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).

April 2012

10

• Erdoğan Arıca, 57, Turkish football coach, lung cancer. [1]
• Luis Aponte Martínez, 89, Puerto Rican Roman Catholic prelate, first Puerto Rican cardinal, after long illness. [2] (Spanish)
• Barbara Buchholz, 52, German musician and composer, cancer. [3] (German)
• Isamu Miyazaki, 92, Japanese fighter aircraft aviator and midshipman (Imperial Japanese Navy). [4] (Japanese)
• Ivan Oliger, 102, Russian zoologist and entomologist. [5]
• Yoshikazu Shimizu, 58, Japanese journalist and editorial writer (Tokyo Shimbun), pancreatic cancer. [6] (Japanese)
• N. Varadarajan, 87, Indian politician. [7]

9

• Takeshi Aono, 75, Japanese voice actor (Dragon Ball, One Piece), post-operative multiple cerebral infarction. [8] (Japanese)
• Mark Lenzi, 43, American Olympic gold medal-winning (1992) diver, hypotension. [9]
• Wiebo Ludwig, 70, Canadian environmental activist and convicted bomber, esophageal cancer. [10]
• Jim Niven, Australian musician (The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, The Sports), cancer. [11]
• Meral Okay, 53, Turkish scriptwriter and actress, cancer. [12]
• Mitsunori Tozawa, 79, Japanese archaeologist, principal of Meiji University (1996–2000). [13] (Japanese)

8

• Gordon Bagier, 87, British politician, MP for Sunderland South (1964–87). [14]
• Bram Bart, 49, Dutch voice actor, pancreatic cancer. [15] (Dutch)
• José Guardiola, 82, Spanish singer. [16] (Spanish)
• George Wilberforce Kakoma, 89, Ugandan musician, composer of the Ugandan national anthem. [17]
• Blair Kiel, 50, American football player (Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers), suspected heart attack. [18]
• Graciano Ravelo, 77, Venezuelan baseball player and coach (Tiburones de La Guaira), cancer. [19] (Spanish)
• Anatoly Ravikovich, 75, Russian film actor (The Pokrovsky Gate), cancer. [20] (Russian)
• Jack Tramiel, 83, Polish-born American businessman, founder of Commodore and CEO of Atari. [21]
• Rikiya Yasuoka, 64, Japanese actor and singer, heart failure. [22] (Japanese)

7

• John Egan, 59, Irish Gaelic footballer. [23]
• Steve Fredericks, 72, American sports journalist, pancreatic cancer.[24]
• Kofuku Kaminarimon, 77, Japanese rakugo storyteller, pharyngeal cancer. [25] (Japanese)
• Ignatius Moses I Daoud, 81, Syrian Catholic cardinal, Patriarch of Antioch (1998–2001), stroke complications. [26]
• Bashir Ahmed Qureshi, 54, Pakistani politician, cardiac arrest. [27]
• Mike Wallace, 93, American news correspondent (60 Minutes). [28]
• Yūichi Yamada, 81, Japanese teacher and professor, Principal of Meiji University (2000–2004). [29] (Japanese)
• Jamshid Zokirov, 63, Uzbek actor. [30] (Uzbek)

6

• Larry Canning, 86, English footballer (Aston Villa) and broadcaster, vascular dementia. [31]
• Fang Lizhi, 76, Chinese political activist and astrophysicist. [32]
• Felipe Fernández García, 76, Spanish Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Ávila (1976–1991) and San Cristóbal de La Laguna o Tenerife (1991–2005). [33]
• Promode Gogoi, 82, Indian politician. [34]
• Thomas Kinkade, 54, American painter, natural causes. [35]
• Tōru Maeara, 88, Japanese teacher, Kikuchi Kan Prize winner, cerebral hemorrhage. [36] (Japanese)
• Hilde Sacré, 73, Belgian actress. [37] (Dutch)
• Sheila Scotter, 91, Australian fashion editor (Vogue Australia). [38]
• Jose Wejebe, 54, Cuban-born American television and sports fishing personality, plane crash. [39]

5

• Joe Avezzano, 68, American football player (Boston Patriots) and coach (Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders), heart attack. [40]
• Pedro Bartolomé Benoit, 91, Dominican military general, Provisional President (1965). [41] (Spanish)
• Angelo Castro, Jr., 67, Filipino journalist, The World Tonight anchor (1986–2009; 2011), lung cancer. [42]
• Cynthia Dall, 41, American musician. [43]
• James S. Herr, 87, American businessman, founder of Herr's Snacks. [44]
• Kunio Hiraki, 87, Japanese writer, kidney failure. [45] (Japanese)
• Jimmy Lawlor, 78, Irish footballer. [46]
• Jim Marshall, 88, English businessman, founder of Marshall Amplification. [47]
• Barney McKenna, 72, Irish musician (The Dubliners). [48]
• Bingu wa Mutharika, 78, Malawian politician, President (since 2004), heart attack. [49]
• Gil Noble, 80, American television reporter and host (Like It Is). [50]
• Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, 76, German designer. [51]
• Bernard Rapoport, 94, American businessman and philanthropist. [52]
• Sir Peter Tapsell, 82, New Zealand politician, Speaker of the House of Representatives (1993–1996). [53]

