/ Stars that died in 2023

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Colin Madigan, Australian architect, died at 90.

Colin Frederick Madigan AO was an Australian architect. He is best known for designing the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

(22 July 1921 – 17 September 2011) 

Biography

Born in Glen Innes, New South Wales, Madigan studied architecture at Sydney Technical College from 1939 to 1941. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy in 1941,[1] and was one of the few survivors of the sinking of the corvette HMAS Armidale off Timor in 1942.
In 1951 Madigan, Maurice Edwards and Jack Torzillo formed the firm, "Edwards Madigan Torzillo and Partners", whose work was mostly on public projects such as public housing, public libraries, schools and offices. A notable building from this period was the Warringah Council Library at Dee Why, New South Wales, which was awarded the Sir John Sulman Medal for architecture in 1966. In 1968, they won the design competition for the National Gallery of Australia. Later, Madigan supervised construction of the High Court of Australia after its designer Christopher Kringas died in March 1975, just prior to the start of construction in April 1975.[2] The unsuccessful design for the new Australian Parliament House in Canberra was one of the shortlisted finalists in the architectural design competition.
He retired in 1989.[3]
Madigan also wrote a book on the sinking of HMAS Armidale in 1942, Armidale '42 : a survivor's account.[4]
In later years, Madigan vigorously opposed plans to build a new entrance to the National Gallery of Australia.[5] He died, aged 90, in Bangalow, New South Wales on 17 September 2011.[6]

Honours

Madigan received a Gold Medal from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 1981.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours of 1984,[7] and was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001.[8]


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Ernest House Sr., American tribal leader, Chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (1982–2010), injuries from a motorcycle accident, died at 65.


Ernest House Sr. was an American tribal leader who served as the Chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe for four four-year terms from 1982 to 2010.






(September 27, 1945 – September 17, 2011) 

Early life

Ernest House was born in Mancos Canyon on September 27, 1945, to Thomas House Sr. and Francis Marie (nee Wall).[2] A member of the Weeminuche Band of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, House was the grandson of the last hereditary chief of the Ute Mountain Ute, Chief Jack House.[1][2] He was raised in Mancos Canyon in southwestern Colorado.[2]
House served as a veteran of the Colorado Army National Guard within the Special Forces Airborne Group.[2] He was also employed by the National Park Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs at various times during his career.[1]

Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Chairman

Ernest House worked for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe for more than fifty years, including more than thirty years in Ute tribal politics.[1] House was elected to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council in 1979.[2] In 1982, he was elected to his first term as Chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute.[1] He was elected to four nonconsecutive four-years terms as Chairman between 1982 and 2010.[2] His most recent, fourth term as Chairman ended in 2010.[3]
House simultaneously served as the CEO of Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Business and Enterprise and the head of the Ute Tribal Council during his tenure as chairman.[1] House was an advocate of Native American businesses and entrepreneurship.[1] He championed the upgrading of Native American public safety programs and healthcare facilities in his home state of Colorado, as well as Utah and New Mexico.[1] He also testified before the United States Congress during congressional hearings on the Animas-La Plata Water Project and the Dolores Project.[1]
House spearheaded an increasing in public security between 2005 and 2010. He increased the number of police officers in the Ute Mountain Ute tribal police force from just two officers to more than twelve during those years.[2] He had recently reached out to freshman U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colorado) to have a tribute to his grandfather, Chief Jack House, an advocate for tribal healthcare, read on the floor of the United States House of Representatives.[2]
Ernest House was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident near Cortez, Colorado, on the afternoon of September 17, 2011.[2] House was returning from a motorcycle rally when he was struck by an oncoming car that was trying to pass another vehicle.[2] House, who was riding his motorcycle, suffered a broken pelvis and leg in the accident.[2] The driver of the car that struck House was charged with careless driver and heavy rains may have contributed to the accident.[3] House was transported to San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, New Mexico, where he lost consciousness and died of his injuries later on September 17 at the age of 65.[2][3]
House was survived by his three children, Michelle House, Jaque House-Lopez and Ernest House Jr.; his father, Thomas House Sr., and five grandchildren.[1] He was a resident of McElmo Canyon in Colorado.[2]
The United States District Court for the District of Colorado Troy Eid has said, "Indian Country has lost a brilliant, courageous and inspired leader, as has the entire State of Colorado." Eid also called House's death "tragic beyond words."[2] A traditional Ute wake and funeral service will be held on September 23 and 24, 2011, in Towaoc, Colorado.[2] He will be buried in Towaoc Cemetery.[1]


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Tom Wilson, Sr., American cartoonist (Ziggy), died at 80.


