark was born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1937, the son of Carroll and Edna Allen. He graduated from North Hunterdon Regional High School where he was the captain of the track and field team, president of both the Hi-Y and Key club, and member of the baseball team. He went on to receive his Bachelor of Science from Springfield College where he served as editor-in-chief of both the college newspaper and yearbook. He was also the general manager of the college radio station and a member of both the track and cross country teams.
During college, Clark participated in the Marine Corps Platoon Leadership program and he served as an officer for three years once he graduated. After a brief stint as a sports reporter for the Washington Post, he began his life-long career in advertising and marketing for consumer packaged goods. Clark was the founding member of the Clinton, New Jersey First Aid & Rescue Squad.
He was a certified EMT and EMT trainer. Shortly before retirement, Clark began his "second career" in Greenwich, CT as a baseball umpire and football official at high school and youth league levels. Clark loved all things sports and relished his "second career."
In Palm Beach County, he worked as precinct clerk, then field clerk, and supervisor in elections. Clark firmly believed in everyone's right to vote and in the democratic process. It cannot go unmentioned how much Clark enjoyed animals. He regularly sent his children pictures of wild and tame animals he met and even named.
We will honor and remember Clark on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF ALICIA ARIAS - OCTOBER 28, 1950 - APRIL 26, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Alicia Arias who died of COVID-19.
Alicia Arias was born on October 28th, 1950 in Pereira, Colombia. She is survived by her husband, Gustavo Acevedo; and her six children, Wilmar, Sandra, Edgar, Diego, Patricia, and Laura. She had many grandchildren that loved her dearly.
Alicia Arias passed away on April 26th, 2021 at 70 years old due to Covid, she fought as much as she could, but she was suffering, and she lost her battle.
God extended his hands out, and took her with him at 4:02pm that exact day. She passed the heaven gates and now she is with her mother, Laura Rios, and her father, Ruben Arias.
May she rest in paradise, you will forever be in our hearts, mind and souls.
We love you so much Ma.
We will honor and remember Alicia on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF STUART & ADRIAN BAKER - MARCH 29, 2020, DIED 6 MIN APART
This Memorial Square is in honor and in memory of Stuart & Adrian Baker who died of COVID-19.
Before just a few weeks ago, Stuart and Adrian Baker were perfectly healthy.
The inseparable couple had been married for more than 51 years and were living in Boynton Beach, Florida, in retirement. Neither of them had any serious health conditions. Then in mid-March, they started feeling ill.
On Sunday, they both died -- six minutes apart -- due to complications from Covid-19, their son Buddy Baker said.
Stuart Baker was 74. Adrian Baker was 72.
IN MEMORY OF WILLIAM E. BRYSON, SR. - 2/27/1928 - 9/2/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from a daughter in honor of her father, William E. Bryson, Sr., who died of COVID-19. She writes:
My Dad was born on 2/27/1928. He was 92 when he passed. He had a goal set for 100. He was born in Pittsburgh, PA but lived most of his life in Maryland.
He was a 20 year veteran of the United States Air Force.
He loved camping, hiking, and the outdoors.
He especially loved his three children and seven grandchildren as well as his beloved partner of 38 years Patricia.
He was kind, gentle and everyone who met him loved him. He was truly the word definition of a gentleman.
He loved hoagies, Birch beer and angel food cake smothered in strawberries and whipped cream.
He is missed so much by all who knew and loved him.
We will honor and remember William on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF ANGELO DIVIRGILIO - 1962 - 2021
This Memorial Square comes to us from Olivia in honor and memory of her dad, Angelo Divirgilio, who died of COVID-19.
Angelo was a father to Olivia and Brooke. Pop-pop of 3 to Lucas, Addison and Avery. Husband to his beloved wife, Donna, of 35 years.
His favorite color is red. He loved hunting and fishing and spending time with his grandkids. His favorite sport was the New York Jets!
His laugh and smile were so infectious he would light up the room.
He is forever missed everyday.
We will honor and remember Angelo on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF WILMARD "WIL" SANTIAGO - OCTOBER 22, 1954 - APRIL 15, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Wiandy in honor and in memory of her brother, Wilmard Santiago, who died of COVID-19, in the Bronx, NY.
Wiandy writes:
We will honor and remember Wilmard on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF YOLANDA VIERNA - JUNE 30, 1936 - AUGUST 17, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Jerry in California in honor and memory of his mom, Yolanda Vierna, who died of COVID-19.
Jerry writes: Yolanda Vierna (6/30/1936-8/17/2020) was a Mexican immigrant who came here with her Sister Olivia and Mother Aurora in the late 50’s.
IN MEMORY OF EUGENE FORTI - MARCH 6, 1924 - MAY 24, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Mary Kay in honor and memory of her father, Eugene Forti, who died of COVID-19.
Mary Kay writes: Let me begin by expressing my heartfelt thanks for this project. It is an extraordinary gesture that means a lot to me.
My dad, Eugene Forti, was born on March 6, 1924. His avoidable death due to COVID occurred on May 24, 2020.
I also find myself reminiscing about some of the details of his career as first a mechanic and then a car salesman at some of El Paso’s premier dealerships.
Dad never met a stranger and was able to sell a car to anyone that walked on to the lot! For those reasons, year after year he was named top salesman.
Of course, I recall our daily lives, our home, Dad’s gardening skills, and his love for animals. But mostly I think about how proud he was of his family and how he doted on my mother, his wife of 68 years.
At the end of the day I just want you to know that my dad is much more than a statistic. As Madeleine so eloquently put it, those who succumbed to COVID are “not numbers, they are people who died and they deserve to be remembered."
Dad was a war hero, a husband of 68 years to a woman he adored, who worked his fingers to the bone supporting his family. He was as proud of us as we were of him.
For all of these reasons, I would like to include my dad in this project.
Attached, please find the photo that I would like you to include in the quilt.
We will honor and remember Eugene on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF EVELYN SOPHIE CHRISTINE HENSGEN - 05/15/49 - 04/17/20
This Memorial Square comes to us from Donna in honor and in memory of her mother, Evelyn Sophie Christine Hensgen, who died of COVID-19.
Donna writes:
First, thank you for you dedication and hard work and how you are touching so many lives. I would like to add my Beautiful Mom to the Quilt.
Her Name is Evelyn Sophie Christine Hensgen. Dates: 05/15/49 to 04/17/20
Evelyn was a beautiful loving Mother, Wife, Godmother, Grandmot
Evelyn worked in the HVAC for over 35 years. She loved sunflowers and lighthouses. Yellow or Purple were her favorite colors. She loved to read and watch the older shows.
But most of all she loved her family.
Thank you again.
Her Daughter.
We will honor and remember Evelyn on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF DANIEL JOHN PRIMICH - MAY 1, 2021 - MAY 18, 1953
This Memorial Square comes to us from Dorothy in honor and memory of her husband, Daniel John Primich, who died of COVID-19. Dorothy writes:
Daniel John Primich of Plainsboro, New Jersey passed away Saturday May 1, 2021. Born in Dover, New Jersey, May 18, 1953. Dan grew up in Mount Hope, New Jersey where he lived until he went to the University of New Haven where he received a Bachelor of Science degree. He loved playing his guitars, sailing his catamaran, bicycling, animals and rarely missed a day at the gym.
He loved life and everyone loved him. He touched so many people’s lives and we are all better to have known him. His work ethic, genuine personality, and sense of humor were an important part of his life. He was recently retired from United Airlines, formerly Continental Airlines at Newark Airport where he worked for 24 years.
Prior to that he worked for Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse in Upper Montclair, New Jersey for 20 years. Beloved husband of Dorothy Primich for over 30 years, father of Lindsey Rainier (Steven) and Daniel W. Primich (Kate) and his four grandchildren of Jackson, Wyoming. He is also survived by his siblings Maryann LaPiana of West Long Branch, New Jersey, her daughter Michele Falco (James) and their son and her son Matthew LaPiana and his children. Charles Primich of Park City, Utah, his wife Karen and their daughter Karlie Primich and his brother Michael Primich and his partner and his children Michael D. Primich (Michele) and their children, Lisa Primich (Samuel Altstein) and their children and Stephen Primich (Angie). He is predeceased by his mother Mary Ihnat and his father Charles Primich.
He was a Dallas Cowboy fan and closely followed the teams of his daughter and son’s schools. The University of Oregon Ducks for Lindsey and Oregon State University Beavers for Daniel. He was a member of the first football team at The University of New Haven. The Chargers. Also the cat in the picture, Bopper, joined Dan May 25, 2021. He was 16.
We will honor and remember Dan on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF ANGELO PARLEGRECO, JR - 1948 - 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Kim in honor and memory of her husband, Angelo Parlegreco, who died of COVID-19.
Kim writes: Angelo Parlegreco 1948-2020 passed away on April 22, 2020 of COVID.
Angelo was a great husband, father, grandfather, brother, brother in law and son in law any mother would love to have and a great Uncle to many.
There was nothing Angelo loved more than life. Angelo looked forward to trips to Aruba with his family and friends and enjoyed fishing and cutting hair which was two of his favorite hobbies.
Angelo was always the life of every party and always had a smile on his face that lite up the room. He was always full of quirky quotes that we will cherish forever.
Live as if you were to die tomorrow!
Learn if you were to live forever!
Learn from yesterday
Live for today
Hope for tomorrow
Angelo was very unique he will truly be missed With the “E.”
We will honor and remember Angelo on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JAMES "JAMIE" TROTTER - 27th DECEMBER, 1947 - JUNE 15, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of James "Jamie" Trotter who died of COVID-19.
As a registered nurse in Australia, Virginia White has often comforted patients in their final moments. Thousands of miles away, amid a global pandemic, another health care professional in Chicago did the same for White’s father.
James Trotter died June 15 from complications related to COVID-19. He was 71.
His family described him as compassionate and intelligent with a playful sense of humor. White said they had been losing her father slowly for years after a devastating fall in April 2013 caused permanent damage. Trotter spent the final years of his life at Birchwood Plaza, a nursing and rehab facility in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.
Though his short-term memory was diminished, White said her father was more clear about some of the old times when she and her brother, William, were growing up in Northbrook.
The family traveled in its RV trailer, with Trotter especially fond of camping at state parks. He cheered on his daughter in soccer and was a devoted scoutmaster for his son, an Eagle Scout.
“He was the one who tucked me in bed at night and helped me with my prayers,” his daughter said. “He was very supportive and loving.”
Trotter, who was known as “Jamie,” was born in Manila, Philippines, in 1947. His parents, originally from the states, moved back to California when he was 2. The family of five, including two sisters, moved to a small town in Idaho when he was 8.
Their camping trips would foster Trotter’s lifelong love of the outdoors. As a child, he also was musically inclined. Trotter was self-taught in guitar and piano. He and a sister played in a band together.
He was on the debate team at Pocatello High School and worked in a grocery store bakery. His family didn’t have much money, but he obtained a work study scholarship and loans to attend Grinnell College, a small liberal arts and sciences school in Iowa.
It was during his sophomore year that he met his future wife. Jane Coleman Trotter was a freshman. She said the two, introduced through mutual friends, shared common interests.
“I was intrigued because he was a philosophy major,” she said. “He had cool friends and a whimsical sense of humor and I liked that.”
The two were engaged her junior year. It was the turbulent time during the Vietnam War. They knew Trotter, despite his poor eyesight, would be drafted once his college deferment ended.
“That put a whole new kind of pressure on what we were going to do,” she said.
He received a bachelor’s degree in 1971 and went into the military in the 15th Engineer Battalion, 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington.
They wed Dec. 21, 1971, in a simple “but meaningful” ceremony, Coleman Trotter said. She wore a dress similar to one in a mural her artist grandfather had painted in her family cabin. Her bridesmaids carried wild flowers.
She joined her husband in January 1972 after he completed basic training.
While at Fort Lewis, James Trotter attended night school and earned a master’s degree in human resources management in 1974.
They were in Washington during Watergate. Similar to the war, it also played a defining role in the couple’s future. Coleman Trotter said her husband was approved to become an officer, but when his direct commission stalled in Congress due to the Watergate fallout, they left military life behind and headed to Chicago where her parents lived.
James Trotter continued with his education, receiving an MBA in finance and accounting at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 1978.
A couple of months later, their first child, William, was born. Virginia, came along in January 1981. “He was such a good dad,” Coleman Trotter said. “When the kids were born, he was so filled with love that he composed a piece of music, a melody, for each of them.”
She said Trotter had a natural curiosity about life and enjoyed museums, art galleries and the Chicago Botanic Garden. He spent countless hours tending to his backyard garden and made up silly songs and played good-natured practical jokes.
For his career, Trotter was part of Chicago’s banking industry during a time of technology-driven innovation in the profession.
He worked for Continental National Bank, American National Bank and the Bank Administration Institute, where he was a director. But the majority of his career was spent at the consultancy firm that became Accenture.
His work included travels to Australia, Japan, Spain and Prague not long after the fall of the Berlin Wall. But, according to his family, Trotter was not defined by his career.
“Having family time was so important to him,” White said.
Her father told her about his trips, including to Australia and how the Jacaranda trees bloom in November.
Nearly 20 years ago, she went to Australia to study abroad and decided to make it her home. She said her parents encouraged their children’s independence. Her brother lives in the U.K.
Before her father’s death, a nurse arranged for a video call, and White was able to tell him one last time how much she loved him.
“I’ve held other people’s hands when they passed because no one could be there for them and it really broke my heart to think of someone else doing that for him,” she said.
We will honor and remember Jamie on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF ANNIE GLENN - FEB. 17, 1920 - MAY 19, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Annie Glenn who died of COVID-19.
Annie Glenn, who was thrust into the spotlight in 1962 when her husband became the first American to orbit the Earth, but who shied away from the media attention because of a severe stutter that later moved her to advocate for people with speech disorders, died Tuesday. She was 100.
Glenn died of complications from COVID-19 at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minn., where she had moved in recent years to be near her daughter, said Hank Wilson, a spokesman for the Glenn College of Public Affairs at Ohio State University. NASA later announced her death.
Her husband, John Glenn, died in 2016 after an extraordinary life that also included breaking the transcontinental speed record and serving as a Democratic U.S. senator from Ohio. He and Annie were married for 73 years.
The relationship was “the stuff of fairy tales and one of the great love stories of all time,” Dale Butland, the senator’s former speechwriter and chief of staff, said in a written statement Tuesday.
“During WW II, the Korean war and two flights into outer space, Annie patiently waited for John to come home,” Butland said. “Since December of 2016, John’s been patiently waiting for his Annie. Today, they’re both where they always wanted to be: together — for all eternity.”
At age 53 in 1973, she enrolled in an intensive program at the Communications Research Institute at Hollins College, now Hollins University, in Roanoke, Va., that gave her the skills to control her stutter and to speak in public.
By the time 77-year-old John Glenn returned to space in 1998 aboard the space shuttle Discovery, she showed she had become comfortable in her public role when she acknowledged she had reservations about her husband’s newest flight.
Her career in advocacy included service on the boards of child abuse and speech and hearing organizations. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Assn.'s Annie Glenn Award was created to honor people who overcome a communication disorder.
“Annie will be remembered for her work to lift others up, including those who shared her struggles with communicative disorders,” U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, said in a written statement.
We will honor and remember Annie on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF STEPHEN SHERMAN - 5/16/43 - 3/29/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Paula in honor and memory of her husband, Stephen Sherman, who died of COVID-19.
Paula writes:
Another person lost to COVID-19.
Stephen Sherman
Delray Beach, FL
FLORIDA THANKS THE ESSENTIAL WORKERS
This Memorial Square was made by Joan of California to honor all the Essential Workers in Florida who sacrificed their own health for all of us.
A jarring reality check is taking place in intensive care units across the country as thousands of COVID-19 positive patients, nearly all of them unvaccinated, are streaming into hospitals in need of care.
This is particularly true in Florida, where virus-related hospitalizations have skyrocketed in recent weeks. The situation has escalated rapidly, now nearing peak levels, with nearly 7,900 patients hospitalized with the virus across the state, up by more than 320% in the last month, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"It feels like it's an impending storm ... there's no off ramp to this getting worse," Dr. David Wein, an emergency room physician at Tampa General Hospital in Florida, told ABC News on Wednesday.
It was just six weeks ago that some of the team thought they may be out of the woods, with metrics steadily trending down across the country.
However, virus-related hospitalization levels are now nearing peak levels.
"We're getting to numbers that were as high as last summer. In early July, we were down to 12 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, and today we have 80. So we're really just seeing an escalation over a short span of time," Duggan said.
However, said Duggan, "we're seeing people who are recovering now very regretful that they didn't get the vaccination in the first place."
Many of the patients coming to the hospital are already quite ill when they arrive, said Wein.
"Unfortunately, we're seeing people who are coming in days, or several days, into their disease and sicker, with difficulty breathing, needing to be admitted to the hospital. So it feels more like that winter surge that we had," Wein said, adding that a number of these patients end up on ventilators.
"This is heartbreaking because all this could have been avoided, this is unnecessary human suffering that we are witnessing right now," Dr. Seetha Lakshmi, the medical director of the Global Emerging Diseases Institute at Tampa General Hospital, told ABC News.
We will honor and thank Florida's Essential Workers on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JANET MARXKOS - JANUARY 15, 1955 - DECEMBER 2, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Marianne in Missouri in honor and memory of her sister, Janet Marxkos, who died of COVID-19.
Marianne writes: While perusing some old People Magazines, I came across the article about your Covid Memorial Quilt project. Having lost my sister to this horrific disease, I was really touched by your commitment.
Enclosed please find a picture of my sister, Janet Marxkors, with her beloved fur babies. If you are still working on this project, I will appreciate your inclusion of this photo on the quilt. Her date of birth was January 13, 1955. She died on December 2, 2020, at the age of 55. I applaud your efforts. God bless you,
We will honor and remember Janet on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF PHILMAN WILLIAMS - 12/12/1949 - 04/01/2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Philman Williams who died of COVID-19.
For the last couple of months, the lobby of the 777 N. Michigan Ave. building has contained a series of poster boards that quickly filled with handwritten messages such as, and there were hundreds from which to choose, “A good man. You will be missed by many” and “You will always be in our hearts” and “You were always a beacon of civility, class and coolness.”
These outpourings of emotion, goodbyes and gratitude were written by the 700-some residents of the condominium building and were the result of the death of Philman Williams, who had worked as a doorman at 777 for a decade. A photo of his smiling face was also part of each poster board and people could be seen smiling in response, in memory.
“He was very other-oriented,” said longtime building resident Roberta Shwartz. “We remember how concerned he was when his son was having heart troubles. Also, during the time my husband Leslie was ill, he was constantly asking me how he was doing. When he recovered, Phil was joyful, as if Leslie had been a member of his own family.”
Williams was one of the early casualties of COVID-19, dying in Jackson Park Hospital on April 1. He was 70.
Born on Dec. 12, 1949, to parents who had moved to Chicago from Alabama, Williams was raised in various neighborhoods on the South Side. He attended Roosevelt High School and while later enrolled at the University of Illinois at Chicago he met and fell in love with a student named Linda Bronson.
“I was so shy,” she said. “He was such a fun-loving person that he brought me out of my shell.”
They were married Aug. 23, 1975, at the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church and settled into domestic life in a one-bedroom apartment in the South Commons apartments and both started their careers in the banking industry.
With the arrival of the first child, a girl named Alexis, the family moved to a larger apartment in nearby Lake Meadows, which soon also welcomed a boy named Eric.
Williams would work for many years in various capacities for First National Bank and ADP and later in the security business. He came to 777 in 2010 as a doorman. He was made for the job.
In his private life he was known by the nickname “Partyman” but at 777 he was so quietly gregarious and efficient that he was soon dubbed, by more than one resident and many neighbors, “The Mayor of Michigan Avenue.”
Every pleasant day and even some not so pleasant would find him outside on the sidewalk smiling and greeting pedestrians that comprised a constant parade down the avenue.
“Every morning when I walked by the building on my way to work, his was a welcoming friendly wave and smile,” said Christie Hefner, a business executive, activist, and philanthropist.
Williams was also admired by his colleagues.
Doorman Mike Keenon said, “He was one of the nicest guys I have ever worked with and he always had a smile on his face. A great doorman but an even greater person.”
Another doorman, Johnny Davis, said, “He was always in a good mood. He liked to whistle, old show tunes and the theme songs from TV game shows. He was so joyful that I would join in.”
Williams loved to travel. Barbados was a favorite destination and he had visited Alaska and Cuba in recent years.
“When we were married most of our trips were by car since I was not very fond of flying at the time,” said his ex-wife, recently retired after a long career at BMO Harris. “After our divorce he really started to travel, and I have a houseful of souvenirs that he would send or bring to me after his trips.”
The couple had divorced after 10 years of marriage but remained on such friendly terms than “we never had to have any kind of legal agreement about visitation or custody with the children,” she says. “He was always coming over to my place to see the kids.”
“I have wonderful memories of being with my dad,” says daughter Alexis Williams-Lee, now a married middle school Spanish teacher in Maryland; she and her husband, also a teacher, have five young boys. “There were those take your daughters to work days for me, going to softball games with him, his coming to all the events my brother and I participated in and going out for bowling at Skyway Lanes. In recent years he was just crazy about our boys, his grandchildren.”
Weeks before his death Williams had celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
He had what he said was a “great time in a city jammed with people, all ages and types,” but after returning to work he began to feel ill and checked himself into Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Results of various tests were negative, and he was out in two days and back at 777.
Still, the next night his condition worsened, and he was taken by ambulance from his South Side home to Jackson Park Hospital where he was diagnosed with COVID-19 and placed in the intensive care unit. He would spend more than a week there as his family tried energetically but unsuccessfully to move him elsewhere.
“It was a frustrating time for us,” said his daughter. “Not only was his doctor connected to another hospital, but we were hearing some disturbing things about Jackson Park.”
Indeed, there were reports in newspapers and on television detailing complaints from its employees about the hospital’s lack of sufficient personal protective equipment. There were also stories that such shortages were causing some nurses to avoiding entering patients’ rooms.
