2011 DEATHS IN THE NEWS

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James Tyree

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Updated: February 1, 2012 8:07AM

James Tyree, 53. Chairman of Chicago Sun-Times parent company and chairman of Chicago-based Mesirow Financial. March 16. Accidental death.

Elmer Lynn Hauldren, 89. Advertising man who wrote the “Empire Carpet Man” jingle. April 26.

Daryl Hawks, 38. NBC5 sportscaster. May 12. Heart attack.

Lura Lynn Ryan, 76. Former Illinois first lady, married to former Gov. George Ryan. June 27. Cancer.

Charles H. Percy, 91. Businessman became a U.S. senator, one-time presidential contender. Sept. 17.

DeLois Barrett Campbell, 85. Gospel great and leader of the Barrett Sisters. Aug. 2.

Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, 75. Blues musician and longtime sideman for Muddy Waters. Sept. 16. Stroke.

David “Honey Boy” Edwards, 96. Believed to be the oldest surviving Delta bluesman. Aug. 28.

Robert Galvin, 89. Motorola’s chief executive for 29 years. Oct. 11.

Robert A. Pritzker, 85. Member of one of Illinois’ wealthiest families, philanthropist, engineer and manufacturer. Oct. 27. Parkinson’s disease.

Dorothy Rodham, 92. Mother of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Nov. 1.

Maggie Daley, 68. Chicago’s former first lady and wife of Mayor Richard M. Daley. Nov. 24. Cancer.

JANUARY:

Maj. Richard “Dick” Winters, 92. World War II hero whose quiet leadership was chronicled in the book and television miniseries “Band of Brothers.” Jan. 2.

David Nelson, 74. Starred on his parents’ popular American television show “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” Jan. 11. Colon cancer.

Don Kirshner, 76. Rock promoter who helped launch performers such as Prince, the Eagles, Lionel Ritchie and Ozzy Osbourne. Jan. 17.

R. Sargent Shriver, 95. First Peace Corps director, ambassador and leader of the War on Poverty in the U.S., best known as a Kennedy in-law. Jan. 18.

Ed Mauser, 94. Oldest living member of a 101st Airborne Division company that became known as the “Band of Brothers,” Kept his Army service secret even from his family. Jan. 21. Pancreatic cancer.

Jack LaLanne, 96. Fitness guru inspired U.S. television viewers to trim down, eat well and pump iron, decades before diet and exercise became America’s obsession. Jan. 23. Complications from pneumonia.

FEBRUARY:

J. Paul Getty, 54. The troubled grandson of one of the world’s richest men who lost an ear in a grisly kidnapping in Italy. Feb. 3.

Christian J. Lambertson, 93. A scientist and doctor who invented a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus used by the military in World War II and later coined the term “scuba.” Feb. 11.

Duke Snider, 84. Baseball Hall of Famer for the “Boys of Summer” who helped the Dodgers bring their only World Series crown to Brooklyn. Feb. 27.

Jane Russell, 89. The voluptuous actress who starred in the controversial film “The Outlaw” and who, as a pin-up girl, set GIs’ hearts to pounding during World War II. Feb. 28.

MARCH:

Michael Gough, 94. British actor best known for playing Bruce Wayne’s butler in “Batman.” March 17.

Elizabeth Taylor, 79. Violet-eyed American film goddess whose sultry screen persona, stormy personal life and enduring fame and glamour made her among last of the classic movie stars. March 3.

Geraldine Ferraro, 75. A relatively obscure Democratic congresswoman who became the first woman on a major U.S. party ticket when she ran for vice president in 1984. March 26. Cancer.

Harry Wesley Coover Jr., 94. Known as the inventor of the popular adhesive Super Glue. March 26.

APRIL:

Dr. Baruch S. Blumberg, 85. Shared Nobel Prize in medicine for discovering hepatitis vaccine. April 5.

Sidney Lumet, 86. The award-winning director of such American film classics as “Network,” “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon” and “12 Angry Men.” April 9.

William Nunn Lipscomb, Jr. 91. A Harvard professor who won the Nobel chemistry prize in 1976 for research on the structure of molecules and chemical bonding. April 14. Pneumonia and a fall.

Hubert “Hub” Schlafly, 91. Key member of a team that invented the teleprompter. April 20.

Norio Ohga, 81. Sony chairman transformed the electronics maker into a global empire. April 23.

MAY:

Osama bin Laden, 54. Terrorist leader whose money and preaching inspired the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. May 2. Killed during a raid by U.S. Navy SEALs in Pakistan.

Jackie Cooper, 88. One of the most popular child movie stars of the 1930s who later had a successful career as a television director and still appeared in films. May 3.

Arthur Laurents, 93. The director, playwright and screenwriter who wrote such enduring productions as “West Side Story” and “‘Gypsy” as well as the film classics “Rope” and “The Way We Were.” May 5.

Randy “Macho Man” Savage, 58. A larger-than-life personality from professional wrestling’s 1980s heyday known for his raspy voice and brash style. May 20. Car crash.

