Deaths in 2009

The following is a list of notable deaths in 2009. Names are listed under the date of death, not the date it was announced. Names under each date are listed in alphabetical order by family name.

Deaths of notable animals (that is, those animals with their own Wikipedia articles) are also reported here.

A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:

• Name, age, country of citizenship and reason for notability, established cause of death, reference.

March 2009

24

• George Kell, 86, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers) [1]

23

• Manuel del Rosario, 93, Filipino Bishop of Malolos (1962–1977), pneumonia. [2]
• Geoff Holmes, 50, English cricketer. [3]
• Raúl Macías, 74, Mexican boxer, cancer. [4] (Spanish)
• Lloyd Ruby, 81, American racing driver. [5]
• Tonda, 50, Sumatran orangutan, oldest in captivity in United States. [6]
• Peter Wherrett, 72, Australian motoring journalist, cancer. [7]

22

• Frank Bogert, 99, American politician, Mayor of Palm Springs, California (1958–1966, 1982–1988). [8]
• Awilda Carbia, 71, Puerto Rican actress, comedian, impersonator and television personality. [9] (Spanish)
• Steve Doll, 44 American professional wrestler, blood clot. [10]
• Jade Goody, 27, British reality television personality, cervical cancer. [11]
• Archie Green, 91, Canadian-born American folklorist and musicologist. [12]
• Howie Komives, 67, American basketball player (Detroit Pistons), natural causes. [13]
• Abismo Negro, 37, Mexican lucha libre professional wrestler, bone cancer. [14]
• Kanta Rao, 85, Indian actor, liver cancer. [15]
• Leon Walker, 20, British rugby league player (Wakefield Wildcats). [16]

21

• Giuseppe Bonaviri, 84, Italian writer and cardiologist. [17] (Italian)
• Doug Frith, 64, Canadian MP for Sudbury (1980–1988), Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (1984), heart attack. [18]
• Vladimir Kuchmiy, 61, Russian newspaper chief editor (Sport Express). [19] (Russian)
• Bryce Morrison, 57, British football club secretary (Liverpool F.C.). [20]
• Walt Poddubny, 49, Canadian ice hockey player (New York Rangers). [21]
• Khadijeh Saqafi, 93, Iranian wife of Ruhollah Khomeini. [22]
• Aldo Vagnozzi, 83, American politician, member of the Michigan House of Representatives (2002–2006), cancer. [23]

20

• Joseph Albright, 70, American judge (West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals), esophageal cancer. [24]
• Roberta Alison, 65, American tennis player. [25]
• Mel Brown, 69, American blues guitarist, emphysema. [26]
• Abdellatif Filali, 81, Moroccan politician, Prime Minister (1994–1998). [27]
• Jaroslav Pitner, 83, Czech ice hockey coach. [28]
• Vladimir Savčić, 60, Serbian singer, cancer. [29] (Serbian)
• George Weber, 47, American radio broadcaster, stabbed. [30]

19

• Felipe Benítez Avalos, 82, Paraguayan Archbishop of Asunción. [31] (Spanish)
• Alastair Boyd, 7th Baron Kilmarnock, 81, British aristocrat, writer and politician. [32]
• Zoltán Breyer, 45, Hungarian actor, after long illness. [33] (Hungarian)
• Ion Dolănescu, 65, Romanian singer and politician, heart attack. [34] (Romanian)
• Ezio Flagello, 78, American opera singer, heart failure. [35]
• Gertrud Fussenegger, 96, Austrian writer. [36] (German)
• Harry Harris, 86, American television director (Fame), myelodysplasia. [37]

18

• Eddie Bo, 79, American singer and pianist, heart attack. [38]
• Gianni Giansanti, 52, Italian photographer, bone cancer. [39]
• Lil E. Tee, 20, American racehorse, Kentucky Derby winner (1992), euthanized. [40]
• Yeremey Parnov, 73, Russian writer. [41] (Russian)
• Moultrie Patten, 89, American actor (Northern Exposure) and jazz musician, pneumonia, [42]
• Pocholo Ramirez, 76, Filipino race car driver and television host, cancer. [43]
• Natasha Richardson, 45, British actress, epidural hematoma. [44]
• Luis Rojas Mena, 91, Mexican Bishop of Culiacán (1969–1993). [45] (Spanish)
• Glenn Sundby, 87, American gymnast, co-founder of USA Gymnastics, founder of International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. [46]
• Donald Tolmie, 85, Canadian politician, MP for Welland (1965–1972). [47]