Thomas Albert Wilson better known as Tom Wilson, was an American cartoonist. Wilson was the creator of the comic strip Ziggy, which he drew from 1971 to 1987. The strip was then continued by his son, Tom Wilson, Jr.[5]
Wilson served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955.[1][6] He attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1955.[1] He was a Cooper Union art instructor from 1961 to 1962.[1][6]
Wilson's career began in 1950, doing advertisement layouts for Uniontown Newspapers, Inc.[1][6] In 1955, he joined American Greetings (AG) as a designer, becoming Creative Director in 1957 and vice-president of creative development in 1978.[1] While at AG, he developed the Soft Touch greeting card line.[1] He also served as president of Those Characters From Cleveland, AG's character licensing subsidiary.[1]

(August 1, 1931 – September 16, 2011)

Ziggy

The Ziggy comics panel, syn­di­cated by Universal Uclick (for­merly Univer­sal Press Syn­di­cate), launched in 15 news­pa­pers in June 1971. It expanded to appear in more than 500 daily and Sun­day news­pa­pers and has been fea­tured in bestselling books and cal­en­dars. Ziggy merchandising has included plaques, T-shirts, buttons, glass tumblers, lunch boxes, coffee mugs and greet­ing cards. In 2002, Ziggy became the official spokescharacter for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Through­out his career, Wil­son demon­strated a remark­able abil­ity to anticipate future trends in the mar­ket­place. A vet­eran of the licens­ing busi­ness, Wil­son headed up the cre­ative team that devel­oped such char­ac­ter licens­ing block­busters as Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears.
In 1987, Wil­son passed the Ziggy torch to his son, Tom Wil­son Jr., after the younger Wil­son had served as an assis­tant on the strip for many years.[7] Even though Tom Sr. lived in Cleveland and Tom Jr. lived in Cincinnati, the two worked as a team, collaborating by fax and phone.
Wilson was a talented painter with works appearing in exhibitions throughout the United States, including the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Society of Illustrators annual show in New York.

Awards

He made his mark in animation with the 1982 Emmy Award-winning Christmas special, Ziggy's Gift, which was released on VHS video in 2002 and DVD in 2005.
He received the Purchase award in the Butler Institute of American Art's annual exhibition.[1]
Wilson was a survivor of lung cancer.

Death

He died in his sleep on the night of September 16, 2011[8] of pneu­mo­nia at a Cincin­nati hos­pi­tal. He was 80.[7]

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Tony Knap, American college football coach, died from Alzheimer's disease he was 96.


Anthony Joseph "Tony" Knap was an American college football coach. He was the head coach at Utah State (1963–66), Boise State (1968–75), and UNLV (1976–81), compiling a career college football record of 143–53–4.

(December 8, 1914 – September 24, 2011)

Early years and college

The oldest son of Polish immigrants, Knap was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and graduated from Riverside High School, where he as an All-City selection in football in 1934.[2] He accepted a scholarship to the University of Idaho, and played three varsity seasons for the Vandals for head coach Ted Bank. Among his UI teammates were future head coaches and administrators Lyle Smith[3] and Steve Belko.[4] Knap was a second-team All-Coast selection at end as a senior in 1938, the only Vandal to make any of the three teams.[1] The Vandals broke to an early 3-0-1 start in 1938 and there was early talk of the Rose Bowl in the national press.[5] Three conference losses later, the Vandals finished the season at 6-3-1, which would be Idaho's last winning season for a quarter century;[6] not improved upon until 1971.
Knap was also a pitcher and utility player for three seasons on the varsity baseball team.[7][8][9]

