Deaths in 2012

The following is a list of notable deaths in 2012.

Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:

• Name, age, country of citizenship and reason for notability, established cause of death, reference (and language of reference, if not English).

January 2012

20

• Ioan Ursuț, 53, Romanian criminal and serial escapist, suicide by hanging. [1] (Swedish)
• Etta James, 73, American singer.

19

• Yedda Alves, 83, Brazilian actress. [2] (Portuguese)
• Peter Åslin, 49, Swedish Olympic bronze medal-winning (1988) ice hockey player, stroke. [3] (Swedish)
• Sarah Burke, 29, Canadian freestyle skier, cardiac arrest. [4]
• Tom Cowie, 89, British businessman. [5]
• Giovanni De Andrea, 83, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Vice-President of Labour Office of the Apostolic See (1989–2007). [6]
• Shraga Gafni, 85, Israeli children's book author. [7] (Hebrew)
• Anthony Gonsalves, 84, Indian film music composer. [8]
• Colonel Stone Johnson, 93, American civil rights activist. [9]
• Winston Riley, 65, Jamaican reggae musician and producer, complications of shooting. [10]
• Richard Sheirer, 65, American government official, director of New York Office of Emergency Management, officer-in-charge of September 11 attacks rescue and clean-up, pulmonary edema. [11]
• Gilbert Temmerman, 83, Belgian politician, MP (1971–1989), Mayor of Ghent (1989–1994), Minister of State. [12] (Dutch)
• Jenny Tomasin, 75, British actress (Upstairs, Downstairs). [13] (death announced on this date)
• Rudi van Dantzig, 78, Dutch choreographer. [14] (Dutch)

18

• Mel Goldstein, 66, American television meteorologist (WTNH), multiple myeloma. [15]
• Yevgeny Zharikov, 70, Russian film actor (Ivan's Childhood), cancer. [16] (Russian)

17

• Ernie Alexander, 78, American politician, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Lafayette Parish, 2000 to 2008.[17]
• Colin Campbell, 80, Canadian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Antigonish (1986–2002). [18]
• Aengus Fanning, 69, Irish journalist, editor of the Sunday Independent, cancer. [19]
• Harold Ghosh, 75, Indian cricketer. [20]
• Johnny Otis, 90, American R&B singer-songwriter. [21]
• Piet Römer, 83, Dutch actor (Baantjer). [22] (Dutch)
• R. W. Schambach, 85, American evangelist, heart failure. [23]
• Marty Springstead, 74, American Major League Baseball umpire, heart attack. [24]
• Keizaburō Yamaguchi, 83, Japanese art historian (Rissho University), heart failure. [25] (Japanese)

16

• Jimmy Castor, 71, American funk and R&B saxophonist ("Troglodyte (Cave Man)"), heart failure. [26]
• Mike Current, 66, American football player (Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers), apparent suicide by gunshot. [27]
• Sigursteinn Gíslason, 43, Icelandic footballer and manager. [28] (Icelandic)
• Tatsuya Hashi, 74, Japanese comedian, pneumonia. [29] (Japanese)
• Gustav Leonhardt, 83, Dutch harpsichordist and conductor. [30]
• Juan Carlos Pérez López, 66, Spanish footballer. [31] (Spanish)
• Michael Mussa, 67, American economist, heart attack. [32]
• David Phiri, 74, Zambian businessman, Governor of the Bank of Zambia. [33]
• Valentin Rusantsov, 72, Russian hierarch, Primate of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (1996–2012). [34]