“It was a terrible situation,” said Williams-Lee. “It was hard for us to even get through on the phone. My mom even walked in front of the hospital with a poster in protest.”
Williams died in the hospital and within weeks he was among the many deceased subjects of a chilling and sad early May story from ProPublica.Illinois. Titled “The First 100,” it detailed how, of the first 100 of the city’s COVID-19 victims, 70 were Black, noting of these people that “their lives were rich, and their deaths cannot be dismissed as inevitable. Immediate factors could — and should — have been addressed.”
Williams’ death hit his friends and family hard, a family that also included another son, John John, from a later relationship, and a sixth grandson. They are all planning a memorial service when large gatherings are again allowed.
Williams’ son Eric, recently retired after a decades long career in the Navy, was the man responsible for making and placing the poster boards that dotted the 777 lobby. That is where, in time, there another memorial celebration is planned for Williams. It is sure to be jammed.
We will honor and remember Philman on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF AQUASHA MOORE - PASSED JUNE 3, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Aquasha Moore who died of COVID-19.
Aquasha Moore and Darious Dorsey agreed if their baby was a boy, the father would get to name him. If they had a girl, naming rights went to Moore.
In early May, in a Chicago courtyard adorned with pink and blue balloons, well-wishers sided with Team Girl or Team Boy by picking a cupcake with pink or blue frosting. When the young couple broke into their cupcakes and saw the circles of pink inside, a pregnant Moore jumped up and down with excitement.
She named the baby A’zariah Akira Dorsey.
On May 29, while hospitalized with symptoms related to COVID-19 and liver problems, Moore, 18, gave birth two months early. A’zariah did not survive. Five days later, Moore died of autoimmune hepatitis with novel coronavirus infection listed as a contributing factor, according to the Cook County medical examiner.
Moore, who was finishing her senior year at Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, leaves behind heartbroken family and friends mourning a double loss at a time that they should have been celebrating.
Dorsey, her boyfriend, said the day his baby died was also the last time that Moore was responsive. The new mom had difficulty holding A’zariah because she was on dialysis, but Dorsey and Moore’s family were able to show her A’zariah.
“She just wanted to see the baby,” Dorsey said. “I’m really glad she got to. ... It’s stuff like that, had me like, ‘OK, I am at peace.’ ”
Until the end, loved ones believed that she would pull through, even though, they said, Moore was often sick as a child and dealt with serious health problems earlier in high school.
Her best friend, LaDerricka Lee, was 7 and Moore was 8 when the girls met in Wentworth Gardens.
“She was my first friend,” Lee said. “She knew everything about me; I knew everything about her.”
They had nearly all their classes together, and when Moore was in the hospital or homebound, Lee would bring her schoolwork and fill her in on lessons. Moore sometimes complained about her health problems, but Lee said her friend managed to mostly remain positive.
Moore liked tacos, nachos and pizza, slow music, dancing and English class. When she recently bought her first car after saving for months, Lee taught her how to drive.
“She was smart, a real nice person and a bright person,” Lee said.
Moore and Dorsey connected last September through a mutual friend. He loved her strength, intelligence, independence and spirituality.
She worked at Mariano’s and was saving money for the arrival of their child.
“I’m talking about, the age she is, she don’t need nobody helping. She did everything on her own,” Dorsey said.
But, he said, her spirituality is what really got him. She was always praying, especially for a healthy baby.
“I’m not a Christian, but I believe in God, my grandmother was a Christian,” Dorsey said. “If you have a healthy relationship and you believe in God, anything can happen. She believed in God.”
Dorsey said he was only 3 when he lost his father to gun violence and so it was important to him that his own child have both parents in her life.
Moore was planning to move in with him, and he was getting a room ready to have her and a baby there.
On May 29, Dorsey woke up to a phone call from the doctor: The baby didn’t make it. Dorsey rushed to the hospital.
“When I was holding her, it was like she was alive to me. I wanted to take her home so bad,” Dorsey said. “She was so pretty. I was crying so bad, I couldn’t even hardly hold her.”
Moore, whose first name was also spelled A’quasha, died days later on June 3.
Even from her hospital bed, Moore did her schoolwork, determined to graduate and go on to Malcolm X College to become a nurse. She was focused on that and planning her baby shower, friends say.
During Dunbar’s virtual graduation ceremony, Principal Gerald Morrow spoke.
“We’d like to take this time to acknowledge one of our seniors, Aquasha Moore, who passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Morrow said. “We will always remember her and we will acknowledge her today as well as a graduate of the 2020 class of DVA. As we say, ‘Dunbar Strong.’ ”
Morrow asked for a moment of silence while the screen displayed Moore’s photo in yellow cap and gown and the words “in loving memory.”
In tribute, Dorsey had Moore’s face, the baby’s footprints, and both of their names tattooed on his arm.
We will honor and remember Aquasha on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF LYNIKA STROZIER - PASSED ON JUNE 7, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Lynika Strozier who died of COVID-19.
Lynika Strozier was an accomplished woman of science in Chicago — a researcher in the DNA lab at the Field Museum with masters degrees in sciences from two Chicago universities. She was exacting in her lab work, but more than that, there was hardly a person at the Field Museum who didn’t know her.
“This is a big, big place,” said head of botanical collections Matt von Konrat, her supervisor for more than a decade at the Field. “And she would walk through the halls, with her long stride, and always, always, a smile and hello for everyone. For all of us, for strangers, it didn’t matter.”
Strozier, of Chicago, died June 7 from complications of the coronavirus; her death was announced by the Field Museum on Twitter on June 10. She was 35.
Strozier came to the Field Museum in 2009 as an intern.
“She was just so good, so dedicated, that I hired her,” von Konrat said. She worked as a research assistant at the museum and also went back to school, earning a masters in biology from Loyola University and a masters in science education from University of Illinois at Chicago, both completed in 2018.
“More or less at the same time, if you can imagine the pressure,” he said.
In her work in the Pritzker DNA Lab, Strozier was “a perfectionist,” von Konrat said. Imagine working with a process like following a recipe, with the recipe needing to be done just right, over and over, or the results won’t be accurate.
“The work can be frustrating, it can be tedious, and she was determined to get it right,” he said. She would work long hours when necessary. Recently she worked on extracting DNA from plants, sometimes tiny plants, “the size of an eyelash,” von Konrat said. Or sometimes the specimens would be dried plants, decades old.
"I told her she had hands of gold," von Konrat said. "She would always manage it."
Lab work doesn’t always equate with personality but Strozier had an infectious energy “and would make time for anyone.” She became involved with mentoring students and summer interns who came to the Field, first informally and then, von Konrat said, more officially. “We came to rely on her for that.”
As the Field reached out to young participants from diverse backgrounds, he said, “it was really important to those students that they could see someone they could relate to.”
For all of her work in the lab, it was Strozier’s work with people that made the greatest impression.
She realized her accomplishments despite some serious challenges.
Strozier was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1984 and moved with her mother to Chicago when she was 6 months old. According to a 2012 story about Strozier in the Tribune, she went to live with her grandmother Sharon Wright when she was 6 because of her mother’s drug addiction, and when she was 8 was diagnosed with learning disabilities so profound that “when she read aloud, it was in such a halting manner that it sometimes sounded like she was gasping for breath.”
Sushma Reddy was Strozier’s faculty adviser when she was getting her masters at Loyola University.
“Her grandmother was her champion,” Reddy said Tuesday. “It was her grandmother who pushed her through.”
The learning disability remained a struggle for Strozier years later but she would beat it through simple hard work. Reddy remembers how she once failed a class in bio statistics, a class that would be hard for anyone. “And she came to me and said, ‘Oh my god, I’ve come so far but I can’t do it.' ”
But she turned around and got top grades from there, Reddy said. “She fell hard and she got up hard.”
Reddy said she also wanted to emphasize “what a Chicago story Lynika was.”
One, for the background she came from and the opportunities she created for herself. And two, for the local breadth of her STEM experience: In addition to the two master degrees, Strozier got a bachelor’s degree in biology from Dominican University in 2011, had an internship at Truman College in 2007 and DePaul in 2008, contributed as a lab coordinator at the School of Art Institute since 2018 and, most recently, realized her dream of becoming a college science teacher, serving as an adjunct instructor at Malcolm X College.
To have that dream taken away, and to have died just as she had a classroom of her own, Reddy said, “is so tragic. She was a lesson to all of us in academics.”
In an internal statement to Field staff June 8, museum President Richard Lariviere called Strozier’s death a “devastating loss” both to her own family and “her Museum family, and all who knew Lynika.”
“Lynika was just one of those people,” von Konrat said. “She was an inspiration. She touched the hearts of so many people.”
We will honor and remember Lynika on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF LEE FIERRO - FEBRUARY 13, 1929 - APRIL 5, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Lee Fierro who died of COVID-19.
Lee Fierro, whose acting and directing career spanned 70 years, died on April 5 in Ohio of complications from Covid-19. She was 91.
Her decision to pursue an acting career took root at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Conn. A shy student, the opportunity to take on a new persona and stand before an audience infected her with the call of the stage.
She pursued her passion, studying with Andre Jilinsky at the Jalonge Theater School in New York city, where she had been born and raised, and later met and married her first husband, Marvin Stephens.
Lee and Marvin moved to the Philadelphia suburbs to study with Jasper Dieter. At the small but renowned Hedgerow Repertory Theater, in Rose Valley, Pa., she dug into the dramatic roles of Arthur Miller, Bernard Shaw, Eugene O’Neill and Henrik Ibsen.
As Lee’s family grew to include four children, she shared her talents at the nearby school in Rose Valley, teaching dance, drama, and inspiring many students with her creativity.
Lee and her second husband, Bernard Fierro, with by then five children, moved to Martha’s Vineyard in 1969 where together they built a home. Lee coached Islanders in natural childbirth and was a vanguard in convincing the Vineyard hospital to accept midwives and coaches in the birth process.
In the summer of 1974 she auditioned for a role in Jaws, with some reluctance. She was offered role of Mrs. Kintner but turned it down because of the character’s heavy use of curse words. The screenwriters rewrote the script for her, which she then accepted. That iconic performance, including the famous slap of Chief Brody, played by Roy Scheider, gained her loyal fans from all over the world who continue to this day.
Lee was known and loved on the Vineyard for her 40 years with the Island Theater Workshop. As associate artistic director and later artistic director, she worked with more than 1,000 students in children’s theatre during summers and the Apprentice Players in the off-season. Year after year she penned scripts and composed lyrics for the students, always careful that each child had a speaking role. Her plays delved into serious historical issues that encouraged the students to understand other lives and times.
After her death, many of her past students recalled her profound influence on them.
She acted in more than 100 plays ranging from Much Ado About Nothing and The Madwoman of Chaillot, to Medea and Talking With.
And while Lee loved acting, she found her greatest calling and satisfaction as a director. She enjoyed imparting her experience and training to other actors, challenging and supporting them, including those new to theatre, to reach within and explore new areas of their emotional and psychological selves. Her unusual approach with young and old alike had a lasting impact on those she directed.
Aside from the theatre, her other passion was her favorite hobby: singing. She composed many songs during her career and for decades was a devoted member of the Grace Church Choir and the Martha’s Vineyard Chorus.
In June 2017, she moved to an assisted living community in Cleveland, Ohio. Although she hated leaving her beloved Island, she spent her final three years enjoying family.
She will be remembered always by her family.
We will honor and remember Lee on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF CAROL JOAN SUTTON - DECEMBER 3, 1944 - DECEMBER 10, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Carol Joan Sutton who died of COVID-19.
Carol Sutton, a Stage and Screen Actress Devoted to New Orleans, Dies at 76
Ms. Sutton brought characters to life on the stage, on television and in movies like “Steel Magnolias.” She also mentored young people in her local theater community. She died of complications of Covid-19.
Carol Sutton, an actress who was featured in films like “Steel Magnolias,” “The Big Easy” and “The Pelican Brief,” and who was devoted to the theater community in her native New Orleans, where she was a fixture on the city’s stages for a half-century, died on Thursday at Touro Infirmary there. She was 76.
The cause was complications of Covid-19, her sister, Adrienne Jopes, said.
As an actress, Ms. Sutton had an expansive oeuvre, bringing characters to life on the stage, in the movies and on television. But her many roles were not confined to acting: She also spent decades doing social work for Total Community Action, an organization that assists low-income families to help reduce poverty in New Orleans. And she was a beloved figure in her local theater scene — in part because she never left.
“I never wanted to go to L.A. or New York,” she told her friend Tommye Myrick, a director, writer and producer, in an interview last year. “In those places, there were hundreds of people trying to do the same things I wanted to do. If I wanted to get onstage or get in a movie, I was able to do that right here.”
LaToya Cantrell, the mayor of New Orleans, said in a statement on Friday that Ms. Sutton was “practically the Queen of New Orleans theater, having graced the stages across the city for decades.” The actress was also lauded by luminaries in the worlds of film and theater, including Ava DuVernay, the award-winning writer, producer and film director.
Friends and relatives of Ms. Sutton’s said she was deeply rooted in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans, where she grew up, and was not much altered by fame.
“She was not a celebrity,” Ms. Myrick said. “But she was treated as royalty, because she was.”
Ms. Sutton dedicated herself to helping young people, said her sister, Ms. Jopes, 73. “She would take them under her wing and show them how it was,” she said. “She enjoyed people, and she enjoyed helping people.”
Ms. Sutton was born Carol Joan Dickerson in New Orleans on Dec. 3, 1944. She was the oldest of three siblings. Her father, Amos Dickerson, was largely absent from her childhood. Her mother, Marguerite Bush, was a longtime community activist whose passion for helping others was a guiding light for Ms. Sutton.
In her mid-20s, Ms. Sutton became a member of the Dashiki Project Theater, an organization for actors and playwrights that gathered in the auditorium of the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, on the corner of Second Street and Loyola Avenue.
The group, which was formed during the Black Arts Movement, fostered a community of artists and was the foundation for Ms. Sutton’s acting career, said Adella Gautier, an actress who was also part of the group and a close friend of Ms. Sutton’s.
“A lot of original work came out of that group, dealing with the Black experience and based in a Black neighborhood,” Ms. Gautier, 72, said. “It allowed people in the area to be exposed to quality artistic experiences.”
About five years after joining the Dashiki Project Theater, Ms. Sutton was cast in her first television film, “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” which starred Cicely Tyson and was first broadcast in 1974. Ms. Sutton went on to appear in multiple feature films, including “Steel Magnolias” in 1989, “Ray” in 2004, “The Help” in 2011 and “Poms” last year — all while acting in stage productions in New Orleans. Her many stage credits include productions of “4000 Miles” and “A Raisin in the Sun,” and she appeared on television shows including “Treme,” “Queen Sugar” and, most recently, “Lovecraft Country” on HBO.
We will honor and remember Carol on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF STEVE LIGHTLE - NOVEMBER 19, 1959 - JANUARY 8, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Steve Lightle who died of COVID-19.
As the artist for the popular comic "Legion of Super-Heroes" in the early 1980s, Steve Lightle made a living dreaming up the future, but his own was cut short by Covid-19.
Lightle, 61, died from cardiac arrest in a Kansas City, Missouri, hospital on Jan. 8, just three days after coming down with what he thought was a head cold and just hours after he was rushed to the hospital.
"Covid stole my husband's life and our future together," said Marianne Lightle, his wife of 38 years, by email. "We wore masks, social distanced, washed our hands. ... It appeared as a cold and became death.
"I will never forget the helpless feeling of not being able to save him," added Marianne Lightle, who now has Covid-19 herself.
Best known for his runs on "Legion" and "Doom Patrol" for DC and "Classic X-Men" covers for Marvel, Lightle became a fixture at conventions, never too busy to mentor the next generation. He came across as larger than life and drew visuals that were just as grand.
"My memories of him are that he was just a very enthusiastic, very warm guy who was excited about everything he was doing," said Paul Levitz, the writer on Lightle's "Legion" run and a longtime friend. "He was happy to be contributing in any way that he possibly could, had a bunch of ideas and was just enjoying the hell out of what he was getting to do."
"I try to give my all to each assignment that I take on," Lightle told Comic Book Resources in 2002. "With the Legion it's really easy to find that personal connection, because I've been a fan of the series since my childhood. The first Legion drawing that I can remember ever doing was created at my school desk in 2nd grade."
Levitz, then the established writer of that series, remembers his new artistic partner as always thinking ahead — 1,000 years into the future to be exact. Lightle, for example, came up with the design for the fan-favorite hero Tellus, a hulking aquatic creature that proved surprisingly human at heart.
"As a creative person, he was an unusually thoughtful artist about coming up with new characters and new elements," Levitz said. "He was very comfortable trying to figure out how to depict the future, which is always an interesting question."
"An awful lot of the things that we came up in the comics in those days, we only got right [in] 20 years, not 1,000, and some we may not get for the full 1,000 years. It's hard to tell," Levitz said.
By the time he landed the "Legion" job, he was working on a more traditional kind of future, having married his childhood sweetheart, Marianne, whom he met when he was 19 and she was 16. The couple went on to have two children together: a son, Matthew, in 1986 and a daughter, Nina, in 1994.
Lightle continued to draw up until his death, channeling his passion into his own online comic series, "Justin Zane." He also enjoyed meeting fans on the comic-convention circuit, where his original fans who enjoyed his work in their childhoods were bringing their own children along.
"He also liked talking with young aspiring artists," Marianne Lightle said. "He made some lasting friendships with a few he had mentored."
Though he never achieved the superstardom of some other artists, people in the industry appreciated his dynamic style. After learning of Lightle's death, Jim Lee, one of the most popular artists in the business and now chief creative officer at DC, tweeted that he was "a huge fan of his work on Legion of Superheroes growing up."
There should have been more issues of comics, more laughs with fans at conventions, more time with his five — soon to be six — grandchildren.
"He loved people. He loved animals. He was just such a gentle soul," Marianne Lightle said. "He felt deeply and was never one to mince words. He was the most honest human being I have known."
"He was my best friend," she said, "and I can't talk about him without losing my grip, because he was my strength."
We will honor and remember Steve on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF BALVINA CASAREZ - 6/16/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Lucy in honor and memory of Balvina Casarez who died of COVID-19.
Lucy writes: I am part of the activist team for Marked By Covid.
IN MEMORY OF DAVID CASAREZ - 4/3/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Lucy in honor and memory of David Casarez who died of COVID-19.
Lucy writes: I am part of the activist team for Marked By Covid.
My entire household was exposed to Covid in March of 2020. It was the early days and unfortunately most hospitals were in the dark about treatment and therapeutics. I was the only one who survived. I lost my husband, sister-in-law and 95-year-old mother-in-law within 2 months.
IN MEMORY OF YOLANDA CORTEZ - 6/1/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Lucy in honor and memory of Yolanda Cortez who died of COVID-19.
Lucy writes: I am part of the activist team for Marked By Covid.
My entire household was exposed to Covid in March of 2020. It was the early days and unfortunately most hospitals were in the dark about treatment and therapeutics. I was the only one who survived. I lost my husband, sister-in-law and 95-year-old mother-in-law within 2 months.
IN MEMORY OF DEBBIE KEATING - 09/27/59 - 03/27/21
This Memorial Square comes to us from Jim in honor and memory of his wife, Debbie Keating, who died of COVID-19.
Jim writes:
Debbie Keating. 09/27/59-03/27/21.
IN MEMORY OF ASTRID REYES - AUGUST 19, 2021, age 6
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Astrid Reyes who died of COVID-19.
Astrid Reyes was a brave girl when her mother brought her to the United States a year ago to escape poverty and violence in Honduras.
The journey took a month. Both mother and daughter evaded the dangers immigrants face in their quest to reach the United States and apply for asylum. They endured inclement weather and the stalking of criminals, slept in the open and went hungry until they reached the Mexican city of Reynosa, in the state of Tamaulipas. From there, they crossed the Rio Grande to Texas.
Of the group of 30 immigrants who tried crossing, only Astrid and her mother, Suny Galindo, weren’t intercepted by border patrol agents.
Astrid never complained. She never shed a tear. She was 6 years old.
“She was a very intelligent and mature girl for her age,” says Galindo, 24. “She was my only daughter and she told me: Mom, I will always be here to take care of you.”
On Aug. 19, Astrid died in the emergency room of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, three days after she was admitted unresponsive and with seizure activity.
She is the youngest person in Florida to die from complications of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
Astrid’s name was added to the list of at least eight children who have died from COVID-19 complications in Florida since the pandemic began, along with a 9-year-old, two 11-year-olds, two 16-year-olds and two 17-year-olds.
The majority of recorded coronavirus cases and deaths have been in adults, and children are less likely to have severe symptoms when infected. Of the 6 million cases reported in the United States, about 265,000 were in children, which is about 5 percent, according to reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, some children are becoming seriously ill and dying.
Astrid was born with a heart murmur. In Honduras, the doctors told Galindo that it was not serious and she could live normally. Before her death, Astrid was not on any medications and had no prior surgeries.
But Astrid began to feel sick on the morning of Aug. 16, a Sunday. Her mother said Astrid woke up and complained that she had a headache and a sharp pain in her left leg. Minutes later she had a seizure and became unresponsive.
Galindo was stunned by the unfolding of events.
“We shared the same room and the day before Astrid was feeling very well. But she woke up complaining of pain. Her forehead was hot. She started convulsing and I asked for help,” said Galindo.
She took Astrid to the Florida Hospital, on Fletcher Avenue, eight minutes from home. Astrid was transferred by helicopter to All Children’s.
The doctors tried everything, Galindo said, but the damage to her daughter’s brain was irreversible. Astrid was connected to a machine from Sunday until Wednesday, when her mother gave the approval to disconnect it.
“The decision was made,” Galindo said. “There was nothing left to do.”
Galindo said it is hard to believe that her daughter was infected with COVID-19. She said Astrid was healthy the whole week until the emergency. She had no temperature, skin rash or other symptoms related to COVID-19.
Astrid loved painting, drawing and hands-on arts and crafts. She reveled in watching handicraft videos on YouTube and was learning English at lightning speed.