High school coach

After graduation in 1939, Knap became a high school teacher and coach in Bonners Ferry for three years,[10] and while waiting for his military commission, spent a fall at Lewiston High School in 1942 as an assistant under former Vandal teammate Steve Belko.[11][12] During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy, then returned to coaching after the war back in Idaho at Potlatch, where he stayed with the Loggers through 1948.[13] He attended a summer coaching clinic in 1949 in the Bay Area and was offered a head coaching position at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, California. Knap accepted and moved his family south to northern California. He stayed at the East Bay school for ten years, through the 1958 season. His overall record as a high school coach was 109-22-6 (.818).[2]

College coach

Utah State

Knap left Pittsburg to become an assistant coach at Utah State in 1959 under new coach John Ralston.[14][15] He was credited with developing the big, agile lines which contributed to the Aggies' rise to national prominence.[2] One of those lineman was Merlin Olsen, a future hall of famer in the NFL. (Olsen selected Knap for his presenter at the enshrinement ceremonies in 1982.)[16]
After posting a 26-3-1 regular season record in his final three years at USU, Ralston left Logan for Stanford after the 1962 season and Knap was quickly promoted to head coach,[10] where he compiled a 25-14-1 (.637) record in four seasons, from 1963 to 1966. His 1965 team was 8-2, but the Aggies slipped to 4-6 in 1966. With mixed support from his administrators, Knap resigned in January 1967 to accept a position with the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League.[17]
In rivalry games, his Utah State teams were 3-1 against BYU for The Old Wagon Wheel and 2-2 against Utah in the Battle of the Brothers.

Boise State

After one season as an assistant with the BC Lions in 1967, he succeeded Lyle Smith as head coach at Boise College in 1968, soon to become "Boise State College" (and BSU in 1974). Smith had just stepped down as head coach and as the athletic director, hired his former Vandal teammate. It was Boise's first year as an NAIA independent; it had previously competed in the junior college ranks. Two years later in 1970 the Broncos began play in the NCAA in Division II (then the "College Division") and the Big Sky Conference. Knap led the Broncos to a 71–19–1 (.788) record in eight years, including three ten-win seasons and three consecutive Big Sky titles (1973–75).[18]
He led the Broncos to a 3-1-1 record against his alma mater in the first five games of the Boise State–Idaho rivalry.

UNLV

His success in Boise led him south to Las Vegas in 1976, where he coached UNLV for six seasons and compiled a 47–20–2 record (.695), stepping down at age 67 after the 1981 season. UNLV made the Division II playoffs in his first season and moved up to Division I-A in 1978, his third season at the school. While Knap was head coach, the Rebels played as an independent; UNLV joined the PCAA the following season in 1982. He was inducted into UNLV's hall of fame in 1989.[19]
He led the Rebels to a 3-1 record over Nevada in the rivalry game for the Fremont Cannon. The game was not played in 1980, 1981, or 1982.

Personal

Knap met and married his wife, the former Mickey McFarland of Bonner's Ferry, during his first year as a teacher. They were wed in April 1941 and had three daughters: Jacqueline, Angeline, and Caroline.[20] In addition to his bachelor's degree, he also earned a master's degree, completing it in 1953 while in California.[10] Following his retirement from coaching, Knap and his wife moved to Walla Walla, Washington in 1982.[12] They were married over 70 years when he died in September 2011 at Bishop Place Retirement Center in Pullman; he had suffered for several years from Alzheimer's disease.[21]

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Utah State Aggies (Independent) (1963–1966)
1963 Utah State 8–2


1964 Utah State 5–4–1


1965 Utah State 8–2


1966 Utah State 4–6


Utah State: 25–14–1

Boise State Broncos (NAIA Independent) (1968–1969)
1968 Boise State 8–2


1969 Boise State 9–1


Boise State Broncos (Big Sky Conference) (1970–1975)
1970 Boise State 8–3 2–2 T–3rd
1971 Boise State 10–2 4–2 2nd W Camellia
1972 Boise State 7–4 3–3 T–3rd
1973 Boise State 10–3 6–0 1st L NCAA Division II Semifinal (Pioneer)
1974 Boise State 10–2 6–0 1st L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal
1975 Boise State 9–2–1 5–0–1 1st L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal
Boise State: 71–19–1 26–7–1
UNLV Rebels (Div. II Independent) (1976–1977)
1976 UNLV 9–3

L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal
1977 UNLV 9–2


UNLV Rebels (Div. I-A Independent) (1978–1981)
1978 UNLV 7–4


1979 UNLV 9–1–2


1980 UNLV 7–4


1981 UNLV 6–6


UNLV: 47–20–2

Total: 143–53–4
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title



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Willie "Big Eyes" Smith,American blues musician, died at 75.