17

• Tom Haley, 88, American television host (WKYC-TV), after short illness. [48]
• Clodovil Hernandes, 71, Brazilian fashion stylist, politician and television presenter, stroke. [49] (Portuguese)
• Geir Killingland, 55, Norwegian modeling agency president, cancer. [50] (Norwegian)
• Morton Lachman, 90, American television writer and executive producer, complications from diabetes and heart attack. [51]
• Whitey Lockman, 82, American baseball player, pulmonary complications. [52]
• Jane Mayhall, 90, American poet. [53]
• Dale Memmelaar, 72, American football player. [54]

16

• Maria Eufemia Domenici, 110, Italian supercentenarian. [55] (Italian)
• Marjorie Grene, 98, American philosopher. [56]
• Sir Nicholas Henderson, 89, British diplomat. [57]
• Nicholas Hughes, 47, American marine biologist, son of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, suicide by hanging. [58]
• Miljenko Licul, 62, Slovenian graphic designer. [59]
• Ramón Mantilla Duarte, 83, Colombian Bishop of Ipiales (1985–1987). [60]
• Alan Suddick, 64, British footballer, cancer. [61]
• Marvin Sutton, 62, American moonshiner, suspected suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. [62]

15

• Richard Aoki, 71, American civil rights activist. [63]
• Miguel Bernad, 91, Filipino Jesuit priest, academician and writer. [64]
• Billy C. Clark, 80, American writer. [65]
• Edmund Hockridge, 89, Canadian singer and actor. [66]
• Pirkle Jones, 95, American photojournalist. [67]
• Jack Lawrence, 96, American songwriter, complications from a fall. [68]
• Paulo Eduardo Andrade Ponte, 77, Brazilian Archbishop of São Luís do Maranhão. [69]
• Michael Quinn, 86, American Lasallian brother and psychology professor, President of Saint Mary's College (1962–1969). [70].
• Ron Silver, 62, American actor and political activist, esophageal cancer. [71]
• Lionel Ziprin, 84, American poet, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. [72]

14

• Alain Bashung, 61, French singer, composer and actor, lung cancer. [73]
• Edith Lucie Bongo, 45, Congolese wife of Gabon President Omar Bongo. [74]
• Altovise Davis, 65, American actress and dancer, widow of Sammy Davis, Jr., stroke. [75]
• Terence Edmond, 69, British actor (Z-Cars), bronchiectasis. [76]
• Citizen Kafka, 61, American broadcaster and musician. [77]
• Millard Kaufman, 92, American screenwriter (Bad Day at Black Rock), co-creator of Mr. Magoo. [78]
• Jeff Komlo, 52, American football player, fugitive, car crash. [79]
• Robin Mukherjee, 65, Indian cricketer, heart attack. [80]
• Lars Petersson, 85, Swedish railroad director-general. [81] (Swedish)
• Dick Ross, 90, American television and film producer. [82]
• Shinkichi Tajiri, 85, American-born Dutch sculptor. [83]
• Coy Watson, Jr., 96, American silent film child actor, stomach cancer. [84]

13

• Claude Black, 92, American civil rights advocate, after long illness. [85]
• Betsy Blair, 85, American actress (Marty), cancer. [86]
• Claude Brinegar, 82, American politician, United States Secretary of Transportation (1973–1975). [87]
• Anne Brown, 96, American-born Norwegian opera singer. [88]
• Dan Brown, 50, American football coach, brain cancer. [89]
• William Davidson, 86, American businessman, owner of the Detroit Pistons, Tampa Bay Lightning. [90]
• Alan W. Livingston, 91, American music executive, President of Capitol Records, creator of Bozo the clown. [91]
• Andrew Martin, 33, Canadian professional wrestler. [92]
• James Purdy, 94, American novelist, poet and playwright. [93]
• Medet Sadyrkulov, 55, Kyrgyz politician, car crash. [94]
• Wu Chuanjun, 91, Chinese geographer. [95]

