Deaths in 2007

The following is a list of notable deaths in 2007. Names are listed under the date of death, not the date it was announced. Names under each date are listed in alphabetical order by family name.

A typical entry appears in the following sequence:

• Name, age, country of citizenship and reason for notability, established cause of death, reference.

October 2007

23

• John Ilhan, 42, Turkish-Australian founder of Crazy John's mobile phone retail chain, suspected heart attack. [1]
• Lim Goh Tong, 90, Malaysian Chinese billionaire, founder of the Genting Group. [2]

22

• Brendan McWilliams, 63, Irish meteorologist and writer. [3]

21

• Surinder Singh Bajwa, 52, Indian politician, Deputy Mayor of Delhi, fall after rhesus macaque attack. [4]
• Paul Fox, 56, British guitarist (The Ruts), lung cancer. [5]
• Lance Hahn, 40, American musician (J Church, Cringer) and journalist, kidney disease. [6]
• R. B. Kitaj, 74, American-born artist. [7]
• Atko Viru, 75, Estonian sports scientist. [8] (Estonian)

20

• Peg Bracken, 89, American cookbook writer. [9]
• Ivo Cappo, 55, Papua New Guinean magistrate, stoning. [10]
• Shav Glick, 87, American motorsports journalist, complications from melanoma. [11]
• Max McGee, 75, American professional football player (Green Bay Packers), fall from roof. [12]
• Jim Mitchell, 60, American professional football player (Atlanta Falcons), heart attack. [13]
• Bob Packard, 64, American football player/coach for Baldwin-Wallace College, heart attack. [14]
• Helend Peep, 97, Estonian actor. [15] (Estonian)
• Paul Raven, 46, British rock bassist (Ministry, Killing Joke), heart attack. [16]
• Yomi Tella, 56, Nigerian coach of the World Cup–winning under-17 football team, cancer. [17]

19

• LaLa Brown, 21, American R&B singer, shot. [18]
• Michael Maidens, 20, British footballer for Hartlepool United, car accident. [19]
• Jan Wolkers, 81, Dutch writer and artist. [20]

18

• Alan Coren, 69, British writer and satirist, cancer. [21] [22]
• William J. Crowe, 82, American Ambassador to UK (1994–1997), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1985–1989), cardiac arrest. [23]
• Vincent DeDomenico, 92, American inventor of Rice-a-Roni. [24]
• Lucky Dube, 43, South African reggae musician, shot during carjacking. [25]
• Joe Sellwood, 96, Australian who was oldest living AFL/VFL footballer. [26] [27]

17

• Billy Berroa, 79, Dominican Spanish broadcaster for New York Mets on WADO, prostate cancer. [28]
• Joey Bishop, 89, American entertainer, last surviving member of the Rat Pack. [29] [30]
• Teresa Brewer, 76, American pop and jazz singer, supranuclear palsy. [31]
• Sammy Duddy, 62, British political activist, member of the Northern Irish loyalist UPRG, heart attack. [32]
• Germán Espinosa, 69, Colombian writer, cancer. [33] (Spanish)
• Delphia Hankins, 111, American supercentenarian who was Mississippi's oldest person. [34]
• Maria Kwaśniewska, 94, Polish javelin thrower, 1936 Olympic bronze medallist. [35] (Polish)
• Lord Oliver of Aylmerton, 86, British law lord (1986–1992). [36]
• Aminu Safana, 46, Nigerian MP, heart attack. [37]
• Taku, 14, American orca at SeaWorld San Antonio. [38]
• Rey Urbano, American professional wrestler. [39]
• Rüdiger von Wechmar, 83, German diplomat and politician. [40] (German)
• Robert A. Young, 83, American member of the US House of Representatives from Missouri (1977–1987). [41]

16

• Rosalio Castillo Lara, 85, Venezuelan Roman Catholic cardinal. [42]

• Ignacy Jeż, 93, Polish Roman Catholic bishop. [43]
• Deborah Kerr, 86, British actress (From Here to Eternity, Black Narcissus, The King and I), complications of Parkinson's disease. [44]
• Arbab Jehangir Khan, 72, Pakistani politician, former NWFP Chief Minister, cardiac arrest. [45]
• Jerzy Markuszewski, 76, Polish theatre director and dissident. [46] (Polish)
• Toše Proeski, 26, Macedonian singer, car accident. [47]
• Steve J. Spears, 56, Australian author, playwright and television writer, cancer. [48]

15

• Gerardo Alfaro, 34, Mexican TV entertainment reporter, cerebral hemorrhage related to lymphoma. [49] (Spanish)
• Vito Taccone, 67, Italian cyclist, myocardial infarction. [50] (Italian)
• Ernest Withers, 85, American photographer, stroke. [51]

14

• Salih Saif Aldin, 32, Iraqi correspondent for The Washington Post, shot. [52]
• Big Moe, 33, American rapper, heart attack. [53]
• Judy Crichton, 77, American television producer, leukemia. [54]
• Raymond Pellegrin, 82, French actor. [55] (French)
• Frances Rich, 97, American actress and sculptor.