Willie "Big Eyes" Smith was a Grammy Award-winning American electric blues vocalist, harmonica player, and multi-award winning drummer.[2] He was best known for several stints with the Muddy Waters band beginning in the early 1960s.

(January 19, 1936 – September 16, 2011)[

Born in Helena, Arkansas, United States, Smith learned to play harmonica at age seventeen just after moving to Chicago, Illinois. Smith's influences included listening to 78s and to KFFA King Biscuit radio shows, some of which were broadcast from Helena's Miller Theater, where he saw guitar player Joe Willie Wilkins, and harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson II. On a Chicago visit in 1953 his mother took him to hear Muddy Waters at the Zanzibar club, where Henry Strong's harp playing inspired him to learn that instrument. In 1956, at the age of eighteen he formed a trio. He led the band on harp, Bobby Lee Burns played guitar, and Clifton James, who was the drummer. As "Little Willie" Smith he played in the Rocket Four, led by blues guitarist Arthur "Big Boy" Spires, and made recordings that were later reissued on the Delmark label. In 1955 Smith played harmonica on Bo Diddley's recording of the Willie Dixon song "Diddy Wah Diddy" for the Checker label.[citation needed] Drummers were in more demand than harp players, so Smith switched to drums and starting playing with Muddy Waters band. In 1959, Smith recorded with Waters on the 1960 album Muddy Waters Sings Big Bill Broonzy a tribute to Big Bill Broonzy[3]
In 1961 Smith became a regular member of Muddy Water's band, which then consisted of George "Mojo" Buford, Luther Tucker, Pat Hare, and Otis Spann. By the mid '60s he'd left the band for more steady work as a cab driver. In the late '60s he rejoined Muddy's band and remained a permanent member until 1980. All of Muddy's Grammy Award winning albums (Hard Again, I'm Ready, They Call Me Muddy Waters, Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live, The London Muddy Waters Session, and The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album[4]) were released between 1971 and 1979, during Smith's tenure with the band. Though he did not play on all of these albums, Smith is estimated to have participated in twelve sessions yielding eighty-four tracks.[5]
In June 1980 Smith and other members of Muddy's band, Pinetop Perkins (piano), Calvin Jones (bass), and Jerry Portnoy (harmonica), and Smith on drums, stuck out on their own, also recruiting veteran Chicago blues man Louis Myers (harmonica/guitar) to form The Legendary Blues Band, with the vocals shared by all. Later that year, Smith and the Legendary Blues Band appeared backing John Lee Hooker in the movie The Blues Brothers (1980). Smith was the only band member, besides Hooker, to appear onscreen in close-up.[6] With varying personnel over the years, the Legendary Blues Band recorded seven albums, Life of Ease, Red Hot 'n' Blue, Woke Up with the Blues (nominated for a W. C. Handy Award), U B Da Judge, Prime Time Blues, and Money Talks, were recorded between 1981 to 1993. By the time Money Talks came out in 1993, Smith had become a very credible singer. The Legendary Blues Band toured with Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton.
His first solo recording started in 1995 with Bag Full of Blues, with Pinetop Perkins, harpist Kim Wilson, plus guitarists James Wheeler, Nick Moss, and Gareth Best. In 1999, Smith recorded with Muddy Waters son Big Bill Morganfield on his album Rising Son. Smith's album Way Back (2006), contained 11 songs, half of which he wrote. He was backed by Bob Margolin and Frank Krakowski on guitar, Pinetop Perkins on piano, and guest shots by James Cotton and others.
Smith's 2008 album, Born in Arkansas, utilized bassman Bob Stroger, pianist Barrelhouse Chuck, guitarist Billy Flynn, guitarist Little Frank Krakowski (who has worked with Smith for years) and his son and drummer, Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith. In June 2010, Smith released Joined at the Hip with Pinetop Perkins. Joining these two in the studio were bassist Bob Stroger, and Kenny Smith on drums. John Primer, who was another Muddy Waters band alumnus, joined on lead guitar along with Frank Krakowski.
On February 13, 2011, Smith won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album for Joined at the Hip, an album he recorded with Pinetop Perkins.