12

• Leonore Annenberg, 91, American philanthropist, Chief of Protocol of the United States (1981–1982), natural causes. [96]
• Kalman Bloch, 95, American clarinetist. [97]
• Yann Brekilien, 88, French author, Breton language advocate. [98] (French)
• Martin Knowlton, 88, American adult education innovator, founder of Elderhostel. [99].
• Reginald C. Lindsay, 63, American judge, member of the District Court for Massachusetts since 1993, after long illness. [100]
• Milan Stitt, 68, American playwright. [101]
• Blanca Varela, 82, Peruvian poet. [102]

11

• Paul W. Airey, 85, American Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force (1967–1969), complications from heart failure. [103]
• Péter Bacsó, 81, Hungarian film director, after long illness. [104]
• Arthur Code, 85, American astronomer, complications of a lung condition. [105]
• Tim Kretschmer, 17, German mass murderer (Winnenden school shooting), suicide by gunshot. [106]
• Charles Lewis, Jr., 45, American businessman, co-founder of mixed martial arts apparel company TapouT, car accident. [107]
• Grady Lewis, 92, American basketball player, executive with Converse. [108]
• Harvey Lowe, 90, Canadian broadcaster and yo-yo world champion, after long illness. [109]
• Omakuchi Narasimhan, 73, Indian actor, heart failure. [110]

10

• Brian Barry, 73, British philosopher. [111]
• Denis Begbie, 94, South African cricketer. [112]
• Derek Benfield, 82, British actor. [113]
• Nancy Eiesland, 44, American theologian and author, lung cancer. [114]
• Aaron Gural, 91, American real estate executive, pneumonia. [115]
• Tom Hanson, 41, Canadian photojournalist, heart attack. [116]
• George Hedges, 57, American lawyer and archaeologist, melanoma. [117]
• Ralph Mercado, 67, American music promoter (RMM Records & Video), cancer. [118]
• Chuck Olmstead, 60, American journalist (WHAS-TV), brain aneurysm. [119]
• Anel Omar Rodríguez, 47, Panamanian politician, Minister of Culture, shot. [120]
• Anatoly Seglin, 86, Russian ice hockey player (Spartak Moscow). [121]
• Michael Shannon, 55, American pediatrician. [122]
• Ebru Soykan, 28, Turkish transgender human rights activist, stabbed. [123]

9

• Vince Cervi, 41, Australian boxer, heavyweight champion of Australia (1993–1995), shot. [124]
• Hal Gaba, 63, American businessman, co-owner of Concord Music Group, cancer. [125]
• Eddie Lowe, 83, British footballer and manager. [126]
• Joseph Martin, 84, American addiction counselor and author, heart disease. [127]
• Konstantin Morozov, 73, Russian shortest person. [128]
• Larry Regan, 78, Canadian ice hockey player and general manager (Los Angeles Kings), Parkinson's disease. [129]
• Russell Spears, 92, American stonemason, elder of the Narragansett tribe. [130]
• Frank Stockwell, 80, Irish footballer. [131]
• Terri Vandenbosch, 46, American actress, complications from chronic kidney disease. [132]

8

• Girdhari Lal Bhargava, 73, Indian politician, heart attack. [133]
• Ali Bongo, 79, Indian-born British magician, pneumonia. [134]
• Willie King, 65, American blues musician, heart attack. [135]
• Hank Locklin, 91, American country music singer, member of Grand Ole Opry. [136]
• Anna Manahan, 84, Irish actress, multiple organ failure. [137]
• Zbigniew Religa, 70, Polish cardiac surgeon and politician, Minister of Health (2005–2007), cancer. [138]
• Ken Snellgrove, 67, British cricketer. [139]
• Robert Soost, 88, American botanist, heart attack. [140]
• Ernest Trova, 82, American artist, heart failure. [141]
• Mary Warburg, 100, American philanthropist. [142]