15

• Mika Ahola, 37, Finnish enduro rider, motorcycle crash. [35]
• Ed Derwinski, 85, American politician, U.S. Representative from Illinois (1959–1983); United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (1989–1992), merkel cell carcinoma. [36]
• Manuel Fraga Iribarne, 89, Spanish politician, President of the Xunta of Galicia (1990–2005), founder of the People's Party, heart failure. [37]
• Carlo Fruttero, 85, Italian writer. [38] (Italian)
• Yevgeny Ginzburg, 66, Russian television director, stroke. [39] (Russian)
• Ben Hana, 54, New Zealand vagrant. [40]
• Eisuke Hinode, 70, Japanese politician, member of the House of Councillors, gall bladder cancer. [41]
• Eduard Ivanov, 73, Soviet ice hockey player, World and Olympic champion. [42] (Russian)
• Samuel B. Nunez, Jr., 81, American politician, President of the Louisiana State Senate (1983–1988; 1990–1996). [43]
• Fumio Nunoya, 64, Japanese rock and roll singer, cerebral hemorrhage. [44] (Japanese)
• Ib Spang Olsen, 90, Danish cartoonist and author. [45] (Danish)
• Chris Pavlou, 72, Australian football player. [46]
• Jack Roberts, 58, American climber, fall. [47]
• Hiromi Sakai, 27, Japanese speedway racer, accident during practice. [48]
• Hulett C. Smith, 93, American politician, Governor of West Virginia (1965–1969). [49]
• Peter Veness, 27, Australian journalist, brain cancer. [50]
• Homai Vyarawalla, 98, Indian photojournalist. [51]

14

• Janey Buchan, 85, Scottish politician, MEP for Glasgow (1979–1994). [52]
• Mircea Ciumara, 68, Romanian politician, Minister of Finance (1996–1997), cancer. [53] (Romanian)
• Marv Davidov, 80, American peace activist (The Honeywell Project). [54]
• Ekuikui IV, 98, Angolan king of Bailundo, disease. [55]
• Dan Evins, 76, American entrepreneur, founder of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. [56]
• Robbie France, 52, British drummer (Skunk Anansie, Diamond Head, UFO), ruptured aorta. [57]
• Ritsuo Horimoto, 76, Japanese baseball player (Yomiuri Giants), pneumonia. [58] (Japanese)
• Charles Howard, 87, Australian Roman Catholic leader, Superior General of the Marist Brothers (1985–1993). [59]
• Pearse Hutchinson, 84, Irish broadcaster and writer, member of Aosdána. [60]
• Arfa Karim, 16, Pakistani student, world's youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (2004–2008), idiopathic epilepsy seizures. [61]
• Lasse Kolstad, 90, Norwegian actor. [62] (Norwegian)
• Curt Meyer-Clason, 101, German writer and translator. [63] (German)
• Antonio Mistrorigo, 99, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Treviso (1958–1988). [64]
• Giampiero Moretti, 71, Italian racing driver, winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona (1998), founder of Momo. [65] (Italian)
• Kaoru Nishimoto, 88, Japanese shogi player, pneumonia. [66] (Japanese)
• Mila Parély, 94, French actress. [67] (French)
• Dame Lesley Ann Strathie, 56, British civil servant, Permanent Secretary to HM Revenue and Customs (2008–2011), cancer. [68]
• Txillardegi, 82, Basque writer and politician. [69] (Spanish)
• Rosy Varte, 88, French actress. [70] (French).
• Zelemkhan Zangiyev, 37, Russian footballer. [71] (Russian)

13

• Anton Blom, 87, Norwegian journalist. [72] (Norwegian)
• Rauf Denktaş, 87, Cypriot politician, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, multiple organ failure. [73]
• Guido Dessauer, 96, German paper engineer and art collector. [74] (German)
• Dilys Elwyn-Edwards, 93, Welsh composer. [75]
• Sándor Fehér, 38, Hungarian violinist, drowned. [76]
• Lefter Küçükandonyadis, 86, Turkish Olympic footballer (Fenerbahçe) and coach, pneumonia. [77] (Turkish)
• Oscar Valentín Leal Caal, 41, Guatemalan politician, Congressman (since 2008), shot. [78]
• Miljan Miljanić, 81, Serbian football player, coach and administrator. [79]
• Abdollah Mojtabavi, 87, Iranian wrestler. [80] (Persian)
• Richard Threlkeld, 74, American reporter (CBS News), traffic collision. [81]
• William Robert Wright, 76, American biographer and politician, Chairman of the Utah Republican Party (1977–1979), Alzheimer's disease. [82]
• Andrzej Krzysztof Wróblewski, 76, Polish journalist. [83] (Polish)

