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.

January 2009

15

• Maurice Chappaz, 92, Swiss author and poet. [1]
• Tommy Muñiz, 86, Puerto Rican producer and comedian, after long illness.[2]
• Said Seyam, 50, Palestinian Interior Minister (2006–2007), airstrike. [3]
• Tapan Sinha, 84, Indian film director, bronchopneumonia. [4]

14

• Ayman Alkurd, 34, Palestinian footballer, airstrike. [5]
• Trammell Crow, 94, American real estate developer. [6]
• Dušan Džamonja, 80, Croatian sculptor, heart failure. [7]
• Jan Kaplický, 71, Czech-born British architect. [8]
• Ricardo Montalbán, 88, Mexican-born American actor (Fantasy Island, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), congestive heart failure. [9]
• Wajeh Moshtahe, 24, Palestinian footballer, airstrike. [10]
• Kelvin Pope Mighty Duke 77, Trinidadian Calypsonian[11]
• Nicholas Rey, 70, Polish-born American diplomat, ambassador to Poland (1993–1997), lung cancer. [12]
• Shadi Sbakhe, 27, Palestinian footballer, airstrike. [13]
• Gennadiy Shatkov, 76, Russian Soviet-era boxer, Olympic gold medalist (1956). [14]

13

• Pedro Aguilar, 81, American dancer, heart failure. [15]
• Hortense Calisher, 97, American author. [16]
• Tommy Casey, 78, British footballer. [17]
• Mikhail Donskoy, 61, Russian programmer, co-developer of the first world computer chess champion (Kaissa). [18]
• Mary Ejercito, 103, Filipino mother of Joseph Estrada, heart seizure and stomach aneurysm. [19]
• Preston Gómez, 85, American baseball player and the first manager of the San Diego Padres. [20]
• Lanny Kean, 48, American professional wrestler, heart attack. [21]
• Gary Kurfirst, 61, American music manager. [22]
• Sir Dai Llewellyn, 62, British socialite, bone cancer. [23]
• Patrick McGoohan, 80, American-born Irish actor (The Prisoner, Braveheart), after short illness. [24]
• Mansour Rahbani, 83, Lebanese composer and musician, pneumonia. [25]
• William De Witt Snodgrass, 83, American poet, lung cancer. [26]
• Folke Sundquist, 83, Swedish actor. [27] (Swedish)
• Nancy Bird Walton, 93, Australian aviator, natural causes. [28]

12

• Claude Berri, 74, French Academy Award-winning film director (Jean de Florette, Manon des Sources), stroke. [29]
• Russ Craft, 89, American football player (Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers). [30]
• Gage Bush Englund, 77, American ballerina, cancer. [31]
• Friaça, 84, Brazilian footballer, multiple organ failure. [32]
• Takashi Hattori, 110, Japanese supercentenarian. [33]
• Mick Imlah, 52, British poet, motor neurone disease. [34]
• Arne Næss, 96, Norwegian philosopher, founder of Deep Ecology. [35]
• Michael Russell, 88, Irish Roman Catholic Bishop of Waterford and Lismore. [36]
• Kārlis Sebris, 94, Latvian actor, natural causes. [37]
• Alejandro Sokol, 48, Argentine rock and roll musician, cardio-respiratory failure. [38] (Spanish)
• Kick Stokhuyzen, 78, Dutch quizmaster and television host. [39] (Dutch)

11

• Maurice L. Albertson, 91, American Peace Corps architect, founder of Village Earth. [40]
• Grant Baze, 65, American world-champion bridge player, cancer [41]
• Andy DeMize, 25, American drummer (Nekromantix), car accident. [42]
• Jack Gifford, 68, American businessman (Maxim Integrated Products), heart attack. [43]
• Epeli Hau'ofa, 70, Fijian writer and anthropologist, after short illness. [44]
• Bob Kilby, 64, British motorcycle speedway rider, cancer. [45]
• Pio Laghi, 86, Italian Cardinal for San Pietro in Vincoli, Vatican Ambassador to the US (1980–1990), hematologic disease. [46]
• Pat Lindsey, 72, American politician, member of the Alabama Senate (1967–1974, since 1982). [47]
• Freddie Mack, 74, British boxer and musician. [48]
• Tom O'Horgan, 84, American theater director (Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar), natural causes. [49]
• Abdul Rasheed, Afghan Taliban leader, combination ground raid and airstrike. [50]
• Frederic M. Richards, 83, American biochemist. [51]
• Vivian Ridler, 95, British printer. [52]
• Milan Rúfus, 80, Slovak poet and academic. [53]
• Daryl Seaman, 86, Canadian businessman, co-owner of the Calgary Flames. [54]
• Jon Tvedt, 42, Norwegian orienteer and mountain runner. [55] (Norwegian)
• David Vine, 73, British sports presenter, heart attack. [56]