Gil Scott-Heron, 62. Widely considered one of the godfathers of rap music with his piercing social and political prose laid against the backdrop of minimalist instrumentation. May 27.

JUNE:

Jack Kevorkian, 83. Defiant proponent of doctor-assisted suicide who said he oversaw the deaths of 130 gravely ill people. June 3.

James Arness, 88. An actor who towered over the American television landscape for two decades as righteous Dodge City lawman Matt Dillon in “Gunsmoke.” June 3.

Clarence Clemons, 69. The saxophone player for the E Street Band who was one of the key influences in Bruce Springsteen’s life and music. June 18. Complications from a stroke.

Peter Falk, 83. The American stage and screen actor who became identified as the rumpled detective title character on “Colombo,” which spanned 30 years in primetime U.S. television. June 23.

JULY:

Betty Ford, 93. The former U.S. first lady whose triumph over drug and alcohol addiction became a beacon of hope for addicts and the inspiration for her Betty Ford Center in California. July 8.

Elliot Handler, 95. With his wife, he grew Mattel Inc. from a small home-based picture-frame business into the largest U.S. toy maker and created the Hot Wheels brand. July 21.

Amy Winehouse, 27. Dazzling, versatile singer who produced bitterly honest lyrics but made headlines due to substance abuse, eating disorders and destructive relationships. July 23. Alcohol poisoning.

AUGUST:

Bubba Smith, 66. Former NFL star and actor best known for playing Moses Hightower, the soft-spoken officer in the “Police Academy” films. Aug. 3

Frank Dileo, 63. An American music industry executive, who managed Michael Jackson’s career in the 1980s and returned as his manager in the superstar’s final days. Aug. 24.

Betty Skelton Erde, 85. Aviation and auto racing pioneer once called fastest woman on Earth. Aug. 31.

SEPTEMBER:

Salvatore Licitra, 43. A tenor known in his Italian homeland as the “new Pavarotti.” Sept. 5. Motorcycle accident.

John Calley, 81. Ran three Hollywood studios, made hits e.g. “The Exorcist” and “Spider-Man.” Sept. 13.

Wangari Maathi, 71. First African woman recipient of the Nobel Peace PrizeSept. 25. Cancer.

OCTOBER:

Arthur C. Nielsen Jr., 92. He led the company that grew into an international firm that produces the TV ratings known as “The Nielsens.” Oct. 3.

Steve Jobs, 56. Apple’s founder and former CEO invented and master-marketed ever sleeker gadgets that transformed everyday technology, from the personal computer to the iPod and iPhone. Oct. 5.

Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, 89. Civil rights activist who endured arrests, beatings and injuries from fire hoses while fighting for racial equality in the segregated South of the 1960s. Oct. 5.

Dan Wheldon, 33. Race car driver who moved from native England to the United States with hopes of winning the Indianapolis 500 race and went on to do so twice. Oct. 16. Wreck at Las Vegas Indy 300.

Moammar Gadhafi, 69. The last of the old-style Arab strongmen who ruled Libya for nearly 42 years with an eccentric brutality. Oct. 20. Died after being captured by rebels in Libya.

NOVEMBER:

Norman Ramsey, 96. Shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in physics for his research into atomic energy levels that led to the creation of the atomic clock and imaging machines. Nov. 4.

Andy Rooney, 92. The curmudgeonly commentator who spent 30 years talking about the oddities of life on American television. Nov. 4.

Joe Frazier, 67. One of the great heavyweight boxers of his era who was forever associated with three bouts he had with Mohammad Ali, including the “Thrilla in Manila.” Nov. 7.

Bil Keane, 89. Creator of the comic strip “Family Circus,” which entertained readers with a mix of humor and traditional family values for more than a half century. Nov. 8.

Heavy D, 44. He became one of rap’s top hit makers in the late 1980s and early 1990s with his charming combination of humor and positivity. Nov. 8. Died after collapsing outside his home.

Evelyn Lauder, 75. An executive at cosmetics giant Estee Lauder Cos. who helped create the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer awareness. Nov. 12.

Judy Lewis, 76. Conceived out of wedlock by movie stars Clark Gable and Loretta Young while they filmed “Call of the Wild” in 1930s, for years a best kept secret in Hollywood. Nov. 25.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, 78. A millionaire’s son who became leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra in eastern Nigeria, plunging country into civil war that killed a million people. Nov. 26.

DECEMBER:

Harry Morgan, 96. An actor best known for playing the fatherly Col. Sherman Potter on the TV show “M-A-S-H.” Dec. 7.

Christopher Hitchens, 62. An author, essayist and polemicist who waged verbal and occasional physical battle on behalf of causes left and right. Dec. 15. Complications from esophageal cancer.

Kim Jong Il, 69. North Korea’s mercurial and enigmatic leader whose iron rule and nuclear ambitions dominated world security fears for more than a decade. Dec. 17. Heart attack.