The day before Astrid got sick, mother and daughter went shopping, spent the afternoon together and attended a church service.
That afternoon, Galindo gave her daughter a Mickey Mouse set of coloring pens in advance of her birthday.
“Astrid was very excited for her birthday,” said Galindo. “It would have been a great day for everyone. It’s very difficult to believe that she is no longer with us.”
We will honor and remember Astrid on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JUAN ROQUE - DIED SEPTEMBER 11, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Beatriz in honor and memory of her dad, Juan Roque, who died of COVID-19.
Beatriz writes:
My father's name was Juan Roque. He passed away on September 11, 2020.
soccer team as well (green, white, red), he was a Dodgers fan (blue and white).IN MEMORY OF CHARLES JOHNSON III - NOVEMBER 3, 1940 - MARCH 27, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Charles Johnson III who died of COVID-19. Charles Johnson III, 79, of Indianapolis, passed away March 27, 2020. He was born on November 3, 1940 in Broussard, Louisiana as the son of Charles Johnson II and Beatrice Johnson.
Charles retired from the U.S. Army in 1985 as a Master Sergeant and then worked for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service until he retired in 2002. He was a member of Veterans Memorial Chapel, the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America, Far Eastside Neighborhood Association, and the Warren Central Dads. He was passionate about volunteering at Warren Central High School; spending over 20 years helping out at athletic events and just lending a hand wherever he could. Being a positive role model for the students was so important to him. He also volunteered at the Old Bethel Food Pantry for many years.
Though he loved to help others, the love for his family was his ultimate love. During the nice weather and even sometimes during the winter, you could always find him on the front porch barbequing for the family. He also loved to go to the casino, go fishing, work in his yard and garden, and root for the Dallas Cowboys.
“I remember the big grin he had on his face when walking the halls of Warren Central."
We will honor and remember Charles on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF HONESTIE HODGES - NOVEMBER 22, 2020, age 14
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Honestie Hodges who died of COVID-19. Honestie Hodges, who was handcuffed by the police outside her home in Grand Rapids, Mich., when she was 11, a frightening incident that drew outrage and national headlines in 2017, died on Sunday, November 22. She was 14.
Her death, at the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, was caused by Covid-19.
The incident occurred on Dec. 6, 2017. Honestie had stepped out the back door of her home with her mother and another family member to go to the store when they were confronted by police officers with their guns drawn.
“Put your hands on top of your—,” an officer ordered them before he was interrupted by Honestie’s mother screaming, “She is 11 years old, sir!”
“Stop yelling!” the officer responded, as recorded by an officer’s body camera. He ordered Honestie to walk backward toward him with her hands up.
A second officer grabbed her arms, pulled them behind her back and handcuffed her. Honestie shouted, “No, No, No!” pleading with the officers not to place the cuffs on her. The police, who said they had been searching for a 40-year-old woman in connection with a stabbing, removed the handcuffs after several minutes.
The incident caused a widespread uproar that led to a soul-searching within the Grand Rapids Police Department. In a news conference, the police chief at the time, David Rahinsky, said that “listening to the 11-year-old’s response makes my stomach turn; it makes me physically nauseous.” He retired in 2019.
None of the officers were disciplined because they had not violated any departmental policies, Mr. Rahinsky wrote in a statement at the time. Nonetheless, the department acknowledged that the officers had made a mistake in how they handled the child.
IN MEMORY OF CARLOS ROSAS - JULY 20, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Carlos Rosas who died of COVID-19. Fans of a South Side landmark Calumet Fisheries are in mourning after the death of 41-year-old manager Carlos Rosas. Rosas died Monday of complications related to COVID-19, owner Mark Kotlick wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday.
“Carlos was our ambassador,” Kotlick writes in the post. “He always had a smile on his face and would greet you with a warm hello. He was a big guy with a heart to match... A big part of the spirit of Calumet Fisheries went to heaven yesterday.”
Calumet Fisheries, located by the banks of Calumet River, is a uniquely Chicagoan experience that’s earned a James Beard award and places on countless lists, including Eater Chicago’s essential restaurants in the city. The small shack produces exquisite bites of smoked seafood that’s taken to go or enjoyed by customers in their parked cars.
A native of Chicago’s Southeast Side, Rosas had worked at the smokehouse since 1997, according to the Tribune. Prior to his arrival at Calumet Fisheries, he cooked on the line on Indiana riverboats, and studied at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago.
“He certainly will be missed by the Cal Fish family and the thousands of customers we have,” Kotlick writes in an email. “I guess the most important thing I want people to remember about Carlos is the MANY people who’s hearts he touched.”
Rosas embodied hospitality, and his welcoming demeanor earned “the fish house,” as locals call it, a special place in many hearts and stomachs. He appeared in a 2008 episode of Anthony Bourdain’s food and travel show No Reservations, and can be seen peeking over the counter on an episode of PBS’s restaurant review show Check Please. The unofficial historian of Calumet Fisheries, Rosas delighted in telling customers about the 92-year-old store’s background — including its role in “Blues Brothers” history — and showing off the smoker, according to the Sun-Times.
By Friday morning, Kotlick’s Facebook tribute accrued nearly 500 comments from fans and friends across the U.S. who wanted to express their condolences and share stories about Rosas.
“I called him my Lil Brother but he was Mr. Hospitality at the store,” writes commenter Rudolph Zavala Jr. “He got a smile out of everyone and made sure you left with a smile and loved his workers. He was a Big Guy with a Big Smile and a Huge Heart. I will miss him so.”
We will honor and remember Carlos on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF BRIAN SURRAT - NOVEMBER 5, 2020
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Brian Surrat who died of COVID-19. As her son grew older, Irma Chamberlain learned to modify her expectations for him. “I realized that with all the help and all the stuff I did that Brian was still going to be Brian, no matter what,” she said. Brian being Brian had its joys and its challenges.
Brian Surratt loved singing along with his favorite musical artists, especially Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson and Jody Watley.
He’d listen to their recordings over and over again until he not only knew all the lyrics but also could match the singer’s delivery.
“He would sing it so perfectly. You’d be like, where does he get this?” said his sister, Char Surratt.
“Brian smart,” he’d say proudly.
Surratt, a 34-year-old man born with Fragile X syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes intellectual disability, died Nov. 5 at Stroger Hospital from complications of COVID-19.
Surratt lived in Englewood with his mother, Irma Chamberlain, who devoted her life to keeping him safe, a task made all the more difficult this year by the coronavirus.
The deadly virus has proven particularly lethal to individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, many of whom like Surratt have underlying health problems and lack the capacity to appreciate its dangers.
There’s a lesson in that for all of us, of course, but rather then belabor the point, let me just tell you about Brian Surratt.
His mother held a good job at a bank when he was born, but she soon gave it up to devote full-time to his care.
Chamberlain, now 71, said she started her son in treatment programs when he was just 10 months old.
“I made sure Brian went to school. I got him in therapy. I got him child development. I put him in classes,” she said.
Chamberlain also enrolled her son in a Fragile X research program at the University of Chicago and switched over when the doctor in charge moved to Rush.
“I was always on the move with Brian,” she said.
As her son grew older, Chamberlain learned to modify her expectations for him.
“I realized that with all the help and all the stuff I did that Brian was still going to be Brian, no matter what,” she said.
Brian being Brian had its joys and its challenges.
“When he was good, he was great. You’d be shocked at what came out of his mouth,” Chamberlain said.
In addition to his music, he liked anything that made him laugh, whether that was Barney or Popeye cartoons or his friends at the Envision United Mock Center, the adult day program he attended in the nearby Auburn Gresham neighborhood.
Surratt loved pizza and fried shrimp and would never let his mother take him home from an outing without buying him something.
He was better off than many others with developmental disabilities because he could walk, talk, feed and dress himself.
But “there was a gap in his ability to express himself verbally,” his sister said.
He could recognize and read some words, but not an entire sentence.
“He definitely could not be left alone,” Char Surratt said. “He didn’t necessarily recognize danger. He was not able to cross a street by himself.
The coronavirus made life even more difficult for Brian Surratt.
Normally, he spent three days a week in the Mock Center’s day program, where he was known as an enthusiastic participant in the group’s activities.
But that came to an end in March when the state temporarily closed such facilities because of the pandemic. When the center reopened in August, Chamberlain decided it would be safer to keep him home.
The interruption of his routine was difficult for Surratt, who missed his friends and didn’t understand what was happening.
Then on Oct. 3, a home care support worker took Surratt for a rare outing without his mother to give her a break. They visited a barbershop and a KFC.
It was about a week later when Surratt began showing symptoms, although his mother just thought he was coming down with a cold. When he became increasingly lethargic, she took him to the doctor.
He’d been in the hospital about two weeks before he died. He was not allowed visitors, which pained his family.
“He had to be very frightened and confused,” said his sister, who was finally able to win permission for Chamberlain to see him.
It was a short visit. She spoke her son’s name, and he opened one eye. A few hours after leaving the hospital, she got a call from the doctors to tell her he was dead.
“That was the hardest thing that I ever heard,” Chamberlain said.
We will honor and remember Brian on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF FLORADAHL "TOOTS" SACKS - FEBRUARY 12, 1924 – JULY 23, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Rhoda in honor and memory of her mother, Floradahl "Toots" Sacks, who died of COVID-19. Rhoda writes:
Dear Madeleine. You are so right. My mother is much more than a number or statistic. 8 (the size of the Memorial Squares) is the symbol of "infinity" and 18 is the Hebrew number for "life."
Floradahl was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the oldest of two daughters. Her childhood was overshadowed by the Great Depression. As a first generation Jewish American, Toots, a lifelong nickname from age six, was the first in her family to not only attend school but graduated the University of Pittsburgh as a Registered Nurse.
Moving to Chicago, Toots met and married her other half, Phil Sacks. Living in the suburb of Wilmette, Toots happily raised three children while being active in the community. Toots was involved in political causes. Toots was active with the local PTA and Girl Scouts. Toots was active at her synagogue.
Summers involved a houseful of visiting out-of-towners; parents, nephews, cousins, and friends. She also baked untold batches of cookies - especially Oatmeal Cookies.
When the children were raised and on their own, Toots and Phil retired to Bonaventure in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Toots continued to be active; from the HOA to local politics to the synagogue. Oatmeal cookies were baked, packed up, and carried on the airplanes when visiting children and grandchildren up North.
At age 92, widowed and in declining health, Toots moved into a West Palm Beach Independent Living Residence. Wheelchair bound and in isolation with only phone calls from her family and books to keep her company, COVID-19 caught Toots.
She fought it for two very long weeks before dying all alone. No one was allowed to attend her funeral in person except the Rabbi. She leaves her legacy to her three children (and spouses), nine grandchildren, fifteen little greats, as well as her nephews, nieces, and many friends.
We will honor and remember Toots on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF DONALD D. SCHULTZ - 1936 - 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Teresa and the Schultz-Jones family in honor and memory of Donald D. Schultz who died of COVID-19. Teresa writes:
Thank you very much for doing this.
Donald was a husband, father, friend, engineer, chess player, author, diplomat, and world traveler. He is loved and missed.
We will honor and remember Donald on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JOHN F. DOMINICI - 09/04/1928 - 12/12/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Jerome in Illinois in honor and memory of his father, John F. Dominici, who died of COVID-19. Jerome writes:
John F. Dominici was a loving husband to Helen for 66 years. They celebrated their 66th anniversary 1 month before he passed. He was a father of 6. Grandfather to 12. Great grandfather to 5. He was a strong, healthy 92 year old when COVID struck.
My father always enjoyed getting together with the entire family for birthdays, holidays or simply pizza night.
John enjoyed playing all card games. He loved jigsaw puzzles - completing at least one a week. We tried finding the biggest and hardest ones, but none ever beat him. John bowled in a bowling league until he was 89. But his favorite enjoyment came from playing the slot machines. Anytime he went out, he hoped to play the slots.
My father was a Korean War Veteran and member of the American Legion. Every Memorial Day weekend, he proudly sold poppies and placed flags on fallen servicemen's graves. He served on the color guard for his fellow American Legion members that passed.
Our family misses him very much. We hope this quilt helps him live on with all the others who have fallen to this terrible virus. Thank you.
We will honor and remember John on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
NOTE: John's family has sent us a t-shirt with John's image, seen above, to make his Memorial Square. When the Memorial Square is completed, we will replace this photo.
IN MEMORY OF KENNETH ALGOT EASTLUND - 6/20/1929 - 4/16/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Kathy in California in honor and memory of Kenneth Algot Eastlund, who died of COVID-19. Kathy writes:
Dear Madeleine. The Covid Memorial Quilt you have put your heart and soul into is an incredible memorial to those whose lives were lost due to COVID-19.
My family is remembering and honoring our dad and grandpa who passed away from COVID-19 symptoms on April 16, 2020.
Thank you for creating a loving tribute.
We will honor and remember Kenneth on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF BILL LINCOLN - 1957 - 2021
This Memorial Square comes to us from Mary in Arizona in honor and memory of Bill Lincoln who died of COVID-19. Bill's dates of life are 1957-2021.
We will honor and remember Bill on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF VICTOR D. PAINTER - 09-16-1933 - 03-28-2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Laurie in Washington in honor and memory of her father, Victor D. Painter, who died of COVID-19. Laurie writes:
The enclosed 8" square is of my Dad. He was a wonderful husband and father. He loved his kids and wife more than anything. He was a Washington State Patrol patrolman from 1957 to 1983. We actually worked together for two months (I was hired on as an executive assistant). Dad had five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, with the third great-grandson born after Dad had passed.
You are a wonderful person for making these quilts. COVID-19 took my Dad too soon. He was only 86, and his family lives way into their 90s. Thank you for doing this.
We will honor and remember Victor on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
NOTE: We received your request for a photo of the finished panel. We will do our best to remember. Once a panel is completed, we post a photo of that panel on the PANELS ON DISPLAY page, along with an index, and where that panel is on exhibit or display. Thank you for introducing us to Victor so we may remember him with you.
IN MEMORY OF THOMAS GORDON PHILLIPS - 1931 - 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Meg in Missouri in honor and memory of her father, Thomas Gordon Phillips, who died of COVID-19. Meg writes:
This quilt square honors my father, Thomas Gordon Phillips (1931-2020). All of the material comes from his shirts. He was a creature of comfort & habit, which can be seen in two of the squares: one has a patch that I once added at his request and the other is an ink-stained pocket (he always carried a pen) that he never threw away.
The upper left square memorializes Dad's work with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration: he created computer models to track weather patterns and remained a lifelong weather aficionado. The upper right square, using one of those ink blots as a musical note, is because he loved music and could often be heard whistling. The lower left square shows a DNA helix representing his passion for genealogy (the helix is made from one of his ties - clip-on, of course, because it was more comfortable). And the lower right square honors his service in the Air Force during the Korean War.
And of course, altogether he was much more than the sum of those parts. Miss you, Dad.
We will honor and remember Thomas on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF BRENDA CHRISTOPHER MEADOWS - DIED MARCH 29, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Lisa in honor and memory of her mother, Brenda Christopher Meadows, who died of COVID-19. Lisa writes:
Here is the Memorial Square for Brenda Christopher Meadows, who passed from COVID-19 on March 29, 2020.
She was a Registered Nurse for over 50 years.
For 25 years she was a Nurse at the State Department in Washington, DC.
She was the most amazing Mother to Lee and Lisa.
The most amazing Grandma to Chris and Hailey.
She loved her grand dogs too! (Max, Daisy, Chelsea, Chompie, Lulu.)
She is greatly missed!
We will honor and remember Brenda on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF GORDON F. PICKERING - 10/13/58 - 4/1/20
This Memorial Square comes to us from Mary in Michigan in honor and memory of Gordon F. Pickering who died of COVID-19. Mary writes:
He was loved by many. Missed by all. Forever in our hearts...
Thank you.
We will honor and remember Gordon on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF PATRICK J. RAMETTI - 11/12/1927 - 9/7/2021
This Memorial Square comes to us from Patricia in Florida to honor and remember her father Patrick J. Rametti who died of COVID-19. Patricia writes:
Patrick J. Rametti
Born 1/12/1927 in Maspeth, NY. Died 9/7/2021 Peterstown, WV.
Dad was a WWII Navy veteran. He was the last living child of Anna and Rudolf Rametti before he passed of COVID-19.
Dad was an independent man. When we visited him in July he was still cutting his lawn on a riding lawn mower.
In his honor and all those who left too soon, I thank Madeleine for her beautiful idea. My husband & I thank you and Madeleine so much for honoring those who fought the fight & lost to Covid 19.
Meeting you both and seeing the quilts made me feel so good. For all the families & friends of those who lost someone due to Covid I hope they too find solace in the memorial quilts. Their life has meaning, and will be remembered. Not just another statistic. Thank you, Madeleine and all those working with you on this project.
IN MEMORY OF PATRICIA DELL WEBSTER - 3/28/1940 - 10/5/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Rick in Wisconsin in honor and memory of Patricia Dell Webster who died of COVID-19. Rick writes:
Pat was born in Harrisburg, PA. She grew up in Madison, WI where she attended and graduated from Madison West High School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she earned her teaching degree. Pat spent over 30 years teaching lower elementary grades, first in Verona WI and then in Escondido, CA. She loved teaching kindergarten; her rapport and patience with young children was remarkable. She shared their curiosity and excitement for learning. After Pat retired she couldn’t walk away from teaching so she kept working part-time until her memory began failing.
Pat lived in Oceanside, CA with her husband Jim for more than 25 years. She loved living in California; loved the weather, loved the ocean. She reluctantly returned to Wisconsin in 2017 to be closer to family. She hated Wisconsin winters and referred to them as “The Assault.”
Everyone who knew Pat was struck by her kindness, gentleness and giving spirit. Her grandchildren had a special place in her heart and they will remember their trips to California, nature walks, roly-poly bugs, and her love of cats. Over the years Pat adopted three stray cats and volunteered many hours working with strays at the local animal shelter. Pat also loved to travel; she visited almost all 50 states and 10 different countries.
Rick also sent us a lovely photo of a plaque that is located on a memorial bench at a local park. It reads: Patricia Dell Webster. A warm wonderful woman who made friends wherever she went and a career kindergarten teacher.
Under those words reads this song line: "Will You Be In My Dreams Tonight?"
We will honor and remember Pat on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF ROBERT "BOB" GARDNER - 11/22/1933 -12/18/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Casey in Michigan in honor and memory of her grandfather, Robert "Bob" Gardner who died of COVID-19. Casey writes:
Robert Gardner: 11/22/1933- 12/18/2020
IN MEMORY OF ANDREA GALASSO - 7/27/70 =- 9/15/2021
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
Andrea Galasso
Andra "Andrea" Michelle Galasso
July 27, 1970 - Sep. 15, 2021
VALPARAISO, IN - Andra "Andrea" Michelle Galasso, 51 of Valparaiso, went to heaven to be with her beloved Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on Wednesday, September 15, 2021. She was born July 27, 1970 in Valparaiso to Leonard and Joan (Howard) Galasso.
Andrea was a member of Liberty Bible Church in Chesterton. She was also a faithful employee at McDonald's since 2007. She was a Guest Experience Leader, and loved bringing in candy and coloring pages. She knew and was known by many people in the community. Andrea had a caring heart and reached out to many. She loved coloring and making homemade gifts for people. She was very active in the Friendship Class at Liberty Bible. This class provided spiritual nourishment, fellowship, and service to others. She was a greeter at church and helped with Pioneer Girls and the annual Backpacks Because...* outreach.
Andrea's warmth, enthusiasm and humor blessed many. She cared about details and asked people about their loved ones and significant happenings in their lives. She prayed for others and asked them to pray for her. When she went through her cancer journey three years ago, she clung tightly to the Lord and valued the support of others. Opportunity Enterprises played a big role in her life. In 2020, with the help of Nancy J. Cook, she was honored to receive the award, "OE Client of the Year." God has used Andrea to be a light for Him in this world. (Matthew 5:16)
IN MEMORY OF JAMES HAHN - 3/9/57 - 4/29/21
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
James Hahn
James, "Jim," Lee Hahn, 64, of Elkhart, IN, passed away peacefully from COVID pneumonia on Thursday, April 29, 2021, at Elkhart General Hospital. His loved ones were by his side as he went to be with his Lord and Savior.
Jim was born to the late Dale and Eloise (Williams) Hahn on March 9, 1957. He graduated from Penn High School where he broke several basketball records. He was a stellar basketball player at Ball State University where he was a three-year captain. He was a member of the Elkhart County Sports Hall of Fame, the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame, and the Concord Athletics Hall of Fame.
Upon graduation from Ball State, he taught and coached basketball at Schmucker Middle School, as well as at Penn High School. From 1983 to 1994, he was the head basketball coach at Concord High School in Elkhart. He built a strong program there, and in the midst of his coaching career (1988 and 1990), he led the teams to the state championship finals. He was a mentor, friend and father figure to many of his students and athletes.
After coaching, Jim was employed for 26 years at Welch Packaging where he made an enormous impact not only on the business, but also on his co-workers and customers as well.
Jim loved life, and he lived each day to the fullest. He enjoyed golfing, fishing and camping, and of course, watching all kinds of sports. More importantly, he was devoted in his faith and to his family. He demonstrated his love for others in his daily walk.
We will honor and remember James on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
NOTE: The Memorial Square sent has the spelling "Hahm" however, a search showed "Hahn." We will be correcting the spelling on the Memorial Square before adding it to a panel.
IN MEMORY OF JOHN PETTETT - 6/5/1962 -9/20/2021
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
John Pettett
John Philip Pettett, age 59 of Valparaiso, IN went to be with his personal Lord and Savior on Monday, September 20, 2021 in Valparaiso, IN. He was born on June 5, 1962 in Galesburg, IL to G. Philip and Vada (Payne) Pettett.
John is survived by his loving wife, Karla (Hayes) Pettett of 32 years, and precious daughter, Kara Pettett, both of Valparaiso. He is also survived by his brothers, Mike Pettett, Rod Pettett and Duane Baldwin and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. John was preceded in death by his parents; stepmother, Sandy (Henry) Baldwin Pettett; sister, Toni (Baldwin) Jewart; brothers, Brian Baldwin and Glenn Pettett; and their infant son, David James Pettett.
