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 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.

June 2009

17

• Peter Arundell, 75, British racing driver, pulmonary fibrosis. [1]
• Ali Said, Somali public servant, chief of police (Mogadishu), shot. [2]

16

• Charlie Mariano, 85, American jazz alto saxophonist. [3] (German)

15

• Helen Boosalis, 89, American politician, Mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska (1975–1983), brain tumor. [4]
• Allan King, 79, Canadian film director (Warrendale, Termini Station, Silence of the North), brain tumor. [5]
• Desmond Moran, 60, Australian criminal, member of Moran family, shot. [6]
• Carolyn Pfeifer-Horchow, 75, American fashion designer and entrepreneur, cancer. [7]
• Ted Tanabe, 46, Japanese professional wrestling referee, heart attack. [8]

14

• Bob Bogle, 75, American guitarist (The Ventures), non-Hodgkin lymphoma. [9]
• Angela Coughlan, 56, Canadian swimmer, Olympic relay bronze medalist (1968), multiple myeloma. [10]
• Ivan Della Mea, 68, Italian singer–songwriter and author, after long illness. [11] (Italian)
• Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye, 70, Nigerien politician, swine flu. [12]
• Carlos Pardo, 33, Mexican NASCAR race driver, car crash. [13]
• Abel Tador, 24, Nigerian footballer, shot. [14]
• Pyotr Velyaminov, 82, Russian actor. [15] (Russian)
• Hal Woodeshick, 76, American baseball player (Houston Colt .45s), after long illness. [16]

13

• Christian Albin, 61, Swiss-born American executive chef (The Four Seasons Restaurant), cancer. [17]
• Bashir Aushev, 62, Russian official, Deputy Prime Minister of Ingushetia (2002–2008), shot. [18]
• Tom Costello, 77, Irish horse breeder. [19]
• Mitsuharu Misawa, 46, Japanese professional wrestler, spinal cord injury. [20]
• Douglas Quijano, 64, Filipino talent agent. [21]
• John Saville, 93, British Marxist economic and social historian. [22]

12

• Shailaja Acharya, 65, Nepalese politician, Deputy Prime Minister (1998), Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia. [23]
• John Crellin, 58, Manx motorcycle racer and civil engineer, race accident. [24]
• Peter Gowan, 63, British academic, professor of international relations (London Metropolitan University), mesothelioma. [25]
• Aage Rou Jensen, 84, Danish footballer. [26] (Danish)
• Félix Malloum, 76, Chadian politician, President (1975–1979), cardiac arrest. [27] (French)
• Georgy Vainer, 71, Russian writer, after long illness. [28] (Russian)
• Peter Wheeler, 65, British chemical engineer and businessman, owner of TVR, after short illness. [29]

11

• Viacheslav Aliabiev, 75, Ukrainian footballer (Shakhtyor Stalino), USSR Cup winner (1961, 1962), cancer. [30]
• Marian Goliński, 59, Polish politician, car accident. [31] (Polish)
• Jürgen Gosch, 65, German theatre director, cancer. [32] (German)
• Jakob Kjersem, 83, Norwegian Olympic athlete. [33] (Norwegian)
• Christel Peters, 93, German actress. [34] (German)
• Carl Pursell, 76, American politician, U.S. Representative from Michigan (1977–1993), heart disease. [35]
• Ricardo Rangel, 85, Mozambican photojournalist. [36]
• Roger Terry, 87, American airman (Tuskegee Airmen), heart failure. [37]

10

• Barry Beckett, 66, American record producer, session musician, keyboardist (Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section), after long illness. [38]
• Lamana Ould Cheikh, Malian military intelligence officer, shot. [39]
• Tenniel Evans, 83, British actor. [40]
• Xaver Frick, 96, Liechtensteinian Olympic athlete and cross-country skiier. [41]
• Aza Gazgireeva, Russian jurist, senior judge in Ingushetia, shot. [42]
• Woodie Held, 77, American baseball player (Cleveland Indians), brain cancer. [43]
• Huey Long, 105, American singer (The Ink Spots). [44]
• Michel Nguyên Khác Ngu, 100, Vietnamese Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Long Xuyen (1960–1997). [45]
• Jack Nimitz, 79, American jazz baritone saxophonist, complications from emphysema. [46]
• Richard Quick, 66, American swimming and diving coach, brain tumor. [47]
• Stelios Skevofilakas, c.69, Greek footballer (AEK Athens), stomach cancer. [48] (Greek)
• Helle Virkner, 83, Danish actress, cancer. [49]