12

• Sadao Bekku, 89, Japanese composer, pneumonia. [84] (Japanese)
• Charlie Collins, 78, American country musician (Roy Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys), stroke. [85]
• Reginald Hill, 75, British crime writer (Dalziel and Pascoe). [86]
• Natalee Holloway, 18, American student, missing since 2005. [87] (declared legally dead on this date)
• Bill Janklow, 72, American politician, Attorney General (1975–1979) and Governor of South Dakota (1979–1987, 1995–2003); U.S. Representative (2003–2004), brain cancer. [88]
• Shiv Kumari of Kotah, 95, Indian Hindu royal. [89]
• MS-1, 55, Mexican professional wrestler, car accident. [90] (Spanish)
• Aslı Nemutlu, 18, Turkish skier, training accident. [91] (Turkish)
• Charles H. Price II, 80, American businessman and diplomat. [92]
• Hannes Råstam, 56, Swedish journalist. [93] (Swedish)
• Rosalind Runcie, 79, British pianist, widow of Robert Runcie. [94]
• Jim Stanley, 76, American football coach (Oklahoma State Cowboys), cancer. [95]

11

• Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, 32, Iranian nuclear scientist, car bomb. [96]
• Richard Bruno, 87, American costume designer (Raging Bull, Goodfellas), kidney failure. [97]
• Frank Cook, 76, British politician, MP for Stockton North (1983–2010), lung cancer. [98]
• Bohumil Golián, 81, Slovak Olympic silver (1964) and bronze (1968) medal-winning volleyball player. [99]
• Gilles Jacquier, 43, French journalist, grenade attack. [100]
• Edgar Kaiser, 69, Canadian businessman and philanthropist, owner of the Denver Broncos (1981–1984). [101]
• John Madin, 87, English architect. [102]
• V. Madhusudhan Rao, 94, Indian film director. [103]
• Steven Rawlings, 49, British astrophysicist. [104]
• Colm Tucker, 59, Irish rugby union player. [105]
• David Whitaker, 80, English composer and songwriter. [106] (French)

10

• Alfonso de Bourbon, 83, American claimant of Spanish royalty, traffic accident. [107]
• Azeem Daultana, 32, Pakistani politician, Member of the National Assembly, road accident. [108]
• José Freire de Oliveira Neto, 83, Brazilian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Mossoró (1984–2004). [109]
• Israel Getzler, 92, Israeli historian. [110] (Hebrew)
• Vince Gibson, 78, American college football coach. [111]
• Jack Heron, 85, American college basketball coach (Sacramento State University). [112]
• Kyra T. Inachin, 43, German historian. [113] (German)
• Lila Kaye, 82, British actress. [114]
• John McCarthy, 61, Irish mental health campaigner and founder of Mad Pride, motor neurone disease. [115]
• Charlie Pawsey, 88, English rugby league player. [116] (death announced on this date)
• Jean Pigott, 87, Canadian politician and businesswoman, MP for Ottawa—Carleton (1976–1979). [117]
• Cliff Portwood, 74, English footballer and singer. [118]
• Mary Raftery, 54, Irish journalist (States of Fear). [119]
• Takao Sakurai, 70, Japanese Olympic gold medal-winning (1964) boxer, esophageal cancer. [120] (Japanese)
• Syed Shah Mardan Shah-II, 83, Pakistani politician and spiritual leader, heart attack. [121]
• Gevork Vartanian, 87, Soviet intelligence agent, Hero of the Soviet Union. [122]