When John was going into fifth grade the family moved to Kirkwood, IL. He graduated from Yorkwood Jr. Sr. High School in 1980. On April 13, 1982 John asked Jesus to forgive his sins and to be his personal Savior and Lord. This affected everything about John. He was still rough around the edges and could come across harsh, but he had a big heart for people and would have literally "given you the shirt off of his back". He loved being the hands and feet of Christ. One thing he considered fun doing was snow blowing his neighbors' driveways.
John worked at the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago for over 30 years in the Facilities part of the Physical Plant. Carpets and floors were where he shined. One coworker said, "Gotta love a guy with a passion for shiny tile floors..." he was a reliable hard worker. John "loved his people, there was never a question or doubt" about that. He remembered special dates like the first day of 5th grade or the day he got saved and called the people that were a part of those days/memories and said, "Hey, remember when...?"
Besides Jesus and the love of his life, Karla, his other great love was his precious daughter, Kara. She is a special needs adult and Karla said that "you could never ask for a better daddy for a special needs child than John was." He was so proud of her and loved showing off pictures and videos of her to anyone who would take a look.
John attended Liberty Bible Church of Chesterton, IN. He also really enjoyed being a part of their Wednesday night men's Bible study.
We will honor and remember John on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JOHN CLAAR - DIED AUGUST 2, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
John Lloyd Claar, 63, died August 2, 2020 as a result of Covid 19.
John was previously employed by Riverside Wellness Center and then Farm Fresh in Denbigh. He was a member of Lebanon Christian Church where he was baptized and faithfully served for more than 20 years. By far, his favorite church activity was singing in the choir. He was always eager to help, whether it was serving communion, Vacation Bible School, or even just raking leaves; he was happiest when he could help. If a volunteer was needed his hand went up. John had over 10,000 hours of volunteer time with St. Francis Nursing home. If everyone had John's outlook and appreciation for life this would be a better world.
He was preceded in death by his parents, George Sr. and Velma Claar, his brother, George Claar, Jr. He leaves his sister-in-law, Cindy Claar, his brother, Rodney Claar and wife, Jane, his best friend, Millie, and so many family and friends who will miss him more than words can say.
IN MEMORY OF BARBARA CAMPBELL SHIFLETT - 10/28/33 - 12/5/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
Barbara C. Shiflett
Barbara Lee (Campbell) Shiflett, 87, of 540 Woodside Lane, Waynesboro, Va., passed away on Saturday, December 5, 2020, at Augusta Health.
A daughter of the late Franklin Ernest Boyd Campbell and Nora (Wright) Campbell, she was born on October 28, 1933, in Waynesboro.
She worked at General Electric for 25 years, and worked as a Walmart associate for 15 years. She made countless friends and never met a stranger during her long work career.
Mrs. Shiflett co-hosted the Waynesboro Exchange Club and was instrumental in preparing the yearly Christmas party for children. As an alumnus of Waynesboro High School, she helped organize the annual reunion of the class of 1952.
She was a member of the Waynesboro Church of the Brethren, and attended Church on the Hill in Fishersville. To her many grandchildren, she was a loving babysitter.
Mrs. Shiflett loved to crochet. She enjoyed traveling all over the U.S. and toured Europe twice. This included a trip to the Campbell ancestral home of Campbell Castle in the Argyll region of Scotland.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Bobby Calvin Shiflett; a son, Bobby Calvin Shiflett Jr.; two brothers, Teddy and Bill Campbell; and five sisters, Dorothy Terrell, Geneva Phillips, Beatrice Judd, Patsy DePriest, and Vicky Snead.
Surviving are her children, Anthony Boyd Shiflett (Dianne) of Staunton, Kinnon Lee Shiflett (Vicki) of Short Pump, Tanya Kelso (Bruce) of Waynesboro, and Katherine Susan Shiflett of Waynesboro; six grandchildren, Nathaniel Shiflett (Robin) of San Antonio, Texas, Sarah Williams (Samuel) of Staunton, Logan Kelso (Jaime) of Waynesboro, Wesley Kelso (Amanda) of Waynesboro, Kristin Grainer (Evan) of Henrico, and Brock Shiflett of Richmond; 10 great-grandchildren (and soon to be blessed with another); and one great-great-grandchild (and soon to be blessed with another). Also surviving Barbara are her sister, Judy Stone (Kim) of Fishersville; a brother, Manuel Campbell (Maria) of Killeen, Texas; and a very special niece, Patrica Yowell (Woody) of Greenville. She had many nieces and nephews that she truly loved.
The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Dr. Donald Lee, Dr. Garland Campbell, Dr. Nicholas Paphitis, and the entire staff of the covid19 wing of Augusta Health. A extra thank you to Victoria for her special care.
We will honor and remember Barbara on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF TOM DAWSON - 5/27/65 - 8/25/21
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them. Unfortunately, we were unable to learn more about Tom.
We will honor and remember Tom on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF TRACY ALLING-BOSWORTH - 1/31/62 - 12/21/20
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
Tracy A. Bosworth, 58, of Cazenovia, passed away Monday, December 21, 2020 at Community Memorial Hospital in Hamilton. She was born January 31, 1962 in Hamilton to Lester and Kathryn Turner Alling. Tracy was a graduate of Cazenovia High School in 1980 and received an Associate’s degree in Business Administration from S.U.N.Y. Morrisville. She was employed as the office manager at the Cazenovia Republican and was an in-home day care provider. Tracy was kind, compassionate and known for her good sense of humor. In her free time, she enjoyed cross-stitching, crocheting and spending time with her husband at Cape Cod. Tracy is survived by her husband of 38 years, Rick Bosworth; her children, Leann (Alex) Victor of East Greenbush, NY, Jordan Bosworth of Cazenovia and Jake Bosworth of Cazenovia; her siblings, Cynthia (Charles) Frair of Sherburne, Rebecca (Harry) Slocum of New Woodstock, Deborah (Frank) Palmer of New Woodstock, Kevin Alling of New Woodstock and Andrew (Debbie) Alling of Newport News, VA; two grandchildren, Aidan and Sophie as well as several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, Lester and Kathryn Turner Alling.
We will honor and remember Tracy on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF GAIL WILLIAMS SCULLION - 6/7/46 - 10/5/21
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
Gail Wynn Scullion
JUNE 7, 1946 – OCTOBER 5, 2021
On Tuesday, October 5, 2021, Gail Wynn (Williams) Scullion, loving wife and mother of 5 children, 19 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren, passed away at the age of 75.
Gail was born on June 7, 1946, in McKeesport Memorial Hospital in Allegheny County, PA to Father, Lt. Col. Thomas R. Williams Sr., and Mother, Dorothy L. Williams. Gail married her soulmate Tim Scullion, September 21, 1979 and they were married over 42 years. Together they shared a passion for traveling, in particular the beautiful Sedona, AZ Red Rocks.
Gail had a musical gift and the voice of an angel that impacted countless lives over her musical career spanning decades. She shared her love of music with others starting at the age of 3, participating in what were known as Tom Thumb weddings. She and her brother Tom learned how to harmonize with their parents, singing songs together on their Sunday afternoon car rides to visit family in the late 1950's. She and her brothers love of music continued to grow over the years and was the catalyst that brought them together with another longtime friend in a group named “We Three”, where they shared their mutual love of God and by ministering through music in concerts throughout the Pennsylvania Tri-State area. As their popularity grew they began to sing in concerts throughout the Eastern United States and this led Gail and Tom to full-time careers in music. Gail went on to create a seven-piece show band known as “Lightstreet” that performed in Showrooms from coast to coast. As time went on Gail’s husband Tim joined the group as a lead guitarist and their traveling musical career spanned several decades with them finally settling down with their families and calling Williamsburg, Virginia home.
Their music career finally led them back to their love of a music ministry with the creation of a Contemporary Christian Group called “Cross Purposes”. Their music ministry continued for several more decades with them traveling up and down the eastern coast, sharing their ministry at various churches and denominations which continued until her passing.
She was a woman of resounding strength, compassion and had the most vivacious spirit. At times she was a force of nature to be reckoned with. She was known for her infectious laughter, her brilliant holiday decorations, “Nanny Cookies”, and a smile that could stop the world. She was the founder and president of the Kids Forever Club. Her main love was for her family whom she taught what love truly is.
Gail had the most unique and beautiful soul. She was and always will be the family glue that holds the family together.
She will be deeply missed by all those who knew her.
We will honor and remember Gail on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF TONI LYNN WESLEY MCKINLEY - 11/25/75 - 10/12/21
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
Unfortunately, we were not able to learn more about Toni. We did learn her full first name is Tonya and Toni is her nickname. Her dates of life are correct.
We will honor and remember Toni on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF LYNN RENEE LEE-FISHER - 6/15/72 - 9/16/21
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
Lynn Renee Fisher, lifelong resident of West Point, Virginia, beloved wife, mother, step-mother and friend passed away unexpectedly on September 17, 2021. She was born June 15, 1972 in Williamsburg and lived in West Point upon her passing.
Lynn is survived by her dear husband Fredrick Fisher, step-daughter Sarah Fisher, her stepfather Peter Blair, daughter Bethany Everhart (Josh), son Allan Lee, grand-daughters Rowan and Raylin. She is preceded in death by her mother Margaret Blair, her father Woody Wyatt, and daughter Hannah Lee.
She loved much in life, none as much as her family, her many pets, and her dearest friends. The family thanks Vincent Funeral Home and all friends and loved ones who share in this moment of Lynn’s passing.
We will honor and remember Lynn on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF DEACON DALLAS RICHARDSON, JR. - DIED JANUARY 5, 2021
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
Deacon Dallas Richardson Jr. of Whiteville, NC quietly answered the call of his Lord and Savior on Tuesday, January 5, 2021 at the Columbus Regional Healthcare System in Whiteville, NC.
He was the son of the late Mr. Dallard Richardson and Rosa Viola Richardson Smith.
He leaves to cherish his loving memories; wife: Dr. Pastor Patricia Richardson, children; Matresse McAllister, Franklin Terrell Bellamy, Dallas Richardson III, Judyth Riddick, CeeGee Richardson, siblings; Gene Terrance Richardson, David Richardson, Clifton Bernard Richardson, Blanche Thurman, Minnie Woods.
We will honor and remember Dallas on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL KOCH - 3/27/50 - 1/19/2021
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
Michael Jay Koch, Fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church, Tuesday January 19, 2021. Beloved husband of Ruth Ann Koch (nee Burns) for 49 years 5 months; dear father of Dennis (Arcinda) Koch, Kevin (Laura) Koch, Maria Koch (Sarah Grau), David (Jen) Koch, Allen (Jenni) Koch, Stephen Koch (Hannah Parker); dear grandpa of Sammantha, Alexandrya, Michael, Andrew, Raynah, Jordan, Amelliea, Mallory, Milo and Hailey; preceded in death by his parents David and Dorothy Koch; dear cousins raised as siblings to Patricia (Bill) VanHoose, Debbie (John) Thibault, Becki Braun; dear son-in-law of Margaret Burns and the late Robert Burns; dear brother-in-law of Jean (Rich) Vogler, Robert (Judy) Burns, Walter (Susan) Burns, Jim (Robin) Burns, Jerry (Donna) Burns, Joe (Janet) Burns; dear uncle to many nieces and nephews; dear brother knight, cousin and friend to many.
Michael loved being around his family and friends. He was very involved in his children’s lives, from coaching baseball, scouting events and teaching them everyday life skills. He enjoyed playing golf, traveling and watching the Cardinals play. He was very active with the Knights of Columbus being a Fourth Degree Knight.
We will honor and remember Michael on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF NAN MARIE OBERHOLZER - 1954 - 8/27/2021
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
Nan Marie Oberholzer, 67 of Goodville, passed away unexpectedly at home on Friday, August 27, 2021. Born in Lancaster, she was the daughter of the late Jay Glenn and Ruth Leaman Oberholzer.
Nan was the owner of Obie’s Store in Goodville. She also worked as a tax preparer for over 30 years at H&R Block and also Waltam Flanagan Accounting. She was a graduate of Millersville University. Nan was a member of the First Baptist Church in New Holland where she enjoyed her time at the pianist and a Sunday School teacher. Nan was a contributor to Israel My Glory, Cornerstone and World Vision Ministries.
Surviving is a sister, Wanda Dee Oberholzer of Narvon; a brother, Kim E. husband of Marcia Lynn Wiltshire Oberholzer of Narvon; two nieces, two nephews, five grandnieces, one grandnephew, three great grandnieces, and one great grandnephew.
We will honor and remember Nan on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF HAZEL DICKERSON - 11/6/40 - 10/28/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us as one of a series of 14 from Debbie. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We then searched the person honored and added any information we could find about them.
Unfortunately, we were unable to learn more about Hazel.
We will honor and remember Hazel on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF MARIA "BEATRIZ" CASTELLANOS
This Memorial Square comes to us from Katrina in California in honor and memory of her mom, Maria "Beatriz" Castellanos. Katrina writes:
On Sunday, November 8, 2020, Maria “Beatriz” Castellanos, a loving wife and mother of five children, passed away at the age of 67. Beatriz was born in Mexico on August 18, 1953. She was an entrepreneur and business owner for over 20 years in Corona, CA.
She was married to Rodolfo Castellanos and they raised five children. Beatriz had a gift for using her hands to make herself and others feel loved, whether it meant cooking the best Mexican dishes, sewing masks during the pandemic, or upkeeping her garden.
Beatriz was also a devote Catholic who enjoyed praying the rosary every day and a firm believer in God, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. She was also an avid music lover of rancheras, Vicente Fernandez, and mariachi music. She was known for her quick wit and funny jokes, infectious laugh, and giving heart.
We will honor and remember Beatriz on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF HAL WILLNER - APRIL 6, 1956 - APRIL 7, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Jill in honor and memory of her friend, Hal Willner, who died of COVID-19. From his obituary:
The creatively voracious music producer Hal Willner, who for decades selected the music used in "Saturday Night Live" sketches, died one day after his 64th birthday. He had symptoms consistent with those caused by COVID-19.
Along with his work at "SNL" — where he began in 1980 — Willner was a multifaceted presence in the music community, earning fans and drawing critical praise for his work as a live event and record producer.
A message he posted on Twitter on March 28 suggested that he was suffering from COVID-19. "I always wanted to have a number one - but not this," he wrote alongside a map that shows New York as the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S., adding: "In bed on upper west side."
Since 1980, Willner was responsible for selecting the music used in "Saturday Night Live" skits. He also was the music coordinator for a short-lived "SNL" offshoot called "Sunday Night" (later called "Night Music"), a jazz showcase hosted by Jools Holland and David Sanborn.
But he was perhaps best known as the curator of incredibly wide-ranging tribute projects, and for bringing vastly eclectic creative personalities together. As a 2017 New York Times profile put it. "If you see Mikhail Baryshnikov moving to the novelty song "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" or Conway Twitty sharing a bill with the Kronos Quartet and the cult experimental band the Residents, chances are Mr. Willner was behind it."
Some of his most admired recorded projects include 1985's Lost in the Stars and 1995's September Songs, two tribute albums to composer Kurt Weill that included William S. Burroughs, Elvis Costello, Charlie Haden, P.J. Harvey, Lou Reed, Tom Waits and John Zorn, among many others, as well as 1988's Stay Awake, an eclectic homage to old Disney tunes performed by such disparate talents as Sun Ra and his Arkestra, Ringo Starr, Michael Stipe and the Replacements. His first such project was Amarcord Nino Rota, from 1981, featuring such acclaimed jazz musicians as Jaki Byard, Muhal Richard Abrams, Bill Frisell and Carla Bley.
Additionally, he produced full albums for Reed, Laurie Anderson, Marianne Faithfull, Lucinda Williams and Frisell, as well as Allen Ginsberg.
His musical curiosity seemed to know no bounds: He produced two albums that featured such rock icons as Tom Waits, Keith Richards, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Marianne Faithfull and Shane MacGowan, among many others, singing pirate songs and sea shanties.
We will honor and remember Hal on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF GEORGE WHITMORE - FEBRUARY 8, 1931 - JANUARY 1, 2021
This Memorial Square comes to us in a series of 23 that make up Panel 21. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We searched the person honored and posted any information we could find.
George Whitmore, Climber Who Vanquished El Capitan, Dies at 89
In 1958, he was one of the first people to climb the 2,900-foot-tall sheer granite wall that looms over Yosemite National Park.
Early on the morning of Nov. 12, 1958, George Whitmore, Warren Harding and Wayne Merry accomplished something many climbers considered unthinkable: They reached the top of El Capitan.
Conquering El Capitan, a 2,900-foot-tall sheer granite wall that looms over Yosemite National Park in California, seemed practically impossible given the limited tools and techniques available to alpinists of the day. The effort took the climbers 45 days, spread out over about a year and a half.
“The type of climbing had not been done before,” Whitmore said in an interview for Merry’s obituary in 2019. “We had to improvise as we went.”
In the decades since, El Cap has become one of the most famous climbs in the world. Some professional climbers ascend it without ropes, or climb so rapidly they seem to sprint up the side; the speed record on a route called the Nose, set in 2018 by Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold, is just under two hours.
But Whitmore, who died at 89 on New Year’s Day at a care facility near his home in Fresno, Calif., blazed the trail.
Whitmore became an ardent conservationist along the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which includes Yosemite National Park. He helped create the Kaiser Wilderness, a preserve to the southeast of Yosemite, and lobbied for the California Wilderness Act of 1984, which added some three million acres of land in the state to the National Wilderness Preservation System.
He also held various positions in the Sierra Club, where he met Nancy Gallaghan in the mid-1970s. They married in 1979, after his first marriage ended in divorce. She is his only immediate survivor.
In 2008, 50 years after they completed their historic climb, the House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring Whitmore, Harding and Merry. Harding died in 2002, and Merry died in 2019.
Whitmore continued his environmental work for decades and kept hiking until recent years, when treatment for prostate cancer sapped his strength.
In 2016 he told The Fresno Bee that he thought outdoor adventurers, like Harding, Merry, himself and the legions of climbers who followed, helped ensure that wilderness would be preserved.
“You want people doing these things,” he said, “Because otherwise, eventually, it’ll be lost to somebody who wants to use it for something else.”
We will honor and remember George on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF COLIN POWELL - APRIL 5, 1937 - OCTOBER 18, 2021
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Colin Powell, Who Shaped U.S. National Security, Dies at 84
A former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, secretary of state and national security adviser, Mr. Powell died of complications of Covid-19, his family said.
Colin L. Powell, who in four decades of public life served as the nation’s top soldier, diplomat and national security adviser, and whose speech at the United Nations in 2003 helped pave the way for the United States to go to war in Iraq, died on Monday. He was 84.
The cause was complications of Covid-19, his family said in a statement, adding that he had been vaccinated and was being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., when he died there.
A spokeswoman said his immune system had been compromised by multiple myeloma, for which he had been undergoing treatment. He had been due to receive a booster shot for his vaccine last week, she said, but had to postpone it when he fell ill. He had also been treated for early stages of Parkinson’s disease, she said.
Mr. Powell was a pathbreaker, serving as the country’s first Black national security adviser, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state. Beginning with his 35 years in the Army, Mr. Powell was emblematic of the ability of minorities to use the military as a ladder of opportunity.
By the time he retired from the military in 1993, Mr. Powell was the most popular public figure in America, owing to his straightforwardness, his leadership qualities and his ability to speak in blunt tones that Americans appreciated.
In an interview with The New York Times in 2007, he analyzed himself in the third person: “Powell is a problem-solver. He was taught as a soldier to solve problems. So he has views, but he’s not an ideologue. He has passion, but he’s not a fanatic. He’s first and foremost a problem-solver.”
Once retired, Mr. Powell, a lifelong independent while in uniform, was courted as a presidential contender by both Republicans and Democrats, becoming America’s most political general since Dwight D. Eisenhower. He wrote a best-selling memoir, “My American Journey,” and flirted with a run for the presidency before deciding in 1995 that campaigning for office wasn’t for him.
He returned to public service in 2001 as secretary of state to President George W. Bush, whose father Mr. Powell had served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs a decade earlier.
But in the Bush administration Mr. Powell was the odd man out, fighting internally with Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld for the ear of President Bush and for foreign policy dominance.
He left at the end of Mr. Bush’s first term under the cloud of the ever-worsening war in Iraq begun after Sept. 11 and growing questions about whether he could, and should, have done more to object to it. Those questions swirled in part around his U.N. speech, which was based on false intelligence, and which became the source of lifelong regret.
He kept a low profile for the next few years, but with just over two weeks left in the 2008 presidential campaign, Mr. Powell, by now a declared Republican, gave a forceful endorsement to Senator Barack Obama, a Democrat, calling him a “transformational figure.” Mr. Powell’s backing was criticized by conservative Republicans. But it eased the doubts among some independents, moderates and even some moderates in his own party, and largely neutralized concerns about Mr. Obama’s lack of experience to be commander in chief.
When it came time to elect Mr. Obama’s successor, Mr. Powell continued his support of Democrats, saying he would vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald J. Trump. Before the election, he expressed disgust for Mr. Trump in a batch of leaked emails that a Powell spokesman confirmed as authentic.
“Trump is a national disgrace and an international pariah,” Mr. Powell wrote in one email. Mr. Trump’s attacks on whether Mr. Obama had been born in the United States also troubled him, the emails made clear. “Yup, the whole birther movement was racist,” he said.
In the next election, he backed Joseph R. Biden Jr., delivering a message of support for him at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Colin Luther Powell was born on April 5, 1937, and reared in the ethnically mixed Hunts Point section of the South Bronx. His parents, Luther Powell, a shipping-room foreman in Manhattan’s garment district, and Maud Ariel McKoy, a seamstress, were immigrants from Jamaica.
