Obituary Stories

Tree of Life Congregation Rabbi Jeffrey Myers made a daily call to Bob Butter for comfort and advice. Butter, a public relations giant in Pittsburgh, helped Myers handle the media onslaught after the Oct. 27, 2018, attack on Tree of Life in Squirrel Hill. “We knew we would need extra...

LOS ANGELES — Cissy Houston, the mother of the late Whitney Houston and a two-time Grammy winner who performed alongside superstar musicians like Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, has died. She was 91. Houston died Monday morning in her New Jersey home while under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease, her...

Frank Fritz, the antiques enthusiast and reality TV personality who co-hosted “American Pickers,” has died. Fritz died Monday, the History Channel and “American Pickers” producer Cineflix Productions confirmed in a joint statement to The Times. Additional information, including a cause of death, was not revealed. Fritz was 60. “We will...

Drake Hogestyn, the “Days of Our Lives” star who appeared on the show for 38 years, died Saturday, his family confirmed. He was 70. The actor was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and his family said in a statement Hogestyn died after “putting up an unbelievable fight” against the disease. “He...

Pete Rose, baseball’s career hits leader and fallen idol who undermined his historic achievements and Hall of Fame dreams by gambling on the game he loved and once embodied, has died. He was 83. Stephanie Wheatley, a spokesperson for Clark County in Nevada, confirmed on behalf of the medical examiner...

NEW YORK — Gavin Creel, a Broadway musical theater veteran who won a Tony Award for “Hello, Dolly!” opposite Bette Midler and earned nominations for “Hair” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” died Monday of a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He was 48. Publicist Matt Polk said Creel died at...

Dikembe Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game, died Monday from brain cancer, the league announced. He was 58. His family revealed two years ago that he was undergoing treatment in Atlanta...

NEW YORK — John Ashton, the veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films, has died. He was 76. Ashton died Thursday in Fort Collins, Colorado, his family announced in a statement released by Ashton’s manager, Alan Somers,...

LONDON — Maggie Smith, the masterful, scene-stealing actor who won an Oscar for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” in 1969 and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in “Downton Abbey” and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, died Friday. She...

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Eugene “Mercury” Morris, who starred for the unbeaten 1972 Miami Dolphins as part of a star-studded backfield and helped the team win two Super Bowl titles, has died, the team said Sunday. Morris, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who graduated from Avonworth in 1965, was 77....

Pat Pecora, who built the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown wrestling program into a national power and led the Mountain Cats to more wins than any other coach in college wrestling history, died Sunday after a long, inspirational battle with cancer. He was 70 years old. Former Mountain Cats wrestler...

LOS ANGELES — James Darren, a teen idol who helped ignite the 1960s surfing craze as a charismatic beach boy paired off with Sandra Dee in the hit film “Gidget,” died Monday at 88. Darren died in his sleep at a Los Angeles hospital, his son Jim Moret told news...

NEW YORK — Fatman Scoop, the hip-hop artist who topped charts in Europe with “Be Faithful” in the early 2000s and later lent his distinctive voice and ebullient vibe to hits by artists including Missy Elliott and Ciara, died after collapsing on stage at a show in Connecticut, according to...

Sidney Raymond Eudy, a professional wrestler known as Sid Vicious who was known for his intense persona and imposing stature, has died, his son announced Monday. He was 63. Gunnar Eudy, one of the wrestler’s two sons, wrote on Facebook that his father died after “battling cancer for several years.”...

Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre that made household names of Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, Ellen DeGeneres and many others, has died. He was 88. NBC’s “Today” show, citing family members, said Donahue died Sunday after a long illness. Dubbed “the king of daytime...

NEW YORK — Jack Russell, the lead singer of the bluesy ’80s metal band Great White whose hits included “Once Bitten Twice Shy” and “Rock Me” and was fronting his band the night 100 people died in a 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island, has died. He was 63. “Jack...

LOS ANGELES — Peter Marshall, the actor and singer turned game show host who played straight man to the stars for 16 years on “The Hollywood Squares,” has died. He was 98. He died Thursday of kidney failure at his home in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles, publicist Harlan...

Gena Rowlands, hailed as one of the greatest actors to ever practice the craft and a guiding light in independent cinema as a star in groundbreaking movies by her director husband, John Cassavetes, and who later charmed audiences in her son’s tear-jerker “The Notebook,” has died. She was 94. Rowlands’...

HONOLULU — Wallace “Wally” Amos, the creator of the cookie empire that took his name and made it famous and who went on to become a children’s literacy advocate, has died. He was 88. Amos created the Famous Amos cookie empire and eventually lost ownership of the company — as...

Friends recall a favorite saying of the late Scott Williams of Monroeville. “There’s a right way, there’s a wrong way, and then there’s the Gateway.” A paraplegic since the age of 18, Williams, 59, died July 26, 2024, at UPMC Montefiore Hospital in Oakland after a prolonged battle with cancer....