Category: Deaths (Obituaries)

Toshifumi Suzuki, Japan’s ‘God’ of Convenience Stores Dies at 93

Toshifumi Suzuki spent four decades building 7-Eleven into a cornerstone of daily life in Japan.
Barney Frank, Gay Pioneer and Liberal Stalwart in Congress, Dies at 86

Often voted the “brainiest,” “funniest” and “most eloquent” member of the House, he was also the first to come out voluntarily and helped normalize being openly gay in public office.
Greg Hyman, Co-Creator of Tickle Me Elmo, Dies at 78

An electronics wizard, he was already a veteran inventor when he collaborated with Ron Dubren on an idea for a toy that giggled. The rest is retail history.
Peter G. Neumann, Who Warned of Computer Security Risks, Dies at 93

For decades, he criticized the industry’s lax attitudes toward computer security and individual digital privacy. He also developed solutions.
Edmund Phelps, Who Upended the Way We View Inflation, Dies at 92

He won a Nobel in 2006 for challenging the conventional wisdom among economists that higher inflation was a necessary price to pay for low unemployment.
Joe Sedelmaier Dies at 92; Ad Auteur Behind ‘Where’s the Beef?’

He directed nearly 1,000 comedic commercials, including a much-quoted spot for Wendy’s and one for FedEx featuring a manic speed talker.
Joni Lamb, Whose Christian TV Station Went Global, Dies at 65

She and her husband, Marcus Lamb, founded Daystar Television Network, which reached more than 200 countries and made the couple into televangelism stars.
Dean Buntrock, Maestro of Waste Management, Dies at 94

Anticipating how the environmental movement would affect trash disposal in the United States, he built a 12-truck garbage company into a coast-to-coast behemoth.
Ted Turner, Creator of CNN and the 24-Hour News Cycle, Dies at 87

As one of the most important figures in media history, he oversaw a vast cable empire of news, sports and entertainment channels.
Doris Fisher, Co-Founder of the Gap, Dies at 94

The company she started in 1969 with her husband, Don, grew from a single store selling jeans and records to a $16 billion brand that remade the apparel industry.
Roger Sweet, Creator of the He-Man Action Figure, Dies at 91

The musclebound character he developed as a toy designer for Mattel gave rise to the Masters of the Universe franchise and helped define the machismo of the 1980s.
Kevin Klose, Who Made NPR a Reporting Powerhouse, Dies at 85

A longtime journalist at The Washington Post, he used his unexpected fund-raising talents to greatly expand the radio organization’s coverage.