9

• Duke Bainum, 56, American politician (Hawaii House of Representatives, Honolulu City Council), aortic aneurysm. [50]
• Norman E. Brinker, 78, American restaurateur (Brinker International), aspiration pneumonia. [51]
• Ray Hamrick, 88, American baseball player (Philadelphia Blue Jays). [52]
• Edward Hanrahan, 88, American lawyer, State's Attorney (Cook County, Illinois), leukemia. [53]
• Jean Hugel, 84, French winemaker, cancer. [54]
• Jack Littrell, 80, American baseball player, Alzheimer's disease. [55]
• Dick May, 78, American racing driver, after long illness. [56]
• Michael Roof, 32, American actor (xXx, Black Hawk Down, The Dukes of Hazzard), suicide by hanging. [57]
• Dave Simons, 54, American comic book artist, cancer. [58]
• Mal Sondock, 74, American radio personality, after short illness. [59] (German)
• Arne Tovik, 53, Norwegian newspaper editor and journalist. [60] (Norwegian)
• Karl Michael Vogler, 80, German actor. [61] (German)

8

• Omar Bongo, 73, Gabonese politician, President (1967–2009), heart attack. [62]
• Sheila Finestone, 82, Canadian politician, MP for Mount Royal (1984–1999) and Senator (1999–2002), cancer. [63]
• Nathan Marsters, 29, Canadian ice hockey player, car accident. [64]
• Harold Norse, 92, American poet. [65]
• Johnny Palermo, 27, American actor, car accident. [66]
• Habib Tanvir, 85, Indian playwright and theatre director, after short illness. [67]

7

• Roy Boe, 79, American businessman, owner of the New Jersey Nets (1969–1978) and New York Islanders (1972–1979), heart failure. [68]
• Hugh Hopper, 64, British progressive rock bassist and composer (Soft Machine), leukaemia. [69]
• Gordon Lennon, 26, British footballer (Dumbarton F.C.), car crash. [70]
• Kenny Rankin, 69, American singer-songwriter, lung cancer. [71]
• Sarah Snyder, 51, American newspaper reporter and editor (The Boston Globe), cancer. [72]
• Peter Townsend, 81, British sociologist, pneumonia. [73]
• Baron Vaea, 88, Tongan politician, Prime Minister (1991–2000), after short illness. [74]

6

• Charles Arnold-Baker, 90, British historian. [75]
• Jean Dausset, 92, French immunologist, Nobel Prize in Medicine (1980). [76] (French)
• Mary Howard de Liagre, 96, American actress (Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Swamp Water). [77]
• Musost Khutiyev, Russian official, aide to Chechen Deputy Prime Minister, former separatist brigadier general, shot. [78]
• Despina Lelekou-Tataki, 82, Greek author, stroke. [79] (Greek)
• Jim Owens, 82, American college football coach (Washington Huskies), complications from hypertension and heart problems. [80]
• Pio Sagapolutele, 39, American Samoan football player (Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots), aneurysm. [81]

5

• Bernard Barker, 92, Cuban-born American intelligence operative, Watergate burglar, lung cancer. [82]
• Peter L. Bernstein, 90, American economic historian, pneumonia. [83]
• Fleur Cowles, 101, American writer, editor and artist. [84]
• Baciro Dabó, 51, Guinea-Bissauan presidential candidate, shot. [85]
• Jeff Hanson, 31, American singer–songwriter, fall. [86]
• Ola Hudson, American costume designer (Diana Ross, The Pointer Sisters) and mother of Slash, lung cancer. [87]
• Richard Jacobs, 83, American real estate developer, owner of the Cleveland Indians (1986–2001), after long illness. [88]
• Luo Jing, 48, Chinese news anchor, lymphoma. [89]
• Adilgerei Magomedtagirov, 53, Russian general, Interior Minister for the Republic of Dagestan, shot. [90]
• Del Monroe, 73, American actor (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), leukemia. [91]
• Rajeev Motwani, 47, Indian-born American educator, advisor for Google, Inc.. [92]
• Boris Pokrovsky, 97, Russian opera director, last People’s Artist. [93] (Russian)
• Helder Proença, Guinea-Bissauan politician, Minister of Defense, shot. [94]
• Haydn Tanner, 92, British rugby union player. [95]
• George Edward Wahlen, 84, American serviceman, Medal of Honor recipient, after long illness. [96]