We will honor and remember Colin on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF BRANDIS KEMP - FEBRUARY 1, 1951 - JULY 4, 2020
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Brandis Kemp, Character Actress and ‘Fridays’ Original, Dies at 76
Ms. Kemp told comically gruesome fortunes on “Fridays” and made doctors’ lives miserable on “AfterMASH.” She died of a brain tumor and complications of Covid-19.
If you were looking for insight into the future in the 1980s, you probably wouldn’t want to pay $75 for a Creative Palm Reading. In that recurring sketch on the late-night show “Fridays,” a chain-smoking, sometimes deranged psychic played by Brandis Kemp was sure to take one look at your palm and announce: “Things don’t look good, man. Not at all. Man, am I bummed!”
Ms. Kemp was the fashionably frizzy redhead in the sketch-comedy ensemble of “Fridays” (1980-82), ABC’s answer to “Saturday Night Live,” which also included Larry David, Michael Richards, Melanie Chartoff and Ms. Kemp’s husband, Mark Blankfield.
One season later, viewers of “AfterMASH” (1983-85), CBS’s “M*A*S*H” sequel, loved to hate her as Alma Cox, the bossy secretary at Colonel Potter and Corporal Klinger’s new hospital.
Ms. Kemp, known in private life as Sally Blankfield, died on July 4 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 76. The cause was a brain tumor and complications of Covid-19, according to a statement released by her niece and two nephews.
The statement noted that Ms. Kemp had died on Independence Day, when the full moon was in eclipse and fireworks were exploding. She “always knew how to make an exit,” it said.
Vivian Sally Kemp was born on Feb. 1, 1944, in Palo Alto, Calif., one of three children of John Lloyd Kemp, a World War I Marine Corps veteran who died when she was 10, and Vida (Kernohan) Kemp, a hairdresser, who raised the children alone.
After high school, Sally, as she was known, attended San Jose State College, Stanford University, where she received an M.F.A. in theater and literature, and the American Conservatory Theater acting school in San Francisco.
One early job was teaching speech classes for police officers and firefighters at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. By the time she moved to Los Angeles, she was a member of Low Moan Spectacular, a comedy troupe, and doing theater nationwide. She adopted the name Brandis because there was already a Sally Kemp in Actors Equity.
In the play “Bullshot Crummond” (1978), she played “the mistress and sometime daughter of the second-most-dangerous man in Europe,” as the actor turned writer Gardner McKay explained in a review for The Los Angeles Herald Examiner. “You might leave the theater,” he suggested, “humming Brandis Kemp’s hideous, mocking laugh.”
Ms. Kemp spent two decades as a busy supporting actress. (Her character names included Bob’s Mother, Miss Reba and A.A. Woman No. 3.) She made guest appearances on hit series, including “The Golden Girls,” “E.R.,” “The Wonder Years,” “Designing Women” and “Perfect Strangers.”
We will honor and remember Brandis on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF ALAN MERRILL - FEBRUARY 19, 1951 - MARCH 29, 2020
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Alan Merrill, a Songwriter of ‘I Love Rock ’n’ Roll,’ Dies
The singer and songwriter Alan Merrill, who has died aged 69 after contracting Covid-19, will be chiefly remembered for the song I Love Rock’n’Roll. Merrill composed it after hearing the Rolling Stones’ 1974 hit It’s Only Rock’n’Roll (But I Like It), which he considered took an unsuitably apologetic attitude to the music he loved. The Arrows’ 1975 version was not a hit, but a recording by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts spent seven weeks at the top of the US Billboard pop chart in 1982.
The song has exhibited impressive staying power. Britney Spears took it into the UK Top 20 in 2002, a comedy version for charity, I Love Sausage Rolls, by LadBaby, topped the British charts in December 2019, and it has been performed or recorded by Miley Cyrus, Alvin Stardust, Showaddywaddy, Johnny Hallyday and many more. In 2016 Jett’s version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
However Merrill was far from being a one-song wonder. He enjoyed a long and prolific career, which saw him spending several years in Japan, where he became a huge star both as a teen-pop act and a TV actor, and formed the glam-rock band Vodka Collins. After his stint with the Arrows he formed the band Runner, and later performed with Rick Derringer and Meat Loaf. He maintained a flow of solo releases and live performances that continued until 2019.
An only child, he was born Allan Sachs in the Bronx, New York City, into an intensely musical family. His mother was Helen Merrill (nee Jelena Ana Milcetic), an internationally renowned jazz singer who worked with numerous luminaries including Charlie Parker, Earl Hines, Gil Evans and Ennio Morricone. His father was the jazz saxophonist Aaron Sachs, who played with Benny Goodman and the Earl Hines band as well as recording with Stan Getz, Billie Holiday and others.
We will honor and remember Alan on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JOE DIFFIE - DECEMBER 28, 1958 - MARCH 29, 2020
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Joe Diffie, Grammy-Winning Country Music Star, Dies at 61.
He was known for his ballads and honky-tonk singles, like “Home” and “Pickup Man.” On Friday, he announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Joe Diffie, who went from working in oil fields and foundries to becoming one of the most commercially successful country singers of the early and mid-1990s, died on Sunday in Nashville. He was 61.
His death, from complications of the coronavirus, was announced by his publicist, Scott Adkins. Mr. Diffie had revealed on Friday that he was being treated for the condition.
At the dawn of the 1990s, country music was embarking upon a great, rollicking party period, and Mr. Diffie, with a touch of aw-shucks wryness to his performances and a robust head of blond hair that shot back from his head like wispy flames, was suited to the moment.
As a singer, he had a crisp, sentimental voice, which he deployed on ballads like “Is It Cold in Here” and “Home,” his debut single from 1990; it topped the Billboard country chart, the first of his five No. 1 country singles. He placed a dozen more songs in the country Top 10.
We will honor and remember Joe on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JAY BENEDICT - APRIL 11, 1951 - APRIL 4, 2020
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Jay Benedict Dies Following COVID-19 Complications: Actor Who Appeared In ‘Emmerdale’ & ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Was 68
UK-based American actor Jay Benedict has died aged 68 as a result of complications from COVID-19, his family members and representatives have confirmed.
A statement posted on his website said, “It is with profound sorrow that we must announce Jay’s death on the 4th of April due to complications arising from a Covid-19 infection.”
Across a 40-year stage and screen career, Benedict clocked up a string of supporting roles in movies and TV series. He appeared in multiple episodes of long-running Brit soap Emmerdale in 1997 and crime-drama Foyle’s War in 2006.
Though he was born in California, Benedict lived in Europe for over 50 years, where he developed a noticeable accent despite his reputation for playing quintessentially American characters — including his most widely known role as John Kieffer, a United States army officer from the television series Foyle's War, and an arc on the British series Emmerdale in the late '90s.
In addition to his work on stage (including playing multiple roles in various performances of The Rocky Horror Show), Benedict appeared in small parts as Newt's father in Cameron's 1986 thriller Aliens and as a bit player in Nolan's 2012 Batman trilogy sequel The Dark Knight Rises.
Benedict's talent agency paid tribute to the late actor on Twitter, writing that the staff's "thoughts are with his family," while his Emmerdale costar Vicki Michelle honored him with a social media message as well: "Shocked to hear one of our most brilliant actors and kind lovely man Jay Benedict has passed," she tweeted, adding that Benedict was "Married to my lovely friend Phoebe Scholfield" before extending condolences "to her and her family at this sad time."
We will honor and remember Jay on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF "FRED THE GODSON" FREDERICK THOMAS - FEBRUARY 22, 1985 - APRIL 23, 2020
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Fred the Godson, Nimble New York Rapper, Dies at 41.
The Bronx musician was a forceful presence on mixtapes, filling his rhymes with clever punch lines.
Fred the Godson, who for more than a decade was a respected figure in New York hip-hop, an understated master of wordplay with a signature flow, died on Thursday in the Bronx. He was 41.'
His death, at Montefiore Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized since early April, was confirmed by his publicist, Matthew Conaway, who said the cause was complications of the coronavirus.
Back when mixtapes were still the coin of the realm in New York rap circles, Fred the Godson was a reliable, forceful presence.
He had a husky voice, but it was nimble, too — all the better for the kind of wordplay-heavy punch-line-filled bars that thrived in those settings. Double entendres, homophones, homonyms, assonance — he always found a way to bend a rhyme.
“He was really committed to the wittiness and the bar work — he stood on that,” said Justin Harrell, a rapper who records as 38 Spesh and who was among Fred the Godson’s closest friends. Mr. Harrell recalled that Fred wrote all his rhymes with a silver Uni-ball pen on unlined yellow paper in a wholly illegible scribble.
After he would record in the booth, he’d leave the paper behind, unworried about anyone filching his rhymes. “He knew no one would be able to read it,” Mr. Harrell said.
DJ Clark Kent, a seminal figure in New York rap, praised Fred the Godson’s wordplay in a tribute on Instagram: “He was easily one of the most dangerous MC’s around.”
Frederick Thomas was born on Feb. 22, 1979, and grew up in the Bronx, where hip-hop began. (Big Bronx was one of his nicknames.) He emerged in New York rap in the 2000s as a potent freestyler, spilling reference-dense lines over beats from other rappers’ songs, a New York tradition.
He quickly released a pair of impressive mixtapes — “Armageddon” in 2010 and “City of God,” part of DJ Drama’s Gangsta Grillz series, in 2011. He was named a member of XXL magazine’s 2011 Freshman class, an annual collection of hip-hop up-and-comers.
We will honor and remember Fred the Godson on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF FLOYD CARDOZ - OCTOBER 2, 1960 - MARCH 25, 2020
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Floyd Cardoz, 59, Dies; Gave American Fine Dining an Indian Flavor
He was the first chef born and raised in India to lead an influential New York City kitchen, at Tabla. He died in the coronavirus pandemic.
Floyd Cardoz, an international restaurateur and the first chef to bring the sweep and balance of his native Indian cooking to fine dining in the United States, died on Tuesday at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair, N.J. He was 59.
The cause was the coronavirus, his family said.
Mr. Cardoz was the first chef born and raised in India to lead an influential New York City kitchen, at Tabla, which he and the restaurateur Danny Meyer opened in the Flatiron district of Manhattan in 1998. Soon after, Ruth Reichl of The New York Times gave Mr. Cardoz’s cooking a rapturous review.
“Yes, I thought. This is what I have been waiting for,” she wrote. “This is American food, viewed through a kaleidoscope of Indian spices.”
Before opening Tabla, Mr. Cardoz cooked at the luxurious New York restaurant Lespinasse, where he rose from line cook to executive sous-chef under the Swiss chef Gray Kunz. (Mr. Kunz died this month.)
Mr. Kunz, like many chefs who participated in the revolution in French cooking known as nouvelle cuisine, was already occasionally deploying Asian ingredients like ginger, cardamom and star anise, but at Tabla, Mr. Cardoz summoned a fully Indian-American modern cuisine with dishes like halibut in watermelon curry and spice-braised oxtails with tapioca.
The Atlanta-based chef Asha Gomez said Mr. Cardoz’s work at Tabla inspired her culinary career and those of many other Indian-American chefs.
“I remember walking into that restaurant and feeling this sense of pride that I had never felt as an Indian,” she said. “To see what he had done to elevate Indian cuisine to the likes of French cuisine — because it deserves to be in that same light — was at the time mind-blowing to me.”
Floyd Mark Cardoz was born in Mumbai, India, on Oct. 2, 1960, and grew up there. He pursued a culinary career at a time when such a course was unusual in India for a young professional, especially one who had studied biochemistry.
He met his wife, Barkha, when they were both students at hospitality school in Mumbai, then worked for the prestigious Taj Group of hotels. He went on to study European haute cuisine in Switzerland, and the couple emigrated to the United States in 1988.
His partner at Tabla, Mr. Meyer, said on Wednesday that Mr. Cardoz’s perseverance kept the vision of Indian-American fine dining intact when doubters and some early reviews were negative, often complaining that the food was either too Indian or not Indian enough.
“He was a super-taster, big-hearted, stubborn as the day is long,” Mr. Meyer said in a statement. “He never once lost his sense of love for those he’d worked with, mentored and mattered to.”
We will honor and remember Floyd on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF ARNIE ROBINSON - APRIL 7, 1948 - DECEMBER 1, 2020
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The fact Arnie Robinson learned to long jump using a discarded mattress in the driveway of his Paradise Hills home offered the first hint of his fiery drive. Winning a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal revealed his talent, focus and unflinching commitment.
Beyond the world-class ability, the global track and field fame, the pile of titles at the USA Outdoor Championships, the NCAA championships with San Diego State, the Pan American Games and more, Robinson’s legacy reverberates in San Diego because of a warming blend of humility and service in the shadows.
Robinson, the man who fought an aggressive brain tumor since 2005, died Tuesday morning, according to his son Paul. He was 72.
“His accomplishments, he didn’t wear them on his shoulder,” said Paul Robinson, who said his father had contracted COVID-19. “Leading through example, that’s who he was. He wasn’t about the noise.”
To understand the fiber of Robinson’s unassuming, sleeve-rolling being, dig into the things he didn’t talk about. Paul learned his father owned a gold medal when he was about 6 or 7. Coaches, administrators and friends marveled that he never discussed his enormous accomplishment, defying gravity and bicycling through space to go 27 feet, 4 3/4 inches at Olympic Stadium.
No Wheaties box awaited, like decathlete Bruce Jenner. No lucrative athletic and TV careers loomed, like sweet-swinging boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. Robinson’s ’76 gold represented self-fulfillment, plain and brilliantly simple.
“Those days, they weren’t making much money,” said Bryan Kyle, a close family friend. “It was about heart and wanting to compete.”
What did Robinson do after he reached his sport’s mountain top? He learned construction and, when the money belt tightened, he built his home from scratch. He wasn’t obsessed with the rear-view mirror. Perspective, galore.
He won. He moved on. His eyes aimed forward, never back.
The financial challenges of rising through the amateur track ranks failed to faze Robinson or derail his emerging dream. While navigating the track circuit through Europe, Robinson learned a teammate who lacked the money to secure a hotel room. Though Robinson had enough to grab a small room for himself, he decided to sleep in a park with his teammate.
Robinson’s riches came in the form of sweat equity and compassion.
“A very unique, beautiful mind,” Paul said.
Two years ago, Robinson was asked what he saw when looking at a photo of his winning jump, a moment of excellence frozen forever in time. Cancer and medication limited his ability to communicate, even then. Pride glimmered in his eyes.
Robinson flashed a rare moment of self-acknowledgment.
“The best in the world, that’s what I was,” he said.
Goodbye, Arnie. Glide again.
We will honor and remember Arnie on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JOHN DAVIS - AUGUST 31, 1954 - MAY 24, 2021
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John Davis, a Voice Behind Milli Vanilli, Dies at 66.
The singer was one of the voices behind the pop duo Milli Vanilli, fronted by Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus, who later admitted that they did not sing on their albums or in concert.
John Davis, one of the real voices behind the lip-syncing duo Milli Vanilli, died in Nuremberg, Germany, on Monday. He was 66.
His daughter, Jasmin Davis, who confirmed the news of his death on Facebook, said he had Covid-19.
While living in Germany, Mr. Davis started unknowingly singing for Milli Vanilli in the 1980s after he met Frank Farian, a German music producer. Mr. Farian asked Mr. Davis to work on a project, but he did not disclose that his voice would be used for others to lip-sync, Mr. Davis told “The Hustle” podcast on an episode posted in April.
Only later would he discover that his voice was being used by Fabrice Morvan, one-half of the pop duo Milli Vanilli, with Rob Pilatus.
“The truth is, I signed a contract with Frank Farian before I even knew who Milli Vanilli was,” Mr. Davis said. “One evening, I was sitting at home watching my TV, and I saw Fab singing ‘Girl I’m Gonna Miss You.’”
Milli Vanilli was best known for hits like “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” and “Girl You Know It’s True,” and won the Grammy for best new artist in 1989.
By 1990, Milli Vanilli’s work had sold more than seven million copies, but after Mr. Morvan and Mr. Pilatus admitted that they did not actually sing on Milli Vanilli’s albums or in concerts, they were stripped of the award.
Mr. Morvan and Mr. Pilatus then told The Los Angeles Times that they wanted to give the award to those who actually voiced their work, including Mr. Davis, Brad Howell and Charles Shaw.
“I didn’t want the Grammy because it was their faces and our voices,” Mr. Davis said. “I was mad.”
Mr. Pilatus died in 1998, but Mr. Davis and Mr. Morvan later had an amicable relationship and even performed together.
On Friday, Mr. Morvan shared a video with pictures of him performing with Mr. Davis.
“Your golden voice will continue to be heard, you best believe that those classic records will live just like you eternally,” Mr. Morvan said on Twitter.
Additional details about survivors were not immediately available on Saturday.
Mr. Davis, who was born on Aug. 31, 1954, in Anderson, S.C., was stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army and stayed there for much of his life, he told “The Hustle” podcast.
In Germany, Mr. Davis found many opportunities to play in Army clubs in the 1970s, he told the podcast.
Mr. Davis said he learned how to play music from his father, a choir director who played piano and guitar.
“My one mission I had on this earth was to become a musician and to play music,” Mr. Davis said.
We will honor and remember John on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF BRUCE WILLIAMSON - SEPTEMBER 28, 1970 - SEPTEMBER 6, 2020
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Bruce Williamson, the former lead singer of The Temptations, has died. He was 49.
The singer passed away Sunday night at his home in Las Vegas after a battle with COVID-19.
“There’s no words in the world that can express how I feel right now,” Williamson’s son, Bruce, wrote on Facebook. “I love you Daddy thank you for being awesome thank you for being loving thank you for being Who You Are I pray to God and we will meet again,”I love you Daddy R.I.H KING WILLIAMSON.”
A native of Compton, Calif., Williamson joined The Temptations in 2006 and continued singing with the iconic Motown group until 2015. In addition to appearing with the act for concert and television performances, Williamson was also featured on Temptations albums Back to Front (2007) and Still Here (2010).
In 2013, Williamson told Las Vegas Black Image that Temptations member Ron Tyson groomed him for over a decade to become a member of the group, but founding member Otis Williams was initially against the idea “because he thought I was too big and too young.”
But Williamson “never lost the dream of wanting to be a Temptation,” he said in a 2016 interview with Chapter & Verse Network. “But I didn’t want to be an imitation or one who impersonates my predecessors. I wanted to be myself.”
IN MEMORY OF REMY JULIENNE - APRIL 17, 1930 - JANUARY 21, 2021
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Film stunt driver who masterminded car chases in The Italian Job and several James Bond films. Rémy Julienne, who has died aged 90 after contracting Covid-19, was one of the world’s greatest film stunt drivers and coordinators. He was behind the unforgettable sequence in The Italian Job featuring red, white and blue Mini Coopers speeding away from a daring heist in Turin and went on to mastermind vehicle theatrics in half a dozen James Bond movies.
The 1969 British-flag-flying crime caper’s most memorable scenes began with the getaway cars driving through shopping arcades, then down the steps of the Gran Madre di Dio church while avoiding a wedding party. Later, as the Mini drivers – with stunt doubles – continued to outwit police in cars and on motorcycles, Julienne went beyond his brief and Troy Kennedy Martin’s script during the location shooting.
A large jump between two rooftops was his suggestion, initially rejected by the director, Peter Collinson, and the producer, Michael Deeley, because it sounded so dangerous; but he persisted and used test runs on flat ground to show that the cars could make the distance required. This was typical of his precision in planning stunts – and there was more to come.
“It was decided I had to do three separate jumps in each Mini,” recalled Julienne. “I explained that, as the roof was very wide, we could make the three Minis jump all together. It looked much better as a shot. It was more complicated, but really amazing.”
The 20-minute sequence was completed with the cars crossing a weir on the Po river, navigating a sewer (the interior shot near Coventry), and, in a manoeuvre that Julienne considered his biggest feat, dispatching the Minis, in red, white and blue order – as throughout all the scenes – up a ramp and into the back of a stripped-out coach at speed.
The Italian Job was the first English-language production for Julienne, who was French, and it catapulted him to the top of the list for arranging vehicle acrobatics on screen. Regarding his exploits as “science rather than stunts”, the director John Glen hired him for the 1981 Bond film For Your Eyes Only to coordinate a sequence where Roger Moore’s 007 careers in a yellow Citroën 2CV through Spanish olive groves (actually shot in Corfu), with several rolls and a jump over his pursuers’ car.
Julienne, who doubled for Moore at the wheel, also chose the vehicle’s make and colour. “They asked me the question what the most ridiculous car would be for James Bond to drive and still cause panic with the villains,” he told the 007 historians Matthew Field and Ajay Chowdhury.
Impressed with the result, Glen also had him draw on his motocross skills – Julienne was French champion in 1957 – to arrange a stunt with Moore on skis escaping down a bobsleigh run from a Yamaha XT500 motorcycle.
Remy was born in Cepoy, near the town of Montargis in north-central France, to Lucienne (nee Pavas) and Paul Julienne, a haulage contractor who also ran a cafe. At the age of 12, when the country was under Nazi occupation, he rode a motorcycle, his father’s 100cc Peugeot, for the first time. He also became passionate about the silent film era’s greats such as Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy.
We will honor and remember Remy on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF SERGIO ROSSI - JULY 31, 1935 - APRIL 3, 2020
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Sergio Rossi has died from complications of COVID-19 at age 84. The Italian shoe designer had been hospitalized for a few days at the Bufalini Hospital in Cesena, Italy. “Today everyone at Sergio Rossi joins me in remembering our dear Sergio, the inspiring founder of our dream,” said Sergio Rossi CEO Riccardo Sciutto. “Sergio Rossi was a master, and it is my great honor to have met him and gotten to present him the archive earlier this year.
His vision and approach will remain our guide in the growth of the brand and the business. He loved women and was able to capture a woman’s femininity in a unique way, creating the perfect extension of a woman’s leg through his shoes. Our long and glorious history started from his incredible vision and we’ll remember his creativity forever.”
Rossi was born in San Mauro Pascoli, Italy, in 1935 and began designing shoes in the 1950s. By 1966 he was selling his wares in Italy, officially launching his namesake brand in 1968. He remained at the helm of his label until 2004, when it was sold to Kering. Even so, shoemaking remained a vital part of Rossi’s life, with his son Gianvito Rossi launching his own footwear collection in 2006. “Addio Maestro,” Gianvito posted on Instagram today with a picture of his father.