10

• Anabel Bosch, 32, Filipino singer, cerebral aneurysm. [57]
• Archie Casbarian, 72, American restaurateur (Arnaud's). [58]
• Tom Colley, 67, American editor (Bluefield Daily Telegraph), apparent heart attack. [59]
• Georges Cravenne, 94, French publicity agent, founder of the César Award. [60]
• Rob Gauntlett, 21, British mountaineer, youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest, climbing accident. [61]
• René Herms, 26, German middle distance runner. [62]
• Gil Mains, 79, American football player. [63]
• Amir Mansi, Palestinian Hamas missile specialist, airstrike. [64]
• Giorgio Mondadori, 91, Italian publisher. [65] (Italian)
• Jean Pelletier, 73, Canadian politician, Mayor of Quebec City (1977–1989), Chief of Staff (1993–2001), cancer. [66]
• Eluned Phillips, 94, British writer, crowned bard at the National Eisteddfod of Wales (1967, 1983), pneumonia. [67]
• Mario Augusto Rodriguez Velez, 92, Panamanian journalist, writer and storyteller, heart ailment. [68]
• Ivor Spencer, 84, British toastmaster. [69]
• Bill Stone, 108, British World War I veteran. [70]
• Coosje van Bruggen, 66, Dutch-born American sculptor, wife of Claes Oldenburg, breast cancer. [71]
• Jack Wheeler, 89, British footballer. [72]
• Sidney Wood, 97, American tennis player, Hall of Fame (1964), third-youngest winner of Wimbledon (1931). [73]
• Elżbieta Zawacka, 99, Polish World War II freedom fighter. [74]

9

• Dave Dee, 67, British singer (Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich), prostate cancer. [75]
• Harry Endo, 87, American actor (Hawaii Five-O), stroke. [76]
• Jon Hager, 67, American country musician and comedian (Hee Haw). [77]
• Joe Hirsch, 80, American horse racing journalist, Parkinson's disease. [78]
• T. Llew Jones, 93, British Welsh language writer. [79]
• Alexander Kosopkin, 51, Russian politician, helicopter crash. [80]
• Peter Lane, Baron Lane of Horsell, 83, British businessman and politician. [81]
• Pál Németh, 71, Hungarian hammer throw coach, heart failure. [82]
• Kaarle Ojanen, 90, Finnish chess player. [83] (Finnish)
• Dave Roberts, 64, American baseball pitcher, lung cancer. [84]
• Jean Sassi, 91, French army colonel. [85] (French)
• Eric Scoggins, 49, American football player (San Francisco 49ers, USC), Lou Gehrig's disease. [86]
• Ljubica Sokić, 94, Serbian painter. [87] (Serbian)
• António Vairinhos, 53, Portuguese politician. [88] (Portuguese)
• Sir Neil Wheeler, 91, British Air Chief Marshal. [89]
• Frank Williams, 50, American baseball player, heart attack. [90]

8

• Don Galloway, 71, American actor (Ironside), stroke. [91]
• Gaston Lenôtre, 88, French pastry chef and caterer, after long illness. [92]
• Stephen Lucinski, 52, American television personality (Pittsburgh ChillerTheatre). [93]
• Irene Melikoff, 92, Russian-born French Turkologist. [94]
• Charles Morgan, Jr., 78, American lawyer, complications of Alzheimer's disease. [95]
• Richard John Neuhaus, 72, Canadian-born American priest and theologian, founder of First Things, cancer. [96]
• Zbigniew Podlecki, 68, Polish motorcycle speedway rider. [97]
• Deborah Riedel, 50, Australian soprano, cancer. [98]
• David Smiley, 92, British SOE officer. [99]
• Leonidas Vargas, 60, Colombian drug trafficker, shot. [100]
• Cornelia Wallace, 69, American First Lady of Alabama (1971–1978), second wife of George Wallace, cancer. [101]
• Lasantha Wickramatunge, 50, Sri Lankan journalist, shot. [102]

7

• Don Callender, 81, American founder of Marie Callender's restaurants. [103]
• Clyde Charles, 55, American inmate exonerated by DNA testing, natural causes. [104]
• Alfie Conn, Sr., 82, British footballer. [105]
• Jacques Littlefield, 59, American owner of the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation, colon cancer. [106]
• Robert T. Monagan, 88, American politician, Speaker of the California State Assembly (1969–1970), after long illness. [107]
• Gürkan Oker, 29, Turkish jockey, race fall. [108] (Turkish)
• Anália de Victória Pereira, 67, Angolan politician. [109]
• Ray Dennis Steckler, 70, American film director. [110]
• Bob Wilkins, 76, American television personality, horror film host, complications from Alzheimer's disease. [111]