4

• Lev Brovarsky, 60, Ukrainian Soviet-era footballer and coach. [97] (Russian)
• Robert Colescott, 83, American painter, U.S. representative to Venice Biennale (1997). [98]
• Ward Costello, 89, American actor and composer, complications from a stroke. [99]
• Manuel Curry, 84, American law enforcement officer, longest serving active-duty police officer. [100]
• Philip D. Curtin, 87, American historian, pneumonia. [101]
• Luc Alfons de Hovre, 83, Belgian Roman Catholic prelate, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Mechelen-Brussels. [102]
• John F. Henning, 93, American politician and diplomat, United States Ambassador to New Zealand (1967–1969). [103]
• Dorothy Layton, 96, American actress (County Hospital). [104]
• Chris O'Brien, 57, Australian oncologist, surgeon on the reality television program RPA, brain tumour. [105]
• Jean Sagadeev, 42, Russian musician, suspected suicide by hanging. [106] (Russian)
• Randy Smith, 60, American basketball player (Buffalo Braves), 1978 NBA All-Star Game MVP, heart attack. [107]

3

• Shitsuko Araki, 111, Japanese supercentenarian. [108] (Japanese)
• Geoffrey Bingham, 90, Australian evangelical Christian writer. [109]
• David Bromige, 75, British-born Canadian poet, winner of the Pushcart Prize, complications from diabetes. [110]
• Sam Butera, 81, American saxophonist, Alzheimer's disease. [111]
• James F. Calvert, 88, American naval officer, 46th Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and commanded first submarine to surface at the North Pole, heart failure. [112]
• David Carradine, 72, American actor (Kung Fu, Kill Bill), hanging. [113]
• Do Kum-bong, 79, South Korean actress. [114]
• Sam George, 56, Canadian activist, native rights campaigner involved with the Ipperwash Crisis, pancreatic and lung cancer. [115]
• Thomas Gill, 87, American politician, U.S. Representative from Hawaii (1963–1965), after long illness. [116]
• Frank G. Harrison, 69, American politician, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania (1983–1985), natural causes. [117]
• Geir Høgsnes, 58, Norwegian sociologist. [118] (Norwegian)
• Nikandros Kepesis, 95, Greek politician, natural causes. [119] (Greek)
• Peter J. Landin, British computer scientist, natural causes. [120]
• Benoit Marleau, 72, Canadian actor, cancer. [121] (French)
• Bruce McLachlan, 67, Australian horse racing trainer, heart attack. [122]
• John Campbell Ross, 110, Australian supercentenarian, last surviving Australian veteran of World War I. [123]
• Shih Kien, 96, Hong Kong actor (Enter the Dragon). [124]
• Koko Taylor, 80, American blues musician, complications from gastrointestinal surgery. [125]
• Moloko Temo, 134?, South African claimant to the world's oldest person title. [126]

2

• David Eddings, 77, American fantasy author. [127]
• Alfred Kern, 85, American novelist and professor. [128]
• Tony Maggs, 72, South African racing driver, cancer. [129]
• Palghat R. Raghu, 81, Burmese-born Indian musician, cardiac arrest. [130]
• Horst Siebert, 71, German economist. [131] (German)
• Kidane-Mariam Teklehaimanot, 75, Ethiopian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Adigrat. [132]
• Paul O. Williams, 74. American science fiction author, aortic dissection. [133]

1

• Alaa Abdel-Wahab, 37, Iraqi sports journalist, bomb attack. [134]
• Silvio Barbato, 50, Italian-born Brazilian conductor and composer, plane crash. [135]
• Thomas Berry, 94, American cultural historian and ecotheologian. [136]
• Johanna Boost-Dalloyaux, 110, Dutch supercentenarian. [137] (Dutch)
• Bob Christie, 85, American racing driver. [138]
• Erich Heine, 41, South African-born German executive, director of ThyssenKrupp, plane crash. [139] (German)
• Ernest May, 80, American historian (Harvard University), complications from cancer surgery. [140]
• Fatma Ceren Necipoğlu, 37, Turkish classical harpist and educator (Anadolu University in Eskişehir), plane crash. [141]
• Vincent O'Brien, 92, Irish race horse trainer. [142]
• Prince Pedro Luís of Orléans-Braganza, 26, Brazilian prince, plane crash. [143]
• Alexander S. Potupa, 64, Belarussian politician, physicist, economist and writer. [144]
• Jerry Rosenberg, 72, American jailhouse lawyer, natural causes. [145]
• Dirk du Toit, 65, South African politician, suspected heart failure. [146]
• Elspeth Wood, 110, British supercentenarian. [147]

May 2009

See Deaths in May 2009.

April 2009

See Deaths in April 2009.

March 2009

See Deaths in March 2009.

February 2009

See Deaths in February 2009.

January 2009

See Deaths in January 2009.

External links

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, ...