During his five-decade career in footwear, Rossi collaborated with the likes of Azzedine Alaïa, Gianni Versace, and Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. His slinky sandals, including the Opanca with a curved sole that reaches up the sides of the foot, were some of his most popular designs, though a quick scan through the designer’s archives shows him to have been just as brilliant with pumps and platforms.
“There are those who have had the good fortune to transform their art into a work and those who have the extraordinary talent of transforming their work into a work of art. Sergio Rossi was this man. A husband, father, grandfather, and progenitor of a family that followed his example. The family offers, with love, their last goodbye. With the unquenchable fire of your passion, you taught us that there are no limits for those who love what they do,” his family said in a statement obtained by WWD.
We will honor and remember Sergio on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JAY JOHNSTONE - NOVEMBER 20, 1945 - SEPTEMBER 26, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us in a series of 23 that make up Panel 21. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We searched the person honored and posted any information we could find.
Jay Johnstone, Major League Outfielder and Prankster, Dies at 74
He played in the World Series with the 1978 Yankees and the 1981 Dodgers, but he was best known for his imaginative stunts. He died of Covid-19 complications.
Jay Johnstone spent 20 seasons as a major league outfielder and played in the World Series for the 1978 Yankees and the 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers.
Although he had a solid career, he was never an All-Star and often saw only part-time action while playing for eight teams. When he died on Saturday in the Granada Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles at 74, he was remembered chiefly for his greatest hits when he wasn’t wielding a bat.
Jay Johnstone was among baseball’s most creative pranksters.
His finest moment in the batter’s box came when he delivered a pinch two-run homer in the sixth inning of Game 4 of the 1981 World Series, helping to propel the Dodgers to an 8-7 victory over the Yankees that tied the Series at two games apiece. The Dodgers won the championship in six games.
“When the game was on the line, he was able to transform that little 7-year-old child that was always in a playful mood into serious,” said Rick Monday, Johnstone’s former Dodger teammate and now a broadcaster for the ball club. “If the team was in a spot where you felt your backs were against the wall, he was one of the reliable guys.”
Johnstone’s most ambitious stunts, like his most memorable at-bat, came as a Dodger.
During a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1981, he and the pitcher Jerry Reuss dressed up as groundskeepers and joined the grounds crew in grooming the infield in the fifth inning. Then they rushed back to the locker room to change back into their uniforms.
As Reuss told The Los Angeles Times upon Johnstone’s death, Manager Tommy Lasorda was so angry that he wouldn’t let Johnstone get comfortable and ordered him to hit for the pitcher.
“Jay went up and hit a homer,” Reuss recalled. “Who in the history of baseball has dragged the infield in the fifth inning and hit a pinch-hit homer in the sixth?”
During the Dodgers’ 1982 spring training camp in Vero Beach, Fla., Johnstone locked Lasorda in his motel room one evening, after Lasorda had gone to bed, by tying a rope from his doorknob to a palm tree. Lasorda was freed by a laundryman who heard his hollering, and he made the team bus just in time for a trip to Orlando for an exhibition game.
With the passing of time, Johnstone noticed that pranksters were disappearing from the baseball scene.
Players “can’t afford to do anything crazy, because they’re afraid it will end up in the papers and make them look bad,” he told The Reading Eagle of Pennsylvania in a 1990 interview. “I couldn’t have the overall, wide fun that I used to have when you were able to get away with a lot more. Times change.”
We will honor and remember Jay on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF TOMMY "TINY" LISTER - JUNE 24, 1958 - DECEMBER 10, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us in a series of 23 that make up Panel 21. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We searched the person honored and posted any information we could find.
Tommy “Tiny” Lister (1958–2020), starred in ‘Friday’
Tommy “Tiny” Lister, a former professional wrestler who was known for his bullying Deebo character in the “Friday” films, has died. He was 62.
Lister's manager, Cindy Cowan, said he was found unconscious in his home in Marina Del Rey, California, on Thursday afternoon. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Cowan said Lister was diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this year. She said the actor overcame the virus, but he became sick about a week ago and recently had trouble breathing.
“He was a gentle giant,” Cowan said. “He had a smile as broad as you could imagine. He’s going to be missed by so many. We’re all devastated.”
Lister started his career as a pro wrestler, standing 6-foot-5 with broad shoulders at about 275 pounds. His early roles included HBO football series “1st & Ten” along with movie appearances in “Beverly Hills Cop II,” which starred Eddie Murphy, and “No Holds Barred,” the 1989 film where his character Zeus challenged Hulk Hogan in a wrestling match.
The actor, who was blind in his right eye since birth, wrestled Hogan in the World Wrestling Federation in an actual match after the “No Holds Barred" film release. He also had a short stint in the World Championship Wrestling under the name Z-Gangsta.
However, Lister’s most notable role came in the 1995 film “Friday” and its sequel five years later. He portrayed the role of Deebo, a felon who was known as the neighbourhood bully who terrorized his neighbours with intimidation and fear. His character was known for his infamous line “Get knocked out like your father used to.”
“RIP Tiny “Deebo” Lister,” Ice Cube said Thursday night on Instagram. “America’s favourite bully was a born entertainer who would pop into character at the drop of a hat terrifying people on and off camera. Followed by a big smile and laugh. Thank you for being a good dude at heart. I miss you already.”
Lister also appeared in “The Fifth Element," “The Dark Knight" and “Austin Powers in Goldmember."
“WWE is saddened to learn that Tom “Tiny” Lister, known as Zeus to the WWE Universe, passed away today,” the WWE said in a tweet.
The Compton, California, native was a track and field star who became the 1982 NCAA Division II shotput champion while he attended Cal State University Los Angeles. He briefly played football with the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League.
“One of the nicest bullies we’ve come across. RIP Deebo,” the San Francisco 49ers said on Twitter. Deebo Samuel, a 49ers wide receiver, got his nickname from Lister’s character.
We will honor and remember Tiny on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF CHRIS TROUSDALE - JUNE 11, 1985 - JUNE 2, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us in a series of 23 that make up Panel 21. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We searched the person honored and posted any information we could find.
Chris Trousdale, Boy Band Idol With a Broadway Past, Dies at 34.
He was scouted for the group Dream Street at 14 after appearing on Broadway in “Les Misérables.” He died of the coronavirus.
During the heyday of boy bands, Dream Street was created to become the next Backstreet Boys or ‘N Sync. Its five tweenage members, who sported baggy pants and frosted hair tips, bathed in the attention of their young fans for three years before breaking up in 2002.
Each member had an image. Chris Trousdale, a child actor who was scouted from Broadway, was considered the fashion plate of the group.
Mr. Trousdale died on June 2 at a hospital in Burbank, Calif. He was 34. His sister-in-law, Tracey Pask, said the cause was complications of the coronavirus.
In Dream Street, formed in 1999, Mr. Trousdale, who began his career as an actor in musicals at 8, sang alongside Jesse McCartney, Greg Raposo, Matt Ballinger and Frankie Galasso. The band’s first album went gold, and Dream Street spent the beginning of 2002 opening for Aaron Carter on tour. At the group’s peak, fans would mail members anything from underwear to an imprint of teeth.
But the group broke up in 2002 after the parents of some of the members filed a lawsuit against its producers, claiming that they were exposing minors to alcohol, women and pornography. Mr. Trousdale was ultimately the only member to support the producers.
Despite the tension at the time, his former bandmates publicly mourned Mr. Trousdale’s death.
“As an incredibly trained dancer, he would pick up an entire dance number in a matter of minutes; something that would take the rest of us days,” Mr. McCartney wrote on Instagram. “I truly envied him as a performer.”
Mr. Trousdale put his career on hold in 2006 when he moved to Stanwood, Mich., to take care of his mother after she learned she had skin cancer. She and his half brother, Ronnie Pask, survive him.
He later returned to performing, auditioning (unsuccessfully) for “The Voice” in 2012 and releasing a single, “Summer,” last year.
“In my late teens and early 20s, it seems like there wasn’t much happening,” Mr. Trousdale said in a 2010 interview. “I wish a little birdie came by and whispered in my ear, ‘You still have what it takes, don’t give up.’ It has to all come from within you.”
We will honor and remember Chris on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF TOM DEMPSEY - JANUARY 12, 1947 - APRIL 4, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us in a series of 23 that make up Panel 21. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We searched the person honored and posted any information we could find.
Tom Dempsey, Record-Setting Kicker, Dies at 73.
He was born without toes on his right foot, but spent 11 seasons in the N.F.L. and kicked 159 field goals. He died of complications of the coronavirus.
Tom Dempsey, who was born without toes on his right foot or fingers on his right hand but played for 11 N.F.L. seasons as a place-kicker and was remembered for his game-winning, 63-yard field goal for the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 8, 1970, a league record at the time, died on Saturday at an assisted living center in New Orleans. He was 73.
His wife, Carlene, said the cause was complications of the coronavirus, which he contracted on March 25 at the Lambeth House center, where he had been treated for dementia that was diagnosed in 2010.
At 6 feet 2 inches and 255 pounds, Dempsey relished running downfield to deliver hits to cover his kickoffs and had sustained several concussions, his family told The New York Times in 2013.
The Saints’ opponents on the day Dempsey set the record, the Detroit Lions, were laughing on the sidelines at Tulane Stadium at the absurd notion that he could connect as he prepared for what became his astonishing kick. Seconds later the Lions had been defeated, 19-17.
“I was more concerned about kicking it straight because I felt I could handle the distance,” Dempsey told The Times-Picayune of New Orleans afterward. He said he had received a perfect snap and hold and “I hit it sweet.”
Dempsey’s 63-yarder was later matched by three other kickers but wasn’t exceeded until the Denver Broncos’ Matt Prater kicked a 64-yarder in 2013 in the thin air of the Rocky Mountains, setting a mark that still stands.
Thomas John Dempsey was born on Jan. 12, 1947, in Milwaukee and grew up in Southern California. His father, Huey, was a mechanic for a public utility company and joined with his mother, LaVerne (Sorce) Dempsey, in owning a jewelry store in Encinitas.
He was a defensive lineman and kicker in high school, played briefly at Palomar College in San Diego County and was signed by the Saints as an undrafted player.
After retiring from football, he worked as an oil field salesman in Louisiana until the late 1980s and ran a car dealership owned by the Saints’ owner, Tom Benson.
In addition to his wife, Dempsey is survived by his daughters Ashley Dempsey and Meghan Dempsey Crosby; his son, Toby; his sister Janice MacArthur and three grandchildren.
Dempsey loved New Orleans nightlife.
We will honor and remember Tom on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF LINDA TORRES - JANUARY 1, 1954 - APRIL 1, 2021
This Memorial Square comes to us in a series of 23 that make up Panel 21. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We searched the person honored and posted any information we could find.
Linda Torres, who appeared on VH1’s reality series Big Ang and sometimes on Mob Wives, has died. Janine Detore, the sister of late Big Ang star Angela Raiola, told TMZ that Torres died Thursday at Staten Island University Hospital, shortly after being diagnosed with Covid-19. She was 67.
Big Ang, a spinoff of Mob Wives in which Raiola (Big Ang) appeared, aired for one season on VH1 in 2012. Torres was a friend of Raiola, and also appeared in cameos on Mob Wives. Raiola died five years ago of throat cancer.
Torres had undergone surgery recently following a diagnosis for breast cancer.
Her daughters had been caring for her after the surgery and took her back to the hospital after she developed a fever, and she subsequently tested positive for coronavirus.
In an 2013 interview with Mikki May of MyEPK about Big Ang and Mob Wives, Torres said: “Big Ang is one of my best friends for 40 years. All the girls that we hang out with, you know, we get together, we have parties, we shoot a lot of Patron, we laugh, we fight, we go out with a lot of young guys, we have a really good time. Mob Wives is a little more serious. … In the Big Ang show, we’re very down to earth and quiet, and we’re looking for fun and no drama. My Big Ang is a no-drama mama, but I’m her little pit bull.”
We will honor and remember Linda on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF ERIC SPINATO - MARCH 23, 1968 - MARCH 21, 2021
This Memorial Square comes to us in a series of 23 that make up Panel 21. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We searched the person honored and posted any information we could find.
Eric Spinato, Fox booker, story editor, dies of COVID-19 at age 52
In his job as a booker over the years for Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC and most recently Fox Business Network, Eric Spinato rubbed elbows on a continual basis with the rich and famous — and, the infamous — as he helped book guests for daily broadcasts. But, his brother Dean Spinato said, throughout it all Eric was never star struck, maybe the biggest reason he made it all work.
"His goal," Dean Spinato said, "was just to be the best at what he did. The best word for my brother is 'humble.' He mingled with celebrities, the rich and famous, the Trumps, everybody. But when he went to the White House instead of saying he'd been at the White House with the president he was like, 'Yeah, I had to work this weekend.' That was it. 'I had to work.' "
Eric Spinato died Sunday at his home in Levittown.
He was 52.
His brother Dean said doctors believed the death was due to COVID-19, with Eric becoming ill from the coronavirus following a recent trip to Florida.
"He came home, said he had some headaches, then tested positive for COVID," Dean Spinato, of Hicksville, said Friday. "He called me every day, said he was having trouble, coughing nonstop, that it hurt. I went and got him food, but he couldn't taste it, couldn't smell … Then Saturday he went to bed and he just never woke up. He died in seven days."
Eric Spinato was born March 26, 1968, in Riverdale, the Bronx. He would've been 53 on Friday. He grew up in Commack, graduated Commack South High School, then graduated from New York University.
Dean Spinato said his brother "pretty much knew what he wanted to do in high school and that was to be in communications" — and that never changed.
He said his brother worked early on with News 12 Long Island. Later, according to a statement released this week by Fox, Spinato joined the Fox Files team in 1998, going on to become a senior producer / head booker for the Fox News Channel before leaving in 2004 for CNN and later MSNBC then returning to Fox in 2007, where he helped launch the Fox Business Network.
Most recently, he was senior head booker and story editor.
We will honor and remember Eric on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF ADAM SCHLESINGER - OCTOBER 31, 1967 - APRIL 1, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us in a series of 23 that make up Panel 21. Each Memorial Square came with a different name to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19. We searched the person honored and posted any information we could find.
Adam Schlesinger, the Emmy-winning songwriter behind Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and a slew of Grammy, Tony, and Oscar-nominated songs, and a founding member of Fountains of Wayne, has died of complications of coronavirus at the age of 52.
Schlesinger was perhaps best known for his longtime role as songwriter and bassist in the band Fountains of Wayne, which scored a Top 40 hit and Grammy nomination with their memorable 2003 single, “Stacy’s Mom.” He also performed and wrote songs with the cult-favorite band Ivy.
Adam Lyons Schlesinger was born in October 1967 and grew up in Montclair, New Jersey. As a freshman at Williams College, he met Chris Collingwood, and the two played in various bands before splitting up after graduation when Schlesinger moved to New York City. In 1991, he responded to a newspaper ad that singer and guitarist Andy Chase placed looking for a songwriting partner. Eventually they met Dominique Durand, and the trio bonded over their love for British indie-pop, which led them to the sound that Ivy became known for. Over the years, they released 6 albums and lent their songs to countless movie soundtracks.
After hearing about a film about a band in the 1960s through his publisher Polygram, Schlesinger wrote the song which later gave That Thing You Do! its title. “I just took it as an assignment and decided it was worth spending a couple of days on for a shot at something like this,” he later told People, adding that he often takes on songwriting assignments as a creative exercise. When it was chosen, Schlesinger recorded the song along with his bandmate Chase and songwriter Mike Viola on vocals. It ultimately earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original song and became a minor hit in real life, reaching number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Alongside his work with Ivy and Fountains of Wayne, Schlesinger continued to write for film, TV, and the theater. He wrote two of the songs performed by the titular band in 2000’s Josie and the Pussycats, and three of the songs in the Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore-starring Music and Lyrics, and composed for countless other TV shows. In 2015, he signed on a music producer for Rachel Bloom’s series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and he stayed throughout the show’s four season run, ultimately winning an Emmy for his song from season 4, “Antidepressants Are So Not A Big Deal.” The opening of The Bedwetter, a musical he wrote with Sarah Silverman based on her comedy special of the same name, had been set for later this spring.
On Twitter, Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield said, “It was impossible to spend a minute with Adam Schlesinger and not feel all lit up by his boyish enthusiasm for music. He was one of a kind, and this is just a devastating loss.”
We will honor and remember Adam on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF THERESA J. HARNEY - MAY 15, 1947 - JULY 30, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Iowa in honor and memory of Theresa J. Harney who died of COVID-19.
Therese J. Harney, 73, died Thursday, July 30, 2020 at Solon Nursing Care Center of complications related to COVID.
Therese was born on May 15, 1947 in Iowa City, IA, the daughter of Ambrose Francis and Rose Katherine (Roit) Harney. She was a 1965 graduate of University High School, where she played intramural softball. In 1965 Therese and two associates were instrumental in organizing Iowa City’s first basketball league through the Iowa City Recreation Center. Therese was an avid softball player for several local teams, mainly as catcher.
She bowled for 42 years in national tournaments and was inducted into the Johnson County Hall of Fame. Therese was employed at Sheller Globe from 1965 to 1972, where she was a packer, machine operator, group leader and trainer.
She then moved to Victor Metal Company for one year before they closed the Iowa City plant. Therese then began work for Thomas and Betts Electronics where she worked from 1973 to 1992 when they closed their Iowa City factory. While at Thomas and Betts she was a packer and machine operator.
In 1993, Therese went to work for Marketing Systems Unlimited as a Mystery Shopper for fast food restaurants. In June 2006 Therese tired of the constant travel and accepted a position as security guard at Riverside Casino and Golf Resort.
Therese was a lifelong member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
Therese is survived by her siblings, Edmund Harney of Iowa City, David (Marianne) Harney of Solon, Patrick (Jean) Harney of Iowa City, James Harney of Nichols, Mary Ellen Dlouhy of Hills, Virginia (Dan) Ockenfels of Fairfax, and Rosa (Gene) Langenberg of Iowa City; sisters-in-law, Betty Harney of Forney, TX. and Emily Harney of Iowa City; and brother-in-law, James Clemen of Cascade, and many nieces and nephews.
We will honor and remember Theresa on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF ROBERT "BOB" GOODELL - 5/4/31 - 11/25/20
This Memorial Square comes to us from Betsy and Georgia in Connecticut in honor and memory of Robert "Bob" Goodell who died of COVID-19. They write:
Robert "Bob" Goodell was a kind-hearted man who worked hard to support his family while establishing his own structural engineering firm. A proud graduate of Norwich University, he married Georgia Bashaw while still in college, his wife of 65 years. They had four children, three grandchildren, and a great granddaughter. He loved them with his whole heart.
Family activities were what made his life complete whether it was hiking, playing board games, flying kites at the beach, or celebrating birthdays and holidays. He loved to celebrate Fourth of July -- oohing and aahing at the fireworks with the family, spending Memorial Day at the family picnic, and most importantly Christmas. He would take the kids to purchase a tree and he made a point of buying a gift for each of his children without Georgia's help! One year we had a 15-foot tree that we had to secure to the walls. Family time was the best.
Bob enjoyed music, being especially fond of jazz and drumming. He was well known for drumming on tabletops, his legs, and even his own belly. On Sundays, when his kids were young he would often play his Norwich record to wake the kids up! When Bob retired, he found the Drum Circle at Siesta Key Beach, which bought him immense pleasure.
Sadly, the music stopped and the family lost the head of the family when Bob (Dad, Poppa) died on November 25, 2020 of COVID-19. We will miss him dearly and cherish our memories.
We will honor and remember Bob on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JAMES R. MEMOLI - 01/19/62 - 10/12/21
This Memorial Square comes to us from Jill in Minnesota in honor and memory of her brother, James R. Memoli, who died of COVID-19. Jill writes:
Thank you so much for your amazing, caring effort by making this quilt. I would be honored and grateful if you would include my brother's block. He was a great brother and family was so important to him. We lost him way too soon.
He was a gamer and IT computer person. If there is a way to see this quilt, please let us know.
We will honor and remember James on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
NOTE TO JILL: Each panel contains 25 Memorial Squares. When a panel is completed, we post a photo and index of that panel on the PANELS ON DISPLAY page on this website. As soon as we know where that panel will be on exhibit, we also post that information on the PANELS ON DISPLAY page. Please take care. -CMQ
IN MEMORY OF JONATHAN P. HARPER - 09/03/1960 ~ 01/17/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Jackie in honor and memory of her husband, Jonathan P. Harper, who died alone of COVID-19. Jackie writes:
Jonathan P. Harper
09/03/1960 ~ 01/17/2020
Kind, Generous & Humble
Jonathan (Jon) Harper was a man generous with his time, his talents, and his finances. Jon married his high school sweetheart, Jackie, at the age of 20 (she was 18). They were happily married for 39 years. He was a successful painting contactor, but not just any ole’ painting. Jon was a true craftsman. His specialty was smooth, fine sprayed cabinetry and special finishes. He was highly revered in his community for his art.
Jon was also an ordained Pastor, who took time to talk to many people through his headset, while he worked, leaving nights open for his bride, uninterrupted. Jon was known for his patience, kindness, and his generosity. He often stopped along the side of the road to speak to the homeless, offer encouragement, a meal, and cash to help.
As much as Jon loved his wife Jackie, his love for his 2 adult children, grandkids, and foster daughter, was evident. Jon made his love for his family known each and every day. He had several best friends, because he was such a good friend himself. Jon also had a love for watching movies, drawing, camping, traveling and classic cars. He was truly one-of-a-kind and is so desperately missed.
Jon was a true example of the scripture in Romans 12:14-18 (NLT)
Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people and don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
I’d like to request a square in your quilt. Please provide a fabric if you can. He loved Hawaiian shirts/floral patterns. Thank for doing this!!!! Thank you for putting a name and a story behind my loved one, who died alone at Kaiser Permanente, Ontario, CA. 1/17/2020.