9

• Ron Caron, 82, Canadian ice hockey administrator, General Manager of the St. Louis Blues (1983–1993, 1996). [123]
• Ernie Carson, 74, American jazz musician. [124]
• Brian Curvis, 74, Welsh boxer, leukaemia. [125] (death announced on this date).
• Alex DeCroce, 75, American politician, New Jersey General Assembly Minority Leader (since 2004). [126]
• Bill Dickie, 82, Scottish football administrator. [127]
• Ruth Fernández, 92, Puerto Rican contralto and politician, Senator (1973–1981). [128] (Spanish)
• Bridie Gallagher, 87, Irish singer. [129]
• Augusto Gansser-Biaggi, 101, Swiss geologist. [130] (German)
• Koizumi Junsaku, 87, Japanese painter and pottery artist, pneumonia. [131] (Japanese)
• Mae Laborde, 102, American actress. [132]
• Vern McGrew, 82, American Olympic athlete. [133]
• John Both Puok, 48, South Sudanese politician. [134]
• William G. Roll, 85, American psychologist and parapsychologist. [135]
• Malam Bacai Sanhá, 64, Guinea-Bissauan politician, President (1999–2000; since 2009). [136]
• Larry Solway, 83, Canadian radio personality and author. [137]
• Pyotr Vasilevsky, 55, Belarusian football player and coach. [138] (Russian)
• Aldo Zenhäusern, 60, Swiss Olympic ice hockey player (1976). [139]

8

• Dave Alexander, 73, American blues singer and pianist, suicide. [140]
• Herb Clarke, 84, American television weatherman (WCAU-TV), NATAS Governor's Award winner (2007), Alzheimer's disease. [141]
• Glenn Cox, 80, American baseball player (Kansas City Athletics). [142]
• Franz Dorfer, 61, Austrian Olympic boxer (1976). [143] (German)
• Dmitry Machinsky, 74, Russian archaeologist. [144] (Russian)
• Charles Morris, 85, British politician, MP for Manchester Openshaw (1963–1983). [145]
• Graham Rathbone, 69, Welsh footballer, dementia. [146]
• Alexis Weissenberg, 82, Bulgarian-born French pianist. [147]

7

• Ibrahim Aslan, 77, Egyptian novelist and short story writer, heart failure. [148]
• Tony Blankley, 63, British-born American conservative commentator, newspaper editor and child actor, stomach cancer. [149]
• Richard Hopkins, 47, British television producer (Strictly Come Dancing), cancer. [150]
• George Livingston, 78, American politician, first elected African American mayor of Richmond, California (1985–1993), diabetes. [151]
• Hideaki Nitani, 81, Japanese actor (Tokyo Drifter), pneumonia. [152] (Japanese)
• Clarence Cullam Pope, 81, American prelate, Episcopal Bishop of Fort Worth (1986–1994). [153]
• Herbert Wilf, 80, American mathematician. [154]

6

• Louise Gibson Annand, 96, Scottish artist. [155]
• Tom Ardolino, 56, American drummer (NRBQ). [156]
• Nicole Bogner, 27, Austrian musician (Visions of Atlantis), illness. [157]
• Gabriel Cadis, 60, Israeli attorney, chairman of the Jaffa Orthodox Church Association, stabbed. [158]
• John Celardo, 93, American comic strip artist (Tarzan, Buz Sawyer). [159]
• Bob Holness, 83, South African-born British quiz show host and actor (Blockbusters). [160]
• Eleftherios Katsaitis, 82, Greek-born British Orthodox hierarch, Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Great Britain (1987–1994). [161] (Greek)
• W. Francis McBeth, 78, American composer. [162]
• Frank James McGarr, 90, American federal district judge. [163]
• John McWhinnie, 43, American rare book dealer and gallerist, drowned. [164]
• Ellen Pence, 63, American sociologist and social activist, creator of the Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, breast cancer. [165]
• Louis Rech, 85, Italian-born Luxembourgian politician, Mayor of Dudelange (1985–1993). [166] (German)
• Clive Shell, 64, Welsh international rugby player. [167] (death announced on this date).
• Danilo Slivnik, 61, Slovene journalist and author, suicide. [168]

5

• Richard Alf, 59, American businessman, co-founder and chairman of San Diego Comic-Con International, pancreatic cancer. [169]
• Selwyn Baptiste, 75, Trinidadian-born British musician and festival organiser. [170]
• Don Carter, 85, American professional bowler, complication from pneumonia and emphysema. [171]
• Samson H. Chowdhury, 86, Bangladeshi businessman. [172]
• Biţu Fălticineanu, 86, Romanian theater director, after long illness. [173] (Romanian)
• Idwal Fisher, 76, Welsh rugby player. [174]
• Hikaru Hayashi, 80, Japanese composer. [175] (Japanese)
• Frank Ackerman Hill, 92, American U.S. Air Force commander of the 33rd Air Division. [176]
• Frederica Sagor Maas, 111, American silent film screenwriter (The Plastic Age), playwright, memoirist and author. [177]
• Amit Saigal, 46, Indian rock magazine publisher, concert promoter and musician, drowned. [178]
• Alexander Sizonenko, 52, Russian basketball player, world's tallest person (1991). [179] (Russian)