6

• Ron Asheton, 60, American guitarist (The Stooges), heart attack (death announced on this date). [112]
• Maria Dimitriadi, 57, Greek singer, lung disease. [113]
• John T. Elfvin, 91, American federal judge, justice of the Western District of New York since 1974. [114]
• Harold Ellis, 77, American real estate magnate, cancer. [115]
• Manuela Fernández-Fojaco, 113, Spanish supercentenarian, verified oldest person in Europe. [116]
• Alan Geisler, 78, American condiment inventor, protein disorder. [117]
• Cheryl Holdridge, 64, American actress, lung cancer. [118]
• Robert Ilosfalvy, 81, Hungarian opera singer. [119] (Hungarian)
• Claude Jeter, 94, American gospel music singer. [120]
• John Scott Martin, 83, British actor (Doctor Who, I, Claudius, Z-Cars), Parkinson's disease. [121]
• Richard Seaver, 82, American owner of Arcade Publishing, heart attack. [122]
• Ghulam Mohammad Shah, 88, Indian politician, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir (1984–1986), after long illness. [123]
• John Street, 77, British snooker referee, pulmonary disease. [124]
• Victor Sumulong, 62, Filipino politician, Congressman (1998–2007), Mayor of Antipolo City since 2007, diabetes. [125]
• Charlie Thomson, 78, British footballer. [126]
• Bob Warren, 73, British reporter, news and executive editor (News of the World), cancer. [127]

5

• Griffin Bell, 90, American lawyer, Fifth Circuit Appeals Court (1961–1976), Attorney General (1977–1979), pancreatic cancer. [128]
• Steven Good, 52, American CEO of Sheldon Good and Company, apparent suicide by gunshot. [129]
• Gautam Goswami, 43, Indian civil servant accused of corruption, pancreatic cancer. [130]
• Harry Kinnard, 93, American Army lieutenant general. [131]
• Dale Livingston, 63, American football player (Green Bay Packers), complications from heart surgery. [132]
• Mario Magnotta, 66, Italian internet celebrity, pulmonary embolism. [133] (Italian)
• Adolf Merckle, 74, German businessman, suicide by train impact. [134]
• Stanton Parris, 78, Barbadian cricket umpire, after short illness. [135]
• Roland Piquepaille, 62, French software engineer and technology writer, complications from digestive virus. [136]
• Carl Pohlad, 93, American billionaire banker, owner of the Minnesota Twins. [137]
• Richard Sharpe, 54, American dermatologist, convicted murderer, apparent suicide by hanging. [138]
• Verna Mae Slone, 94, American author and quilter, complications from a fall. [139]
• Mircea Stănescu, 39, Romanian politician, MP (2004–2008), apparent suicide by gunshot. [140]
• Ned Tanen, 77, American executive (Universal Pictures), natural causes. [141]
• Sam Taylor, 74, American blues musician, complications from heart disease. [142]
• Pascal Terry, 49, French motorcycle racer, pulmonary edema. [143]

4

• Lei Clijsters, 52, Belgian footballer and coach, father of Kim Clijsters, lung cancer. [144]
• Sonny Fai, 20, New Zealand rugby league player, swept out to sea (presumed drowned). [145]
• Betty Freeman, 87, American philanthropist. [146]
• K. K. Govind, 92, Indian freedom fighter. [147]
• Gedalio Grinberg, 77, Cuban-born American founder of Movado Group, natural causes. [148]
• Ivan Gubijan, 85, Croatian hammer thrower, Olympic medalist (1948), after long illness. [149]
• Hussam Hamdan, Palestinian Hamas leader, air strike. [150]
• Muhammad Hilo, Palestinian Hamas leader, air strike. [151]
• India, 18, American pet cat of George W. Bush. [152]
• Gert Jonke, 62, Austrian writer and poet, cancer. [153]
• Arvid Knutsen, 64, Norwegian footballer (Viking FK), brain tumor. [154] (Norwegian)
• Jon Latimer, 44, British historian, heart attack (death announced on this date). [155]
• Bob Lazarus, 52, American comedian, leukemia. [156]
• Sudhir Ranjan Majumdar, 75, Indian politician, Chief Minister of Tripura (1988–1992), heart attack. [157]
• Andris Makovskis, 42, Latvian actor. [158] (Latvian)
• John McGillicuddy, 78, American CEO of Manufacturers Hanover (1971–1991), Chemical Banking (1991–1993), prostate cancer. [159]
• Mike Peters, 60, American politician, mayor of Hartford, Connecticut (1993–2001), liver failure. [160]
• Giselle Salandy, 21, Trinidadian boxer, car accident. [161]
• Billy Thompson, 85, British boxer, British lightweight champion (1947–1951), European lightweight champion (1948–1949). [162]