IN MEMORY OF BENITO GALINDO - 1945 - 2021
This Memorial Square comes to us from Suzanne in California in honor and memory of her husband, Benito Galindo, who died of COVID-19.
To get to know Benito, we found this information...
From his website: As an interpreter of Hispanic music, Benito Galindo has sung frequently with the Jarvis Theatre in the Napa Valley Zarzuela Festival including principal roles in Dona Francisquita and La Revoltosa. In 2003, Mr. Galindo performed the role of Simon Corona in the Mexican premiere of the opera Serafina y Arcangela by Enrique Gonzales-Medina at the Teatro del Estado, excerpts of which were broadcast on Telemundo throughout Latin America.
On the concert stage, recent seasons' performances have also included an especially wide breadth of oratorio repertoire, ranging from The Messiah with the Orange County Symphony, the title role in the concert version of Ernest Hemingway by Armenian composer Youri Khazarian with the Orange Coast Symphony, to the Durufle Requiem with the San Francisco Choral Society as well as Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Cypress Masterworks Chorale. Recital performances have included art songs of Latin American composers (alongside soprano Melodee Fernandez) for the Cole Recital Series in Carlsbad, CA.
Benito Galindo devotes a considerable amount of his performing schedule to presenting opera and classical music to students throughout California, including outreach performances with Southland Opera, Guild Opera, and Opera Pacific, for which he has performed the role of The Wolf in Seymour Barab’s operatic version of Little Red Riding Hood. The current season's engagements have included Peter in Hansel and Gretel in the Gallo Performing Arts Center with Townsend Opera, Papageno with New Jersey's Opera Seabrook, The Botswain in HMS Pinafore at Centennial Hall in Tucson, and The Vagabond in Carl Orff's opera Die Kluge with Long Beach Opera. Benito Galindo received his Bachelor of Music Degree from California State University, Northridge.
From a GoFundMe: CSUN musicians touched by the music of baritone Benito Galindo are gathering funds for the love he leaves behind, pianist Suzanne Recer, who shaped us all as musicians.
We will honor and remember Benito on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF WARREN PARKS
This Memorial Square comes to us from Beth in Pennsylvania in honor and memory of her father, Warren Parks, who died of COVID-19. Beth writes:
Thank you so much for adding my Dad's square to your Memorial Quilt. May God Bless You. Beth.
We will honor and remember Warren on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JASON HITCH - DECEMBER 1976 - DECEMBER 2021
This Memorial Square is to honor and remember Jason Hitch who died of COVID-19. From his obituary:
90 Day Fiancé Star Jason Hitch Dies of COVID-19 Complications at 45
Hitch died from complications due to COVID-19 Tuesday, his sister Shannon told TMZ, which was first to report the news of his death. He was not vaccinated, she said.
He died in a Florida ICU and his family was able to be by his side when he died, the outlet reports.
In a statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday, TLC said: "We are saddened to hear about the passing of Jason Hitch and send our sincere condolences to his family and friends at this time."
Hitch, a Florida native and U.S. Army veteran, starred in season two of 90 Day Fiancé in 2014. He married Cassia Taraves after she moved to the United States from Brazil.
The show followed the couple after Hitch traveled to Curitiba, Brazil, to help Taraves move to his hometown, Spring Hill.
"Cassia getting bored here has been on my mind," Hitch told the cameras during a confessional shortly after the pair arrived back in the U.S., adding that he worried she may not enjoy the weather or the local entertainment.
"The next 90 days is gonna be tough," Hitch said. "I hope that I can fix all that."
Soon after tying the knot, Taraves and Hitch started a mail-order snack business called Gifting Fun. In 2017, the pair separated. They filed for divorce a year later in 2018.
We will honor and remember Jason on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF CARLOS MARIN - OCTOBER 13, 1968 - DECEMBER 19, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Carlos Marin who died of COVID-19. From his obituary:
Carlos Marin, part of the pop-opera quartet Il Divo, died Sunday at age 53, his bandmates announced.
“He will be missed by his friends, family and fans. There wiIl never be another voice or spirit like Carlos,” the remaining members wrote.
“For 17 years the four of us have been on this incredible journey of Il Divo together, and we will miss our dear friend. We hope and pray that his beautiful soul will rest in peace.”
Details of Marin’s death are unclear, but the band announced just days earlier that he had been hospitalized. In early December, Il Divo postponed their winter U.K. tour “due to illness.”
Il Divo, made up of Marin, David Miller, Sebastien Izambard and Urs Buhler, was put together by Simon Cowell in 2003 after a yearslong search for his version of The Three Tenors (Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti).
Since then, the band has put out 10 studio albums and sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.
Before joining the group, Marin had released several solo albums and starred in musical productions of “Les Miserables,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Grease.”
We will honor and remember Carlos on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF BENNIE PETE - JUNE 10, 1976 - SEPTEMBER 6, 2021
This Memorial Square is to honor and remember Bennie Pete who died of COVID-19. From his obituary:
Bennie Pete, the co-founder and sousaphone player of the Hot 8 Brass Band, died early Monday at New Orleans East Hospital of complications from the inflammatory condition sarcoidosis and COVID-19, his wife confirmed. He was 45.
The soft-spoken Pete, a gentle giant of a man, was a tireless advocate for New Orleans culture in general and brass band music specifically. He and his bandmates in the Grammy-nominated Hot 8 traveled the world even as they remained fixtures at local parades, funerals and clubs.
“As musicians, our job is not only to supply entertainment, but to create moments in time and life, memorable moments, and good moments,” Pete said in 2017.
The Hot 8’s history stretches back more than 25 years to Alcee Fortier Senior High School, where several members first met. Pete brokered a merger of two Fortier-associated brass bands, the Looney Tunes and the High Steppers, to forge the Hot 8.
They cut their teeth playing for tips on Bourbon Street and in Jackson Square, coalescing as a decidedly contemporary brass band, part of a lineage that included the Dirty Dozen and Rebirth brass bands.
With Pete’s sousaphone anchoring grooves that were both rhythmic and melodic, the band reinvented funk, R&B, rap and pop songs as brassy workouts that kept crowds in motion throughout hours-long social aid and pleasure club parades.
The band’s catalog includes “The Life and Times Of….the Hot 8 Brass Band,” which received a 2013 Grammy nomination as best regional roots music album. The Hot 8 has also collaborated with Lauryn Hill, Mos Def and the Blind Boys of Alabama. The musicians and/or their music have appeared in Spike Lee’s “When the Levees Broke” and “The Creek Don’t Rise,” as well as HBO’s “Treme.”
We will honor and remember Bennie on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF MEATLOAF: MICHAEL LEE ADAY - SEPTEMBER 27, 1947 - JANUARY 20, 2022
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Meatloaf, Michael Lee Aday, who died of COVID-19. From his obituary:
Meat Loaf, the larger-than-life rocker whose 1977 debut, “Bat Out of Hell” — a campy amalgam of hard rock and Broadway-style bombast — became one of the best-selling albums of all time, died on Thursday. He was 74.
Meat Loaf, who was born Marvin Lee Aday, later changed to Michael, and took his stage name from a childhood nickname, had a career that few could match. He was a trained Broadway belter and a multiplatinum-selling megastar whose biggest hits, like “Bat Out of Hell” and “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” were radio staples — and barroom singalongs — for decades.
He often said that he changed his first name to Michael as an adult because of childhood taunts about his weight. In his autobiography, he said he had been disturbed by a commercial from his childhood, which he claimed had the slogan, “Poor fat Marvin can’t wear Levi’s,” though internet sleuths have cast doubts on that story.
Despite his success, he earned little respect from rock critics. “Nutrition-free audio lunch meat” was how Rolling Stone dismissed “Bat Out of Hell” — which would go on to sell at least 14 million copies in the United States — in the 1993 edition of its album guidebook.
His first major film role came in 1975 in the cult classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” in which he played Eddie, a delivery boy murdered for his brain by the cross-dressing Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Meat Loaf also appeared in “Wayne’s World” (1992), “Spice World” (1997) and “Fight Club” (1999). More recently, he had a role in several episodes of the TV series “Ghost Wars” in 2017 and 2018.
In recent months, Meat Loaf had been in the news complaining about Covid-19 restrictions. In August, he told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “If I die, I die, but I’m not going to be controlled.”
We will honor and remember Meatloaf on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF DENNIS SMITH - SEPTEMBER 9, 1940 - JANUARY 21, 2022
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Dennis Smith who died of COVID-19. From his obituary:
Dennis Smith was a New York City firefighter and author whose bestselling books included “Report from Ground Zero.”
- Died: January 21, 2022
- Details of death: Died in Venice, Florida of complications of COVID-19.
Smith joined the New York City Fire Department in 1963 after serving in the U.S. Air Force. He received his first book deal after writing a thoughtful letter to the New York Times Book Review in response to statements by author Joyce Carol Oates about poet William Butler Yeats. His first book, 1972’s “Report from Engine Co. 82,” was a memoir of his early years as a firefighter that sold millions of copies and inspired readers to join their own fire departments. Smith went on to write more than a dozen books, including “History of Firefighting in America” and “San Francisco Is Burning: The Untold Story of the 1906 Earthquake and Fires.” He also wrote the children’s books “The Little Fire Engine that Saved the City” and “Brassy the Fire Engine” and founded Firehouse magazine. After retiring from FDNY in 1981, Smith returned as a volunteer in 2001 to help with cleanup and recovery efforts after the 9/11 attacks. His experiences there were told in his bestseller “Report from Ground Zero: The Story of the Rescue Efforts at the World Trade Center.”
Notable quote
“There’s satisfaction in knowing that you’re doing something for somebody, you’re doing something that’s important. That’s the basic line in both jobs. You’re doing something important. That’s what all firefighters feel about themselves: they feel important. I’ve done other jobs where I’ve made more money, but I never felt any sense of worth.” —from Smith’s “Firefighters: Their Lives in Their Own Words”
We will honor and remember Dennis on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF LANNEY WIXSON - 1940 - 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Lanney Wixson who died of COVID-19. It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Lanney Wixson on the morning of February 21, 2021 from COVID19.
Lanney was a lion-hearted, forever welcoming, conversation starting, island hopping, constant bird watching, life-long woodworking, world traveling, photography loving, and charitable, vibrant soul. He was also a fierce advocate, black licorice connoisseur, and bicycle enthusiast.
When a nurse in the hospital asked him what he did for a living, Lanney answered "I'm a dreamer." His biggest dream was for his family to be ok and provided for. Knowing this, it is of no surprise that he wrote his own obituary, which is as follows:
Born August 3, 1940, in Livonia, Michigan, 4th child of Homer and Selma Wixson, 7, 14 and 16 years behind my siblings, it was clear I was an accident. By then both parents were working, and my sister and I pretty much raised ourselves with virtually no supervision.
My big break came at age 11, when my Mom moved in with Bob Peretto. It was clear he loved me, cared for me, and in the next 7 years before he passed, I grew in his knowledge and mentorship. He gave me the vision to go to college and become something greater than my origins.
I attended school at a one-room schoolhouse up until high school. During my teenage years I lived on a farm near Metamora, Michigan, and loved it. We lived close to a Girl Scout camp and some nights us boys would sneak over to peep.
I spent 4 years as a varsity cheerleader at Michigan State University. Following graduation, my new wife Anne (Hughes) and I moved from the Baltimore/D.C. area of Maryland to the tiny town of Othello in Washington State to work for the USDA. Here we found ourselves surrounded by Hispanic families who adopted us as one of their own. We soon learned to love them and their culture.
To Anne, I owe my sense of culture. She taught me to appreciate music and ballet. She also gave me two wonderful children, Wendy Wixson a CPA in Bellingham, Washington and Heidi Wixson, a Software Developer at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. As I've aged, they have both become mentors to me.
In 1968, we moved to Mt. Vernon, Washington, where I left the USDA, because Anne and I knew right away that we wanted to raise our children in the caring environment of the Skagit Valley. In 1970, I became a Realtor. I began working at Johnson Realty in '72, and soon became their "trade-in" manager. I owe many thanks to Elliott Johnson for his support and enthusiastic guidance.
By 1976, I owned my own real estate office, and spent the next 40 years working through various aspects of the business. In the early 80's, Hal Pullin came into my office and told me he wanted to work with us; though a lousy salesman, his thoughtful questions throughout the rest of my life provided invaluable insight and guidance.
Over the years, I transitioned from sales and land development; to private mortgage lending; to creating Security Investors with the support and guidance of Bob Linrothe, Bill Anderson, and LaVerne Krieger; to developing Chandler's Square Retirement Center in Anacortes with the help of Kent Haberley and members of Shelter Resources.
The later support of Milestone Retirement Communities, helped us add three more facilities: Lighthouse Memory Care and Cap Sante Court Retirement Center in Anacortes, and Logan Creek Retirement Center in Mt. Vernon.
In 1988, I married my high school sweetheart, Karen Duncan. Her steadfast faithfulness and ability to point out pitfalls I was missing has been my greatest asset. I also acquired two more children she and her husband Ron had adopted before his untimely death from diabetes at an early age:
Kristina Browning (a Realtor in Portland, OR) whose enthusiastic support throughout her life has helped all of us, and our business to grow and Kirk Duncan (Manager of Kay's Bar in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, OR) whose stability, thoughtfulness, attention to detail, and care for all of the people he meets, gives those around him a stable feeling of love and support. I have gained knowledge and strength from them all.
Throughout my life, I have been more spiritual than religious and have really tried to leave this place a little bit better than how I found it. My goal has always been to fill a human need profitably and in a way where everyone was a winner.
I have been cooperative when I felt it had the greatest benefit for all, and as my daughter Wendy says, "pretty bull headed," when I felt the results were not in the best interest of my family or those being served. There were times when I failed, but mostly, I feel I was a productive and supportive member of the community.
As I leave this world I see many problems, but I also see many competent people who have the ability to listen to the science and make good decisions. My hope is that each of you will listen to them too and speak up.
~ Lanney Wixson
We will honor and remember Lanney on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JAY JAY PHILLIPS - 1991 - 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Jay Jay Phillips who died of COVID-19. From his obituary:
Jay Jay Phillips, a rock musician who competed on “America’s Got Talent” in 2009 and 2017, has died. He was 30.
The big-haired musician died from COVID-19, which he was battling over Thanksgiving week.
A close friend of Phillips named Seph Lawless also confirmed the news to TheWrap in an email after deleting a Tweet that hailed the performer.
“I deleted the tweet about Jay Jay after some anti-vaxxers started commenting it, but yes unfortunately it’s true,” Lawless wrote.
“His gf found him 5 days ago unresponsive in a fetal position died in his sleep. He was battling covid like so many quietly at home the only difference was his soul was larger than most and so we all knew he was struggling,” he continued. “His father was recently hospitalized for covid as well. We are unsure how he is doing through all of this. JJ was only 30 and always seemed healthy to me decade I knew him, so this is a shock to most of us. “
“I knew JJ since he was 20,” Lawless added. “He was known through out the Cleveland area where he would regularly perform songs using a variety of instruments at local fairs and park gatherings. Always smiling, incredibly kind and music was his life. The kid could play any instrument and in my opinion was a child prodigy in that respect.”
“JJ was a rock star in his mind and spirit,” Lawless said. “Even at 20 he resembled a glam rock star I always referred to him as Nikki Sixx, one of our favorite Motley Crue members. “He had the same hair style ever since. ”
“I told my wife this morning. that I think a tremendous amount of good will come from [Jay Jay’s] life that effected so many,” Lawless finished. “For one, he was hugely inspirational to hundreds of people under the age of 30 who unfortunately are probably unvaccinated today. Watching such a horrible virus steal such an amazing person at his age is morally reprehensible to me. I’m currently vaccinated but no so many around me are not because of the amount of disinformation out there or because people under 30 feel as though they will never be hospitalized or face death from Covid19. Unfortunately, JJ reminds us just how careful we all must trend as we navigate through the rest of this pandemic.”
We will honor and remember Jay Jay on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF VACHIK MANGASSARIAN - 1943 - 2022
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Vachik Mangassarian who died of COVID-19. From his obituary:
Vachik Mangassarian, known for his work in “NCIS,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and more, has died. He was 78. A rep for Mangassarian told the Hollywood Reporter he died in Burbank, Calif. from COVID-19 complications.
On “NCIS,” he played a fake Iranian president and on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” he played a cleric. His other TV credits include “The Mentalist,” “JAG,” “NYPD Blue,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Falcon Crest.”
The Iran-born Armenian actor moved to the United States at age 23 and worked as a waiter in Los Angeles while immersing himself into the entertainment scene. Mangassarian then landed his first film role for “The South’s Shark” in 1978.
In addition to Mangassarian’s extensive work in television, recently with a small appearance on “Chad,” he appeared on both the stage and big screen throughout the following decades — including “The Stoning of Soraya M” starring Jim Caviezel and “Moving On” starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
As a strong supporter of the Armenian community, the actor also anchored his own radio and later television show, “The Armenian National Network,” where guests discussed politics, film and art. In 2012, he helped bring the feature film “Lost and Found in Armenia,” in which he also appeared, to U.S. audiences.
According to the Daily Beast, in the months before his death from COVID-19-related complications, Mangassarian frequently expressed his opposition to COVID-19 vaccines and shared misinformation on social media that suggested the pandemic was part of a grand conspiracy. In an October Facebook post, for example, Mangassarian shared a photo of a billboard that read, “I am more afraid of a Democrat in the White House than I am of COVID-19.” However, his manager Valerie McCaffrey later confirmed with the outlet that Mangassarian ultimately got the vaccine as a requirement for film projects.
We will honor and remember Vachik on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF KENNY MALONE - AUGUST 4, 1938 - AUGUST 26, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Kenny Malone who died of COVID-19. From his obituary:
Kenny Malone was a Nashville session drummer who played on classic hits including Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and Crystal Gayle’s “Don’t it Make My Brown Eyes Blue.”
- Died: August 26, 2021
- Details of death: Died at a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee of COVID-19 at the age of 83.
Legendary session drummer
Malone was sought after for his versatility and ability to add just the right rhythm that a future hit song needed. After serving in the U.S. Navy for 14 years, including playing in the Navy band, he began his career as a session drummer by recording with Carl Perkins (1932–1998). He went on to record with Nashville stars including Johnny Cash (1932–2003), Charley Pride (1934–2020), Kenny Rogers (1938–2020), Emmylou Harris, and many more. Malone’s drumming can be heard on “Drift Away” by Dobie Gray, “Sin Wagon” by the Dixie Chicks,” “Love at the Five and Dime” by Nanci Griffith (1953–2021), and a diverse range of other songs. Malone also invented percussion instruments, including a large clay hand drum he called the Og and a wood and metal shaker named the Shak-ka.
Notable quote
“I’ll bang around on everything you know ’cause that’s the fun of it, finding out what type of sound you have. When I first asked Jack Clement what he wanted me to play on something, he says, ‘I don’t care what you play as long as it sounds good.’ … I’ll play paint cans or anything that makes the sound of the record, you know, that makes it match the attitude of the record.” —from a 2009 interview with Bronson Herrmuth
We will honor and remember Kenny on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF MARC PILCHER - 1968 - 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Marc Pilcher who died of COVID-19. From his obituary:
Marc Pilcher, the U.K-based hair and makeup designer who won an Emmy for Bridgerton, has died. He was 53.
Pilcher passed away on Sunday after a battle with COVID-19 just three weeks after he won the Creative Arts Emmy award for his work on the hit Netflix series, his agent confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was double vaccinated and had no underlying health conditions.
“It is with the deepest of hearts we confirm that Marc Elliot Pilcher, Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award-winning hair and makeup designer/stylist, passed away after a battle with COVID-19 on Sunday,” reads a statement, in part, from his agent, family and friends. “Glamorous and extravagant, he brought his flair and style to every design. Never limited in his thought process for his creations, he pushed boundaries and created work never realized before.”
Pilcher took home the outstanding period and/or character hairstyling at the Creative Arts Emmys, which took place across two nights on Sept. 11 and 12. All attendees had to provide proof of vaccination as well as a negative COVID-19 test.
“The passing of Marc Pilcher is beyond words. I will forever be in awe of the incredible hairstyling and makeup work that he brought to Bridgerton. My heart goes out to his loved ones as we lost him way too soon,” wrote Bridgerton creator Shonda Rhimes on Twitter.
During his Creative Arts Emmys acceptance speech, Pilcher called Bridgerton “the most exciting project for me to work on, to create for all of our beautiful cast.”
Among the colleagues paying their respects on Monday were Bridgerton stars Phoebe Dynevor and Nicola Coughlan.
“So heartbroken by the loss of Marc Pilcher, the brilliant and visionary Hair and Makeup designer for Bridgerton season one. Marc was so passionate about his work and so tremendously talented. Not even a month ago he won his first Emmy award,” Couglan, who plays Penelope Featherington, wrote on Twitter. “It’s a tragedy that he’s been taken so young when he had so much yet to do.”
She added, “Please also use this as a reminder that COVID is still a very real and present danger, please get vaccinated and mask up to protect yourself and others.”
We will honor and remember Marc on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF COURTNEY ISAIAH SMITH - DECEMBER 30, 1983 - JANUARY 25, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Courtney Isaiah Smith who died of COVID-19. From his obituary:
By all accounts, Courtney Isaiah Smith was a musical genius. He played the piano and was well known in Utah’s music community. But Smith died Jan. 25 at the age of 37 from COVID-19.
Candido Abeyta is a saxophonist who often performed with Smith. He described a time they played at the Utah State Fairpark. The song “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars had just come out, and someone requested they play it.
“He was listening to [“Uptown Funk”] on his phone, and he just listened to it once and he goes, ‘Cool, got it,’” Abeyta said. “And I was like, ‘Really?’ That's when he told me, ‘Yeah man, I got perfect pitch.’ Sure enough, we played the song for this crowd. And that was with most songs.”
Abeyta said he was a little intimidated by Smith’s talent. But he said he “was just the biggest sweetheart.”
“The level of genius and kindness from that man, it's going to be missed for sure,” he said. “There's a very big hole that's left, a really big wound right now in the music community.”