4

• Eve Arnold, 99, American photographer. [180]
• Ruben Ayala, 89, American politician, California State Senator (1974–1998), first elected Mayor of Chino, California (1964–1966). [181]
• James F. Crow, 95, American geneticist. [182]
• Byron Donzis, 79, American inventor, stroke. [183]
• Paul Fauks, 87, American minor league sports director (St. Louis Cardinals). [184]
• Harry Fowler, 85, British character actor. [185]
• Gatewood Galbraith, 64, American lawyer and author, complications from chronic emphysema. [186]
• Sir Archibald Glenn, 100, Australian industrialist, Chancellor of La Trobe University. [187]
• Kalpana, 65, Indian actress, cancer. [188]
• Kerry McGregor, 37, British singer and reality contestant (The X Factor), bladder cancer. [189]
• Bobby McKenzie, 83, Australian football player. [190]
• Juan Carlos Mendizábal, 60, Argentine journalist, liver cancer. [191]
• Carmen Naranjo, 83, Costa Rican novelist, poet and essayist, cancer. [192] (Spanish)
• Hisako Ōishi, 75, Japanese politician. [193] (Japanese)
• Rod Robbie, 83, Canadian architect. [194]
• Mitch Shirota, 78, American racehorse jockey and trainer. [195]
• Xaver Unsinn, 82, German Olympic ice hockey player and coach. [196] (German)

3

• Charles W. Bailey, 81, American journalist and novelist (Seven Days in May), Parkinson's disease. [197]
• Gene Bartow, 81, American college basketball coach (UAB, UCLA), stomach cancer. [198]
• Angelo Bowers, 26, American comedian, traffic collision. [199]
• Robert L. Carter, 94, American civil rights activist (Sweatt v. Painter) and judge, complications from a stroke. [200]
• Ray Costict, 56, American football player (New England Patriots). [201]
• Miguel Couturier, 61, Mexican actor (Miss Bala, Once Upon a Time in Mexico), cancer. [202] (Spanish)
• Willi Entenmann, 68, German football player and coach, heart attack. [203] (German)
• Juan Escudero, 91, Spanish footballer. [204]
• John David Lewis, 56, American political scientist. [205]
• Selorm Kuadey, 24, Ukrainian-born English rugby union player (Sale Sharks). [206]
• Winifred Milius Lubell, 97, American illustrator and writer, heart failure. [207]
• Enrique de Melchor, 61, Spanish flamenco guitarist, cancer. [208]
• Stepan Oshchepkov, 77, Russian canoeist, Olympic gold medalist (1964). [209] (Russian)
• Yadid Rubin, 74, Israeli painter. [210] (Hebrew)
• Felix Shuman, 87, American actor (Damien: Omen II, The Fury). [211]
• Josef Škvorecký, 87, Czech writer and publisher, cancer. [212]
• Miguel Terekhov, 83, Uruguayan-born American ballet dancer and teacher, complications of lung fibrosis. [213]
• Wylie Vale, 70, American endocrinologist. [214]
• Vicar, 77, Chilean cartoonist. [215] (Spanish)
• Bob Weston, 64, British guitarist and songwriter (Fleetwood Mac), gastrointestinal hemorrhage. [216] (body found on this date)