4

• Muhammad Afrizal, 30, Indonesian boxer, PABA featherweight champion (2008), injuries sustained from bout. [54]
• Peter M. Douglas, 69, American lawyer, Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission (1985–2011), cancer. [55]
• Anne Karin Elstad, 74, Norwegian author, stroke. [56] (Norwegian)
• Juan Carlos Figarella, Venezuelan state legislator, respiratory arrest. [57]
• Nikolay Krasovsky, 87, Russian mathematician. [58] (Russian)
• Hans Kreijns, 83, Dutch contract bridge champion. [59] (Dutch)
• Claude Miller, 70, French director, producer, and screenwriter. [60]
• Helge Sverre Nesheim, 92, Norwegian broadcaster. [61] (Norwegian)
• Said Mohamed Nur, Somali Football Federation chief, bombing. [62]
• Dubravko Pavličić, 44, Croatian footballer. [63] (Croatian)
• Roberto Rexach Benítez, 82, Puerto Rican politician, President of the Senate (1993–1996). [64] (Spanish)
• Aden Yabarow Wiish, Somali Olympic Committee chief, bombing. [65]

3

• Arduino Bertoldo, 79, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Foligno (1992–2008). [66]
• Claudia Boerner, 32, German fashion model, suicide. [67] (German)
• Michael Bzdel, 81, Canadian Ukrainian Catholic hierarch, Metropolitan of Winnipeg (1992–2006). [68]
• Richard Descoings, 53, French academic director (Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris). [69]
• Eduardo Luis Duhalde, 72, Argentine human rights activist, historian, and judge, aortic aneurysm. [70] (Spanish)
• O'Brian Eselu. 56, American kumu hula and singer. [71]
• Mária Kopp, 70, Hungarian physician, psychologist, and professor. [72] (Hungarian)
• Efraím Basílio Krevey, 83, Brazilian Ukrainian Catholic hierarch, Bishop of São João Batista em Curitiba (1978–2006). [73]
• Jean Gerard Leigh, 88, British MI5 clerk involved in the WWII Operation Mincemeat. [74]
• Mingote, 93, Spanish cartoonist, writer, and journalist. [75]
• Govind Narain, 95, Indian civil servant, Governor of Karnataka (1977–1983). [76]
• Airton Pavilhão, 77, Brazilian footballer. [77] (Portuguese)
• Xenia Stad-de Jong, 90, Dutch Olympic gold medal-winning (1948) athlete. [78] (Dutch)
• Chief Jay Strongbow, 83, American professional wrestler. [79]
• José María Zárraga, 81, Spanish footballer and manager. [80] (Spanish)

2

• Jesús Aguilarte, 53, Venezuelan politician, Governor of Apure State (1999–2000; 2004–2011), shot. [81]
• Roger Breske, 73, American politician, member of the Wisconsin State Senate (1990–2008). [82]
• Ben Huan, 105, Chinese Buddhist master, honorary president of the Buddhist Association of China. [83]
• Warren Bonython, 95, Australian conservationist, explorer, author, and chemical engineer. [84]
• Elizabeth Catlett, 96, American-born Mexican artist. [85]
• Allie Clark, 88, American baseball player (Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Athletics). [86]
• John Kuenster, 87, American sportswriter (Chicago Daily News, Baseball Digest), cardiac arrest. [87]
• Mauricio Lasansky, 97, Argentinian-born American printmaker. [88]
• Jimmy Little, 75, Australian singer. [89]
• Fatma Neslişah, 91, Turkish-born Ottoman and Egyptian royal, heart attack. [90]
• Christos Parlas, 76, Greek actor, pulmonary failure. [91] (Greek)
• Masao Taki, 90, Japanese baseball player and coach, heart failure. [92] (Japanese)
• Yōnosuke Watanabe, 80, Japanese Noh performer. [93] (Japanese)

1

• Ekrem Bora, 78, Turkish actor, pulmonary edema. [94] (Turkish)
• Lionel Bowen, 89, Australian politician, MP for Kingsford-Smith (1969–1990); Deputy Prime Minister (1983–1990), pneumonia. [95]
• Sauro Bufalini, 70, Italian Olympic basketball player. [96] (Italian)
• Giorgio Chinaglia, 65, Italian footballer (Lazio, New York Cosmos), heart attack. [97]
• Miguel de la Madrid, 77, Mexican politician, President (1982–1988), complications of pulmonary emphysema. [98]
• Leila Denmark, 114, American supercentenarian, author, and physician, credited with developing a whooping cough vaccine. [99]
• Jamaa Fanaka, 68, American filmmaker. [100]
• Jerry Lynch, 81, American baseball player (Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates). [101]
• Wataru Mori, 86, Japanese pathologist (University of Tokyo), World Kindness Movement, pneumonia. [102] (Japanese)
• Chūichi Mukawa, 92, Japanese tanka poet (Waseda University), ischemic heart disease. [103] (Japanese)
• N. K. P. Salve, 91, Indian politician. [104]
• Stan Yapp, 70, English politician. [105]

March 2012

See Deaths in March 2012.

February 2012

See Deaths in February 2012.

January 2012

See Deaths in January 2012.

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, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, ...