Smith was the pianist for Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City. He also taught music lessons and was a jazz piano instructor at Westminster College.
David Halliday, Smith’s friend and colleague, recommended him for the job at Westminster.
“Courtney was so knowledgeable and approached jazz through his gospel roots and his academic background in classical music, so his perception of modern music was unique,” Halliday said. “Any time we would engage in musical discussions I would learn a tremendous amount, but at some point his genius-level knowledge of the music would kick in and he would lose me.”
Jazmin “Jazzy” Olivo was Smith’s partner and bandmate. Their band, The Mix, fuses together different musical styles.
She said that also described their relationship.
“We are completely the opposite of people,” Olivo said. “I’m loud and passionate, and he was more quiet, more thoughtful, more creative, but in a very introspective way.”
When the pandemic hit, Olivo said she and Smith tried to be extra careful because he had Type 1 diabetes. As entertainers, they were also worried about COVID-19’s impact on their incomes.
Olivo said last year was also difficult for them as a “couple of color.” She said protests against racial injustice inspired Smith to make music.
“He created a song for the situation with George Floyd because that hit him really hard,” she said. “Courtney was an activist, and he was very open about political, social and economical situations.”
After he died, Olivo found a list of his plans for the next five years.
“One of his goals was ‘Write something, be it a song or an album, that in some way will change music for the better,’” she said. “That was goal number 12 out of 13. His last one was ‘Be in a place and state of mind worthy of marrying Jazmin.’ So, yeah, that was him. That was him right there.”
We will honor and remember Courtney on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF LISA GRANDE - AUGUST 25, 1962 - JUNE 5, 2021
This Memorial Square is in honor and memory of Lisa Grande who died from complications of COVID-19.
Lisa Marie (McGuire) Grande was born on August 25, 1962, in Loma Linda, California to Lester Edward McGuire and Valliera (Val) (Hampton) McGuire-Myers. They moved to Las Vegas, Nevada when Lisa was 1 ½ years old, where her sisters, Amanda and Christen were born. After a few years, the family moved to Redlands, California. As a young girl, Lisa enjoyed playing among the orange groves with her sisters. Lisa moved to Las Vegas, Nevada with her family when she was 12 years old. She met her husband-to-be, Michael Grande, in high school. They were married in June of 1986, and had three wonderful children: Cody, Zachary and Katie.
Lisa began her career in Personnel as a clerk when she was just a teenager. Over the next 40 years, she worked her way up in the Human Resources field holding many roles, including that of Human Resources Director. Lisa worked for Boyd Gaming Corporation for over 30 years before relocating to Reno, Nevada. Her coworkers knew her as a confident and capable leader with a unique way of adding enjoyment and exuberance to any gathering at work. Lisa made many friends of coworkers, all of whom treasured her friendship, her smile, her laugh and her distinctive style and flair.
Throughout her life, Lisa was a source of great pride and joy to her mother, Val. When Val was not well in her later years, Lisa traveled to Las Vegas to help care for her. Lisa and her family were by Val’s side showing their love and support in her last days.
Growing up, Lisa’s sisters, Amanda and Christen, admired, and looked up to their big sister. They looked forward to the day when they could be like Lisa and emulate her achievements - not the least of which was to model Lisa’s knack for decorating her teenage room. In their adult years, Amanda and Christen were always thankful for the love, joy and guidance Lisa would provide to them and their families.
Lisa was extremely devoted to her family. Her children, Cody, Zachary and Katie, cherished their loving mom, who had a successful and busy career; yet, who was always willing to play on their level when they were young. Lisa remained a source of strength, support and inspiration as her children grew into adulthood. Lisa taught her children a love of God and of nature. It was always important to Lisa to spend as much “quality” time as possible with her husband, Mike, and their children. Some of her childrens’ fondest memories of their mother, include camping trips, fishing, hiking in the mountains, summer church camps at Buckhorn, trips to the beach and places like Boston, Disneyland and Hollywood. Cody, Zachary and Katie will never forget a very special New Years spent with their mom on a ski trip to Park City, Utah. Holidays were nothing short of magical thanks to their mom. Lisa possessed a child-like enthusiasm for celebrating the season, cooking, baking, decorating, and gathering with family and friends. Lisa created many wonderful moments and festive traditions for her family to cherish and enjoy forever.
Lisa was strong in her faith and served in a leadership role in her church. She was a spiritual woman, who never judged her fellow man. In spite of her own struggles at times, Lisa had a generous and selfless nature - always making time to lend a helping hand and guide those in need. In her own special way - through relationships and connections to family, friends, coworkers and church members - Lisa was instrumental in helping to better the lives of many.
Lisa was a colorful person, both literally and figuratively. She loved dogs, her turtle collection, playing the piano and sports - especially the Pittsburgh Steelers. She loved shopping, fashion, jewelry, hiking, singing and whistling a tune. Lisa relished any reason to celebrate. It did not matter whether it was at work or at play; if you were with Lisa, you were going to have fun. Lisa had her own unique brand of humor; just about anyone who knew Lisa has a long list of memories, which likely include laughing uncontrollably with her. To say the least, Lisa’s spirit and personality were one of a kind.
Although she fought fiercely, Covid took our Lisa from this Earth on June 5, 2021. There are no adequate words to express how much her beautiful soul and bright light will be missed.
We will honor and remember Lisa on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF CYNDI CONLEY - APRIL 6, 1967 - MARCH 27, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Hillary in honor and memory of her sister, Cyndi Conley, who died of COVID-19. Hillary writes:
I am submitting this quilt square in remembrance of my sister, Cyndi Conley. Cyndi passed away from COVID-19 on March 27, 2020 - she was the 13th person in the state of Wisconsin to pass away from COVID-19. She was 52 years old.
Cyndi loved her quiet life - she spent her days at home with her cats; reading her personal library of books, cross-stitching the most exquisite patterns; in the winter, she planned her flower garden, and in the spring, summer, and fall she worked her beautiful gardens. Cyndi loved horses. She loved riding and driving horses. She volunteered her time at several driving clubs and competitions throughout the Midwest.
Above all, she was a daughter, a sister, an aunt, and a friend. We miss her terribly.
Thank you so much for the Covid Memorial Quilt and putting faces to the names of those we loved and lost.
We will honor and remember Cyndi on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF STEVE JOHNSON - MAY 4, 1954 - DECEMBER 20, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Cindy in Florida in honor and memory of her husband, Steve Johnson, who died of COVID-19. Cindy writes:
IN MEMORY OF JONATHAN PEREZ - 11-01-1992 to 09-24-2021
This Memorial Square comes to us from Joleen and is in honor and memory of Jonathan Perez who died of COVID-19. Joleen writes:
Jonathan Perez
We will honor and remember Jonathan on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF MARJORIE HENSON - 1926 - 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Donna in Arizona in honor and memory of her mother, Marjorie Henson, who died of COVID-19. Donna writes:
This Square is a memorial to my mother, Marjorie Henson. Marjorie worked at her brother's florist for many years. She loved roses, especially pink roses.
She had four grandchildren and seven grandchildren.
Thank you for doing this.
We will honor and remember Marjorie on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF EARL ERNEST HENRY - JUNE 6, 1942 - DECEMBER 20, 2021
This Memorial Square comes to us from Sharon in Michigan in honor and memory of Earl Ernest Henry who died of complications of COVID-19. Sharon writes:
Earl Ernest Henry was from Swartz Creek, Michigan, a suburb of Flint, Michigan. He was a husband of 59 years, Christian, GM-UAW retiree, sports lover, University of Michigan fan, bowler and friend to many.
He is sadly missed.
We will honor and remember Earl on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF LUIS ARMANDO CELAYA
This Memorial Square comes to us from Matt and is in honor and memory of his fiance, Luis Armando Celaya, who died of COVID-19. Matt writes:
Thank you so much for taking the time to memorialize all we lost, including my fiance and better half of 8 year, Luis who was 33 years old when he died. About Luis:
Luis had the BIGGEST HEART that anyone could have! He always did everything he could to help and be there for everyone in his life. He was so STRONG and fought through adversities while never giving up.
His nephews looked up to him and he was always there to support and love them!
For the last 8 years, Luis made my life perfect by choosing to be with me. He is my partner in life and no one means more to me in this world than he does.
I miss him and think about him every single moment of every day. I love him with all my heart.
We will honor and remember Luis on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF MIKE HORTON - APRIL 3rd 1954 - APRIL 28th 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Karlee in honor and memory of her father, Mike Horton, who died of COVID-19. Karlee writes:
I’ll never forget the look on your face when I graduated from college.
I’ll never forget the look on your face when you saw me at my wedding for the first time and how you teared up but tried to hide it.
I’ll never forget the look on your face when a present was put in front of you and you just couldn't wait to open it.
I’ll never forget the look on your face when you saw your grandchildren for the first time.
I’ll miss your funny little walk, and the hilarious things that you said.
I’ll miss seeing you playing with the kids, and teaching them about sports the same way you taught me.
I’ll miss watching you get frustrated at your phone, computer, television, or any other thing related to technology.
I’ll miss your smile and how your skin felt.
I’ll miss how much you loved God.
I’ll miss you driving all the way to our house just for one of Everett’s basketball or soccer games. For coming out just to deliver the water you liked to get for us. And you would come out all the time for tiny little things like that because that's how kind and generous you were. And you didn’t even think of it as remarkable when it truly was.
Recently you helped Danny and I build a playground for the kids. You were here for days making a million trips back and forth from Lowes for more wood or screws. The morning we started you were so excited you were basically bouncing up and down. I will treasure the memories the three of us made during that time forever.
You loved to have fun, laugh, and play games. And I’m so glad that over the last few years we did a lot of that! I’m so happy and blessed we had all the quality time we did, and I still want more. But I know, and am assured it was your time to go home. God called you then and we don’t know why, but we know he doesn’t make mistakes.
I’m sad Everett and Georgia won’t have any more time with you. I’m sad that none of us will. And I tell the kids that it’s ok to cry, and it’s ok to be sad. But also to find joy in the fact that you are now in heaven. You are playing and eating and dancing. You are free from diabetes. You are free from pain. You are free from it all! I smile at the thought of you reuniting with your Mom, Dad, and sister. I’m sure they are already talking about the time you shot Linda in the butt and laughing about it.
While going through your Bible, and reading versus you underlined this one jumped out and touched me:
Romans chapter 6 verse 22: “But now that you have been set free from sin, and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Not only did you have that verse underlined and starred, you wrote next to it “free gift, accept it” and I thought that was special.
Thank you for always being there for me.
Thank you for never judging me.
Thank you for all the wonderful times we had, and lessons you taught me.
Thank you for loving my husband like he was your own son.
Thank you for everything Dad.
We will honor and remember Mike on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF SILVIA APARCIO RILEY - FEB 9, 1946 - DEC 8, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Chapter EO/P.E.O. Sisters in Florida in honor and memory of Silvia Aparcio Riley who died of COVID-19. The Sisters write:
Silvia was born in Guatemala to an aristocratic family who were early leaders in their country. Her Grandmother's plantation was engulfed by Guatemala City where her brother was twice Mayor. Her Grandfather was President of the country.
She was raised on a large coffee plantation as one of four children and attended Catholic schools. At an early age she was sent to a boarding school in Spain and then transferred herself a few years later to schools in Switzerland and France. She became fluent in French, English, and Spanish, her native language. She graduated from college in Mexico with a major in Art.
Silvia married at a young age and had four children (two boys and two girls). She raised a Grandson, had four other Grandchildren, and a Great Grandson. Her life was dedicated to her family and her faith.
She escaped to the United States with $100 in her pocket and built her life anew. Silvia remarried and made her living as a florist, graphic artist, and estate manager. She was a successful business woman and was generous with her family.
Her life met many challenges and hardships along the way but she met those challenges with the strength she found as a Newborn Christian. She therefore found happiness and joy in her friends, her family, and artistic endeavors. She painted, sculpted, carved wood, block printed and made jewelry.
Silvia did all she could to continue her work and meet the requirements of fighting the pandemic. She lost that battle in December of 2020 with her family FaceTiming her towards the end, reminding her of their love and gratitude.
Designed and donated in Silvia's memory by her Chapter EO/P.E.O. Sisters.
We will honor and remember Silvia on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JOSE A. PAGAN - APR 16, 1978 - FEB 9, 2022
This Memorial Square comes to us from Daisy in honor and memory of her husband, José A. Pagan, who died of COVID-19. Daisy writes:
Please make a square in honor of my husband, José A. Pagan. He was an amazing father and husband and passed away on February 9, 2022.
In Loving Memory of Jose A. Pagan….
We will honor and remember Jose on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF RICK BURCH - 6/8/59 - 2/9/21
This Memorial Square comes to us from Kelley in Florida in honor and memory of her friend Rick Burch who died of COVID-19. Kelley writes:
Rick was full of life, served in the Army, played his guitar, sang karaoke, was a proud Dad and had a smile that was full of laughter.
Rick loved his family and friends. He drove cross country from the state of Washington to the state of Florida, stopping to visit family and friends along the way, finally settling in Alabama. Not long after his big adventure, Rick passed away.
He was a very close friend for over 30 years. Every time I hear a Springsteen song or pass a Krispy Kreme with the red light on, I am reminded of the wonderful memories we shared.
We will honor and remember Rick on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF DANIEL MCGEEHAN - FEB 09, 1960 - JAN 27, 2021
This Memorial Square comes to us from Chris in Florida in honor and memory of his cousin, Daniel "Danny" McGeehan who died of COVID-19. Chris writes:
DANIEL MCGEEHAN
Feb 09, 1960 - Jan 27, 2021
Daniel McGeehan was a man's man. I mean that in the sense that he was always willing to help anyone. He lived his life for God, Family and Norte Dame Football.
If anyone had home repairs that needed to be done, Danny was there.
If you needed help moving, Danny would show up with his truck.
When we were kids, we would wrestle, play basketball, and talk about what we wanted out of life. I always felt safe with him.
When Covid hit, it hit hard. He went downhill quickly and we rallied around him with prayers and visitations. He began a remarkable recovery and we were beginning to relax. Then, just as suddenly, he was gone.
He will always be missed and his legacy as one of God's Angels will live on.
Chris, writing in memory of my cousin, Daniel McGeehan.
We will honor and remember Danny on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF STEVEN D. SILVERMAN, M.D. - OCTOBER 9, 1948 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Valerie in Florida in honor and memory of Steven D. Silverman, M.D., who died of COVID-19.
From his obituary:
Steven David Silverman, M.D., 71, of West Palm Beach, beloved husband, father, grandfather, physician and friend passed away on September 10, 2020 from complications related to COVID-19.
Steven was born to Frances and Abe Silverman on October 7, 1948 in New York City. He grew up in the Village surrounded by family and graduated from Stuyvesant High School at age 16. He moved upstate for college at SUNY Buffalo graduating with a degree in psychology and then spent two more years in Buffalo teaching sixth grade. He attended Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University and completed his residency at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut where he met his best friend and wife, Valerie.
In 1977, newly married, Steven and Valerie relocated to West Palm Beach, FL for the sunshine, where he began his career in Obstetrics and Gynecology. During his 43 years practicing as an OB-GYN with longtime partner and friend William Casale.
Steven delivered thousands of babies and cared for countless patients he counted as dear friends. He brought empathy and compassion into his daily practice and assisted friends and family who encountered illness, helping them navigate the intricacies of the medical system. He loved practicing medicine, adored his patients and claimed he never wanted to retire.
Steven was an avid reader, runner, photographer, cyclist, diner and traveler. He had a green thumb, raising beautiful orchids and bromeliads. He enjoyed going to the beach and walking along the intracoastal with his beloved dog Zoey and grand-puppy Bob.
Steven is survived by his wife, Valerie, children, Aimee (Greg) and Michael, grandchildren, Ethan and Andrew Horowitz, sister-in-law, Betsy (John) Brod and their children, Seth Brod, Jennifer (Jeff) Bernstein.
The Silverman family wants to thank everyone who prayed for Steven during his illness and recognize compassionate medical care and counsel provided by friends Dr. Bruce Moskowitz and Dr. Michael Schweitz. Steven was given excellent care and comfort by the doctors and nurses at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, FL who risked their lives to come to work while trying to save his life.
We will honor and remember Steven on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF JAYME MILLER - JULY 28, 1954 - JULY 2, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Beverlee in Florida in honor and memory of Jayme Miller who died of COVID-19.
From his obituary:
Ted "Jayme" Miller, 65, of West Palm Beach, left this world for a more peaceful place. Born in Detroit, Michigan to Ted and Cookie Miller, he attended The Coleman School for children with special needs. As a child, Jayme loved swimming, riding his bike, and going to Burger King.
In 1971, the family moved to Boynton Beach, Florida where Jayme attended an Adult Day Training program at Palm Beach Habilitation Center. Jayme always emulated his father and wore a ring of keys on his belt so he was ready to open any lock. A favorite expression of his father's was "If you wanna eat, you gotta work" and Jayme echoed those words throughout his life. And work Jayme did. He loved being productive at PBHC and was always proud to bring home his paycheck.
In his leisure time, he enjoyed creating artwork with stickers and cutting pictures from magazines. He loved bubblegum and beef jerky. All he needed was a colorful pair of socks and a couple dollars in his wallet to be happy - a trait more of us should possess.
In 1984, Jayme moved to JB's Ranch, a group home built by his parents, where Jayme resided with 9 other residents until 2017. He competed in Special Olympics, excelling in 1/4 mile run and bowling. He also was active in softball until his retirement in 2010 when he was injured in a fall during a seizure. He continued living at JB's Ranch until 2017, when his sister Beverlee built Jayme's Castle, a group home for him and 4 other residents in West Palm Beach – moving him closer to her.
Jayme was a gentle soul who touched everyone's heart. He would hug you so tightly it would almost take your breath away, yet, if you crossed him, he could curse like a sailor, a trait he acquired from his mother.
Jayme had two close, lifelong friends. Maureen Onderbeke, whom he loved dearly and with whom he had a lifelong bond, played a game with Jayme that was exclusive to them since childhood. She would say "you sit there and stay there and don't you move," to which he would respond "Maureen, I moved!" They would both break into fits of laughter.
If he was in a bad mood or not feeling well, Jayme could call Maureen. He would hear her voice and his face would light up. Paul Andersen, his care manager, has a heart of gold and was like a brother to Jayme. Paul made sure that Jayme was well cared for and knew that he was loved, indulging him with frequent trips to Burger King.
We will honor and remember Jayme on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF REV. MARLENE MORRIS - 10/12/1944 - 03/16/2022
This Memorial Square comes to us from Kac in California in honor and memory of her wife, Rev. Marlene Morris who died of COVID-19. Kac writes:
Dear Madeleine,
I would like to add this for a Memorial Square on the Covid Memorial Quilt. We bought this at the Marche Aux Puces in Paris in 2003, the year we were married. Please find a way to add her name.
From Marlene's Memorial & Tribute Program:
When the sun sets upon your dreams
May the gift of grief guide you
To the edge of your known world -
To that horizon where heaven and earth meet.
And may you discover there
That the sun also rises.
-a poem by Marlene Morris
Her favorite movies: King of Hearts, starring Alan Bates.
Her favorite album: Beautiful Hollywood by the Cincinnati Pops
Her favorite saying: Live largely, love greatly and believe deeply.
She was taken from us far too early. Those who met her said she was a light, a beacon, a true inspiration, and a spiritual teacher of truth who changed their lives for the better.
She will be dearly missed for her kind heart, astonishing authenticity, brilliant oratory, radiant smile and loving gaze.
We will honor and remember Rev. Marlene on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF LUCILLE E. FOREMAN - SEPTEMBER 19, 1926 - DECEMBER 21, 2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Mary in Maryland in honor and memory of her mother, Lucille E. Foreman, who died of COVID-19. Mary writes:
Lucille E. Foreman was born on September 19, 1926 and died of COVID on December 21, 2020.
She was a loving mother of 10. She was a wonderful, compassionate friend and neighbor.
I am her youngest daughter and I still miss her terribly.
We will honor and remember Lucille on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF KATHLEEN P. "KATH" SCHINDLER - 5/24/1923 - 11/30/2020
This Memorial Square comes to us from Kaitlyn in New Jersey in honor and memory of her grandmother, Kathleen P. "Kath" Schindler who died from complications of COVID-19 on November 30, 2020 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. She was 97.
Kath was a graduate of Highland Park High School class of 1941 and The Scudder School in New York City. She was employed by the National Broadcasting Company and the United States Treasury Department. She later retired from Rutgers University. She was an active member of the Silver Knights for many years.
Kath was the wife of Francis E. "Bud" Schindler who died in 1994 after 48 years of marriage. Her son-in-law, Bruce Schechter, recently passed away on December 31, 2020. She is survived by her daughter Kay Schechter of Somerset and three grandchildren - Kristen France and her husband Preston of Clinton, Matthew Schechter of Montclair and Kaitlyn Schechter and her fiancee Claire Sweeney of Jersey City. She is also survived by her great-grandson Everett France.
We will honor and remember Kath on the Covid Memorial Quilt.
IN MEMORY OF KENNETH "KENNY" A. BEAN, SR. - 9-4-1954 to 1-11-2021
This Memorial Square comes to us from Doreen in honor and memory of her husband Kenneth "Kenny" A. Bean, Sr, who died of COVID-19 on January 11, 2021. Kenny was a proud husband, dad and papa.
Doreen writes:
Kenny had a passion for collecting things because “they might be worth something someday”; he has left his family with the most valuable thing he could and that is the memory of good times, laughs, and love.
Kenny leaves behind his wife of 47 years Doreen (Gregson) Bean; his daughter Danielle (Bean) Carbonneau, her husband J and their four sons Zane, Logan, Ollie and Auggie; his son Kenneth Bean, Jr., his wife Ashley and their two daughters Addison and Avery; his sister Jean Fitch and her husband George; his brothers Joe Bean and Brian Bean, several nieces, and nephews; as well as his beloved dog Snaggletooth and his deaf cat Spike.
We will honor and remember Kenny on the Covid Memorial Quilt.