7

• Yan Arlazorov, 62, Russian actor and radio host, stomach cancer. [143]
• Václav Bedrich, 90, Czech animation director. [144] (Hungarian)
• Steve Bernard, 61, American businessman, founder of Cape Cod Potato Chips, pancreatic cancer. [145]
• Jimmy Boyd, 70, American actor and singer ("I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"), cancer. [146]
• Daniel E. Button, 91, American politician, member of the House of Representatives for New York (1967–1971), after long illness. [147]
• Schuyler Chapin, 86, American general manager of the Metropolitan Opera (1972–1975). [148]
• David Gaiman, British businessman, public relations director for the Church of Scientology, heart attack. [149]
• Takahiro Itoh, 21, Japanese actor, brother of Atsushi Itoh, suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. [150]
• Jang Ja-yeon, 26, South Korean actress (Boys Over Flowers), suicide by hanging. [151]
• Dmitry Kozlov, 89, Russian aerospace engineer, founder of Progress State Research and Production Space Center. [152] (Russian)
• Barbara Parker, 62, American novelist, after long illness. [153]
• Tullio Pinelli, 100, Italian Academy Award-nominated screenwriter (La strada). [154]
• Anton Schoch, 49, Kazakhstani football head coach of national under-21 team. [155] (Russian)

6

• Jim Bellows, 86, American newspaper editor, Alzheimer's disease. [156]
• Jeanne Berget, 110, French supercentenarian. [157]
• Silvio Cesare Bonicelli, 76, Italian Bishop of Parma. [158]
• James Clyde, Baron Clyde, 77, British judge, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (1996–2001), cancer. [159]
• Anthony Finigan, 83, British actor. [160]
• Colleen Howe, 76, American sports agent, wife of Gordie Howe, Pick's disease. [161]
• George Keverian, 77, American politician, member (1967–1991) and Speaker (1985–1991) of the Massachusetts House. [162]
• Francis Magalona, 44, Filipino actor and rapper, leukemia. [163]
• Kennedy McIntosh, 60, American basketball player, stroke. [164]
• Vivian Murray, 76, Irish businessman, chairman of An Post and Bord Iascaigh Mhara, after long illness. [165]
• Henri Pousseur, 79, Belgian composer. [166] (French)
• Eduardo Rodríguez, 57, Puerto Rican baseball player, septic shock. [167]
• Christon Tembo, 65, Zambian politician, Vice President (1997–2001). [168]
• Susan Tsvangirai, 50, Zimbabwean wife of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, car collision. [169]

5

• Mario Acuña, 68, Argentinian-born American astrophysicist, multiple myeloma. [170]
• Valeri Broshin, 46, Russian footballer, cancer. [171] (Russian)
• Francis Essex, 79, British television producer. [172]
• Temima Gezari, 103, American artist, natural causes. [173]
• Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr., 99, American engineer, pioneer of television technology, complications of hip fracture. [174]
• Oscar Kamau Kingara, 38, Kenyan lawyer and human rights activist, shot. [175]
• John Paul Oulu, Kenyan human rights activist, shot. [176]
• Dave Pureifory, 59, American football player (Detroit Lions), prostate cancer. [177]
• Jitsuo Inagaki, 80, Japanese politician, illness. [178]

4

• Joseph Bloch, 91, American pianist and professor, heart attack. [179]
• Irving Buchman, 83, American makeup artist (Midnight Cowboy, Taxi Driver), heart failure. [180]
• John Cephas, 78, American Piedmont blues guitarist, natural causes. [181]
• Yvon Cormier, 70, Canadian professional wrestler, bone marrow cancer. [182]
• Horton Foote, 92, American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Academy Award-winning screenwriter, after short illness. [183]
• Robert Guskind, 50, American activist and journalist (National Journal). [184]
• Greg Henricks, 54, Australian radio journalist, esophageal cancer. [185]
• Patricia De Martelaere, 51, Belgian writer and philosopher, complications of brain tumor. [186] (Dutch)
• George McAfee, 90, American football player (Chicago Bears). [187]
• Harry Parkes, 89, British footballer (Aston Villa). [188]
• Salvatore Samperi, 64, Italian film director. [189]
• Triztán Vindtorn, 66, Norwegian poet. [190]