Death

Smith died following a stroke on September 16, 2011.[1]

The Blues Foundation Awards

Blues Music Awards[7]
Year Category Result
2011 Traditional Blues Album of the Year- Joined at the Hip(w/Pinetop Perkins) Winner
2009 Instrumentalist-Drums Winner
2008 Instrumentalist-Drums Winner
2007 Instrumentalist-Drums Winner
2006 Instrumentalist-Drums Winner
2005 Instrumentalist-Drums Winner
2004 Blues Instrumentalist-Drums Winner
2003 Blues Instrumentalist-Drums Winner
2002 Blues Instrumentalist-Drums Winner
1999 Blues Instrumentalist-Drums Winner
1998 Blues Instrumentalist-Drums Winner
1997 Blues Instrumentalist-Drums Winner
1996 Blues Instrumentalist-Drums Winner

Selective discography

As bandleader

2010 Joined At the Hip (with Pinetop Perkins) Blues Telarc
2008 Born in Arkansas Blues Big Eyes Records
2006 Way Back Blues Hightone
2004 Bluesin' It Blues Electro-Fi
2000 Blues from the Heart Blues Juke Joint
1999 Nothin' But The Blues Y'all Blues Juke Joint
1995 Bag Full of Blues Blues Blind Pig

Legendary Blues Band

Year Title Genre Label
1993 Money Talks Blues Wild Dog Blues
1992 Prime Time Blues Blues Wild Dog Blues
1991 U B Da Judge Blues Ichiban
1990 Keepin' the Blues Alive Blues Ichiban
1989 Woke up with the Blues Blues Ichiban
1983 Red Hot 'n' Blue Blues Rounder
1981 Life of Ease Blues Rounder

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Friday, February 22, 2013

Jimmy Leeward, American stunt and racing pilot, died from plane crash at 74.

James Kent "Jimmy" Leeward was an American air racer, owner of the Leeward Air Ranch in Ocala, Florida, and the pilot of the heavily modified North American P-51 Mustang racing aircraft, The Galloping Ghost.[2]

(October 21, 1936[1] – September 16, 2011) 


Career

Leeward grew up around airplanes and at age 11 or 12 often flew a Piper Cub with his father. At age 14, his father allowed him to fly solo in a North American T-6 Texan trainer aircraft. By age 18, he was flying charters in a Beechcraft Model 18. While still in college, he flew a Formula One racer in the Fort Wayne air races.[3] in 1964, he crewed on an airplane at the very first Reno Air Races and in 1976, he first flew his P-51D Mustang "Cloud Dancer" in the Unlimited Class at Reno. In 1983, he purchased the P-51D racer "Jeannie" from Wiley Sanders.[4] This airplane had a racing history going back to the Thompson Trophy races of the 1940s. Leeward raced this airplane at the Reno Air Races from 1983 to 1990. After a number of years of storage and then modifications, he returned to Reno with this aircraft, now returned to its original name The Galloping Ghost in 2010. In the interim years, he raced at Reno in his other Mustang, "Cloud Dancer".[3]
Besides the Mustangs, Leeward also owned a 1937 Ryan SCW, a Piper J-3 Cub and a 1932 Aeronca C-3 his father had owned and flown in the 1930s.[3] Active in aviation, in the 1970s he became a board member of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA).[5]
In 1982, Leeward began creating plans to build what would be the community of Leeward Air Ranch. He finished developing the community in 1983 and then worked as the developer for the Ocala Business Center, using a runway in the Leeward Air Ranch for air services.[6][7]
Apart from being an experienced air racer, Leeward also had several film credits[8] mainly as a stunt pilot.
Leeward began to drive in car races in the mid-1980s, driving at the Sunbank 24 Hour in 1986 at Daytona International Speedway[9] and injuring himself during qualifying in the Grand Prix of Miami of the same year.[10]

Death

Leeward died on September 16, 2011, when his aircraft went off course and crashed into the crowd at the National Championship Air Races at Reno Stead Airport, northwest of Reno, Nevada, killing 11 and injuring 69 spectators.
He was survived by his wife and four children.