3

• Didier Aaron, 85, French antiquities and art dealer, brain tumor. [163]
• Abu Zakaria al-Jamal, 49, Palestinian senior Hamas leader, air strike. [164]
• Charles Camilleri, 77, Maltese composer. [165]
• Alvin Ganzer, 97, American film and television director (The Twilight Zone, Route 66, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), cancer. [166]
• John Grindrod, 89, Australian Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane (1980–1989). [167]
• Pat Hingle, 84, American actor (Splendor in the Grass, Hang 'Em High, Batman), blood cancer. [168]
• Mamdouh Jamal, Palestinian Hamas commander in Gaza, air strike. [169]
• Li Zuopeng, 94, Chinese general and politician. [170]
• Ulf G. Lindén, 71, Swedish entrepreneur, heart failure. [171] (Swedish)
• Sam McQuagg, 73, American race car driver, NASCAR Rookie of the Year (1965), cancer. [172]
• Hisayasu Nagata, 39, Japanese politician, suicide by jumping. [173]
• Valentin Polyansky, 54, Russian colonel and Hero of the Russian Federation, suicide by gunshot. [174]
• Olga San Juan, 81, American actress, kidney failure. [175]
• Matt Sczesny, 76, American scout for the Boston Red Sox, cancer. [176]
• Sir Alan Walters, 82, British economist. [177]
• William Zantzinger, 69, American farmer, subject of Bob Dylan song. [178]

2

• Leonard Andrews, 83, American art patron, prostate cancer. [179]
• Inger Christensen, 73, Danish poet, novelist and essayist. [180]
• John DeFrancis, 97, American researcher of the Chinese language. [181]
• Ralph Gibson, 84, American flying ace of the Korean War. [182]
• Steven Gilborn, 72, American actor (Ellen), cancer. [183]
• Ian Greaves, 76, British footballer and manager (Mansfield Town, Bolton Wanderers). [184]
• Tony Gregory, 61, Irish politician, member of Dáil Éireann, cancer. [185]
• Anatoli Gurevich, 96, Russian army press agent during World War II. [186]
• Joe Henry, 78, American baseball player (Memphis Red Sox, Negro Leagues). [187]
• Ryuzo Hiraki, 77, Japanese footballer, pneumonia. [188]
• Maria de Jesus, 115, Portuguese supercentenarian, world's verified oldest person, septic shock. [189]
• John Olav Larssen, 81, Norwegian evangelical preacher. [190] (Norwegian)
• Rashid III, 78, Emirati ruler of Umm al-Quwain. [191]
• Don Sanderson, 21, Canadian ice hockey player (Whitby Dunlops), head injury. [192]
• Nick Scandone, 42, American yachtsman, paralympian gold medallist (2008), Lou Gehrig's disease. [193]

1

• Walter Haynes, 80, American steel guitarist. [194]
• John Morrow, 77, British Presbyterian minister and peace activist. [195]
• Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam, Kenyan Al-Qaeda leader, allegedly behind Marriott hotel bombings, airstrike. [196]
• Claiborne Pell, 90, American politician, Senator from Rhode Island (1961–1997), creator of the Pell Grant, Parkinson's disease. [197]
• Robert Prince, 89, American serviceman, recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross. [198]
• Edmund Purdom, 84, British actor. [199]
• Nizar Rayan, 49, Palestinian Hamas military and political leader, airstrike. [200]
• Willard Warren Scott, Jr., 82, American general, head of United States Military Academy (1981–1986), Parkinson's disease. [201]
• Johannes Mario Simmel, 84, Austrian writer. [202]
• Henry King Stanford, 92, American President of the University of Miami (1962–1981). [203]
• Helen Suzman, 91, South African anti-apartheid activist, MP (1953–1989). [204]
• Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, Kenyan Al-Qaeda leader, airstrike. [205]

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
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  • South Africa
    • Mail & Guardian (South Africa) Obituaries
  • UK
    • The Daily Telegraph: Obituaries
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  • Australia
    • The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia): Obituaries
  • Canada
    • The Globe and Mail: Obituaries

• Specialized websites
  • Born/Died Today
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  • Find a Grave
  • Legacy.com
  • Life In Legacy
  • Very Important Patients
  • Writers We've Lost
  • Written in Stone - Literary deaths
  • 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, ...