3

• Sydney Earle Chaplin, 82, American actor, son of Charlie Chaplin. [191]
• Frederick Conyngham, 7th Marquess Conyngham, 84, Irish nobleman, cancer. [192]
• Sebastian Faißt, 20, German handball player, heart failure. [193]
• Flemming Flindt, 72, Danish choreographer, after short illness. [194]
• Frank Ford, 92, American radio talk show host, stroke. [195]
• Åke Lindman, 81, Finnish actor and film director. [196]
• Luis Mena Arroyo, 88, Mexican Auxiliary Bishop of Mexico. [197]
• John Rodda, 78, British sports journalist, athletics and boxing correspondent (The Guardian). [198]
• Barbara Wright, 93, British translator. [199]

2

• Ernie Ashworth, 80, American country music singer, member of Grand Ole Opry. [200]
• Michael Baker, 52, Canadian politician, member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly since 1998, cancer. [201]
• Ernst Benda, 84, German politician, Interior Minister (1968–1969) and President, Federal Constitutional Court (1971–1983). [202]
• Andy Bowman, 74, British footballer, after long illness. [203]
• Chris Finnegan, 64, British boxer, Olympic middleweight champion (1968), complications from pneumonia. [204]
• Alexandre Léontieff, 60, French politician, President of French Polynesia (1987–1991), heart attack. [205]
• Gilbert Parent, 73, Canadian politician, Speaker (1994–2001) and Member of Parliament (1974–1984, 1988–2000), colon cancer. [206]
• Ann Marie Rogers, 57, British campaigner for breast cancer drug Herceptin, breast cancer. [207]
• Jack Schwartz, 79, American mathematician and computer scientist, liver cancer. [208]
• Urban Sea, 20, French racehorse and broodmare, Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner (1993), complications during foaling. [209]
• João Bernardo Vieira, 69, Guinea-Bissauan politician, Prime Minister (1978–1980) and President (1980–1999, since 2005), shot. [210]
• Rob Williams, 29, British businessman, co-founder of Dolphin Music, snowboarding accident. [211]

1

• Robert Bruce, 65, British-born New Zealand professional wrestler and talent agent, after short illness. [212]
• Kenneth Garner, 53, American Deputy Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. [213]
• Robert Haggiag, 95, Libyan-born American film producer (Candy). [214]
• Charles S. Lieber, 78, Belgian-born American nutritionist, stomach cancer. [215]
• Paolo Maffei, 83, Italian astronomer and science fiction writer. [216] (Italian)
• Batista Tagme Na Waie, 60, Guinea-Bissauan general, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, blast injuries. [217]
• Alfred Pike, 91, Canadian ice hockey player and head coach (New York Rangers). [218]
• Joan Turner, 86, British actress. [219]

February 2009

See Deaths in February 2009.

January 2009

See Deaths in January 2009.

External links

• English language obituaries on the Web
  • General
    • Obituaries.com
    • Recent AP Obituaries
    • Variety Magazine Obituaries
  • US
    • The New York Times: Obituaries
    • Washington Post: Obituaries
    • The Boston Globe: Obituaries
    • Los Angeles Times: Obituaries
  • South Africa
    • Mail & Guardian (South Africa) Obituaries
  • UK
    • The Daily Telegraph: Obituaries
    • The Guardian: Obituaries
    • The Independent: Obituaries
    • The Times: Obituaries
    • The Scotsman: Obituaries
  • Australia
    • The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia): Obituaries
  • Canada
    • The Globe and Mail: Obituaries

• Specialized websites
  • Born/Died Today
  • Dead or Alive
  • Dead People Server
  • Death List
  • Entertainment Insiders
  • Famous Dead Database
  • Find a Grave
  • Legacy.com
  • Life In Legacy
  • Very Important Patients
  • Writers We've Lost
  • Lasting Tribute

For earlier deaths, see Deaths in 2008, Deaths in 2007, Deaths in 2006, Deaths in 2005, Deaths in 2004, Deaths in 2003, Deaths in 2002, Deaths in 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, ...