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Kara Kennedy, American television producer, daughter of Ted Kennedy, died from a heart attack at 51.


Kara Anne Kennedy Allen  was a member of the American political dynasty, the Kennedy family. She was the oldest of the three children of U.S. Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy from Massachusetts, and the niece of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Bobby Kennedy. Kara Kennedy, the mother of two children, served on the boards of numerous charities and was a film maker and television producer.

(February 27, 1960 – September 16, 2011)

Early life and education

Kara Anne Kennedy was born in 1960 to Virginia Joan (nƩe Bennett) Kennedy and Edward Moore Kennedy, Sr. in Bronxville, New York. In his book True Compass, Senator Kennedy wrote about his joy at her birth: "I had never seen a more beautiful baby nor been more happy." Her siblings are Edward Moore Kennedy, Jr. (born 1961), and Patrick Joseph Kennedy II (born 1967). She spent her early years in Virginia and Cape Cod. She attended the National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C. and Trinity College, Hartford. Kennedy graduated from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.[2][3]

Career

After graduating from the National Cathedral School in 1978, Kennedy worked on her father's 1980 Presidential campaign before matriculating at Tufts University. Following the receipt of her degree in 1983 she pursued a career in television, working at Fox News in New York. She also was a producer for the television program Evening Magazine at station WBZ-TV in Boston.[2]
Kennedy co-managed her father's successful 1988 re-election campaign with her brother Ted.
Kennedy produced films for VSA arts, formerly known as Very Special Arts, an organization founded by her aunt Jean Kennedy Smith to encourage participation in the arts by persons with disabilities. One of Kennedy's best known projects was a film she produced on Chris Burke, the actor with Down's Syndrome who starred in the television series Life Goes On. She revealed that the film project had as much of a positive impact on her as it did on the viewing audience.
In 1990, Kennedy married architect and real estate developer Michael Allen of Jamestown, Rhode Island. When their first child, Grace, was born in September 1994, she made the decision to be a full time mother and homemaker. Her son Max was born in 1996.
Kennedy served as a director emerita and a national trustee of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation,[4] a non-profit organization that provides financial support, staffing, and creative resources for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, the presidential library and museum of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in Boston, Massachusetts.
Kennedy also gave her time to Sibley Hospital, and to the women of the N Street Village in Washington, D.C. She served as a board member of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate where she co-produced a film about the Institute that was shown at its inaugural groundbreaking event. Kennedy was a reading tutor and was preparing to join the Board of Reading Partners at the time of her death.
Kennedy was on the National Advisory Board of the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS).[5]

Personal life

In September 1990, Kennedy and Michael Allen, an architect and real estate developer from Rhode Island, were married at the Our Lady of Victory Church in Centerville, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a frequent site of Kennedy family events.[3] When she married, Kennedy dropped her middle name "Anne" and replaced it with her maiden name "Kennedy" as her new middle name.[2] They had two children: Grace Kennedy Allen (born September 19, 1994, in Washington, D.C.) and Max Greathouse Allen (born December 20, 1996, in Rockville, Maryland).[6] Kennedy and Allen divorced shortly before her death.[7]
In 2002, at age 42, Kennedy was diagnosed with lung cancer.[3] Initially told the disease was inoperable, she found — with her father's help — a surgeon at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who was willing to remove part of her right lung in an effort to save her life. The operation was successful, and she resumed an active life that included regular running and swimming.[8]
On August 12, 2009, Kennedy accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama on behalf of her father at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. Her father died thirteen days later; he had been diagnosed with brain cancer in May 2008.[9][10]
In April 2011, Kennedy wrote an article for The Boston Globe magazine about her father's influence on her and her family life with him growing up. Kennedy revealed her close relationship with her father, and the role he played in helping her to wage her battle against lung cancer.

Death

On September 16, 2011, Kennedy suffered a fatal heart attack in a Washington D.C. health club after her daily workout.[11] She was 51.[3][11]

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James Perry McCaffrey, a versatile and talented actor known for his iconic voice role as Max Payne in the Max Payne video game series, passed away on December 17, 2023, at the age of 65.

James McCaffrey.   GARY GERSHOFF/WIREIMAGE James Perry McCaffrey, a versatile and talented actor known for his iconic voice role as Max Payn...