2

• Ian Bargh, 76, British-born Canadian jazz pianist, lung cancer. [217]
• D.W. Barron, 76, British computer scientist. [218]
• Ivan Călin, 76, Moldovan politician, Acting President of the Moldovan Parliament (2009). [219] (Russian)
• William P. Carey, 81, American businessman (W. P. Carey & Co.) and philanthropist. [220]
• Ioan Drăgan, 46, Romanian footballer (FC Brașov), colorectal cancer. [221] (Romanian)
• Odin Fottoh, 73, Tajik composer. [222] (Russian)
• Vivi Friedman, 44, Finnish film director, cancer. [223]
• Yoshiro Hayashi, 89, Japanese golfer. [224] (Japanese)
• Gordon Hirabayashi, 93, American civil rights activist (Hirabayashi v. United States). [225]
• Jim Huber, 67, American sports commentator (CNN, TNT). [226]
• Elli Konstantoudaki, 39, Greek journalist. [227] (Greek)
• Anatoly Kolesov, 73, Russian wrestler, Olympic gold medalist (1964), after long illness. [228] (Russian)
• Howie Koplitz, 73, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators). [229]
• Helmut Müller-Brühl, 78, German conductor. [230] (German)
• Larry Reinhardt, 63, American rock guitarist (Iron Butterfly, Captain Beyond), liver cirrhosis. [231]
• Ambjørg Sælthun, 89, Norwegian politician. [232] (Norwegian)
• Paulo Rodrigues da Silva, 25, Brazilian footballer, car crash. [233] (Portuguese)
• Arend Voortman, 81, Dutch politician. [234] (Dutch)
• Hugh Edwin Young, 94, American economist, Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1968–1977). [235]

1

• Gary Ablett, 46, English footballer (Liverpool, Everton, Birmingham City), non-Hodgkin lymphoma. [236]
• Bob Anderson, 89, British Olympic fencer (1952), film fight director and choreographer (Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings). [237]
• Jan Baas, 94, Dutch politician. [238] (Dutch)
• Alfredo Battisti, 86, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Udine (1972–2000). [239] (Italian)
• Jorge Andrés Boero, 38, Argentine motorcycle racer, Dakar rally crash. [240]
• Anders Frandsen, 51, Danish singer and television presenter. [241] (Danish)
• Jean-Marc de Grijs, 41, Belgian football official, after short illness. [242] (Dutch)
• Kiro Gligorov, 94, Macedonian politician, first democratically elected President (1991–1999). [243]
• Jan Groover, 68 American photographer. [244]
• Hermann Guggiari, 87, Paraguayan engineer and sculptor. [245] (Spanish)
• Frank Horwill, 84, British athletics coach. [246]
• Ed Jenkins, 78, American politician, Representative from Georgia (1977–1993). [247]
• Nay Win Maung, 49, Burmese physician and pro-democracy activist, heart attack. [248]
• Fred Milano, 72, American doo-wop singer (The Belmonts, Dion and the Belmonts), lung cancer. [249]
• Nina Miranda, 86, Uruguayan tango singer and composer. [250] (Spanish)
• Marcelle Narbonne, 113, French supercentenarian, oldest person in Europe. [251] (French)
• Carlos Soria, 63, Argentine politician, Secretary of Intelligence (2002), Governor of Río Negro (since 2011), shot. [252]
• Yafa Yarkoni, 86, Israeli singer. [253]

External links

• General obituaries
  • Legacy.com/Associated Press
  • Variety magazine
• Australian obituaries
  • The Sydney Morning Herald
• Canadian obituaries
  • The Globe & Mail
  • The Star
• German obituaries
  • Der Tagesspiegel (German)

• Irish obituaries
  • Irish Independent
• South African obituaries
  • Mail & Guardian
• United Kingdom obituaries
  • The Guardian
  • The Independent
  • The Scotsman
  • The Telegraph

• United States obituaries
  • The Boston Globe
  • Los Angeles Times
  • The Miami Herald
  • The New York Times
  • The Washington Post

For earlier deaths, see Deaths in 2011, Deaths in 2010, Deaths in 2009, Deaths in 2008, Deaths in 2007, Deaths in 2006, Deaths in 2005, Deaths in 2004, Deaths in 2003, Deaths in 2002, Deaths in 2001, Deaths in 2000, Deaths in 1999, Deaths in 1998, Deaths in 1997, Deaths in 1996, Deaths in 1995, Deaths in 1994, Deaths in 1993, Deaths in 1992, Deaths in 1991, Deaths in 1990, Deaths in 1989, ...