• Slew o'Gold, 27, American thoroughbred racehorse and Hall of Fame inductee, euthanized. [56]

13

• Vernon Bellecourt, 75, Native American activist, pneumonia. [57]
• Andrée de Jongh, 90, Belgian Resistance member, organized the Comet Line POW escape network. [58]
• Bob Denard, 78, French mercenary. [59]
• Alec Kessler, 40, American basketball player (Georgia Bulldogs, Miami Heat), heart attack. [60]
• James L. Oakes, 83, American federal judge. [61]
• Yury Sivkov, 53, Russian Federation Council member, drowned. [62]

12

• Paulo Autran, 85, Brazilian actor, lung cancer. [63]
• Kim Edward Beazley, 90, Australian politician, former government minister. [64]
• Lonny Chapman, 87, American actor, heart disease. [65]
• Kisho Kurokawa, 73, Japanese architect, heart failure. [66]
• Rajinder Singh Sarkaria, 91, Indian Supreme Court judge (1973–1981), head of the Sarkaria Commission. [67]
• Soe Win, 59, Burmese Prime Minister (2004–2007), leukemia. [68]

11

• Sri Chinmoy, 76, Indian-born philosopher and guru, heart attack. [69]
• Ignatius D'Cunha, 83, Indian Bishop Emeritus of Aurangabad. [70]
• David Lee "Tex" Hill, 92, American fighter pilot and flying ace, member of the Flying Tigers. [71]
• Rauni Mollberg, 78, Finnish film director, leukemia. [72] (Finnish)
• Pat “Gravy” Patterson, 73, American baseball and football coach at Louisiana Tech, suicide by gunshot. [73]
• Roy Rosenzweig, 57, American historian, lung cancer. [74]
• David Salmon, 95, American Athabascan tribal chief, cancer. [75]
• Werner von Trapp, 91, Austrian-born musician and singer, member of the Trapp Family Singers who inspired The Sound of Music. [76]

10

• Isak "Rain" Bjerknes, 22, Norwegian professional wrestler, car accident. [77]
• Anne Christopher, 112, American supercentenarian, Georgia's oldest person. [78]
• Ambrose De Paoli, 73, American-born Roman Catholic Archbishop, nuncio to Australia, leukemia. [79]
• Francis Garcia, 49, Mexican transvestite actress and designer, pulmonary thrombosis. [80] (Spanish)
• Norman Mashabane, 51, South African politician, former ambassador to Indonesia, car accident. [81]
• Mehmed Uzun, 54, Turkish novelist, stomach cancer. [82]

9

• Enrico Banducci, 85, American nightclub impresario (North Beach, San Francisco). [83]
• Carol Bruce, 87, American actress (WKRP in Cincinnati), COPD. [84]
• Henk van Brussel, 72, Dutch footballer and football manager, heart attack. [85] (Dutch)
• Fausto Correia, 55, Portuguese politician, heart attack. [86] (Portuguese)
• Robert McGehee, 64, American Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Progress Energy Inc, stroke. [87]
• Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge, 38, American musician and performance artist, heart attack. [88]
• Dudley Ryder, 7th Earl of Harrowby, 84, British aristocrat and banker. [89]
• Kurt Schwaen, 98, German composer, natural causes. [90] (German)
• Bram Zeegers, 58, Dutch lawyer and key witness in the trial of Willem Holleeder. [91]

8

• Constantine Andreou, 90, Brazilian-born Greek-French painter and sculptor. [92] (Greek)
• Milan Đukić, 61, Serbian-Croatian politician, leader of the Serb People's Party. [93]

• John Henry, 32, American Hall of Fame thoroughbred racehorse, euthanized after kidney failure. [94]

• Josep Gibert, 66, Spanish anthropologist, lymphoma. [95] (Catalan)
• Zdzisław Peszkowski, 89, Polish Roman Catholic priest, advocate for the families of Katyn victims. [96]

• Salem Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, 69, Kuwaiti politician, member of the ruling family, after long illness. [97]

7

• Norifumi Abe, 32, Japanese MotoGP racer, traffic accident. [98]
• Stéphane Maurice Bongho-Nouarra, 70, Congolese Prime Minister (1992). [99] (French)
• Sir Alan Campbell, 88, British diplomat. [100]
• Sisi Chen, 69, Chinese actress, pancreatic cancer. [101]
• Luciana Frassati-Gawronska, 105, Polish-Italian writer and anti-Nazi activist, mother of Jas Gawronski. [102] (Italian)
• George E. Sangmeister, 76, American member of the US House of Representatives from Illinois (1989–1995), leukemia. [103]
• Jirina Steimarova, 91, Czech actress. [104]
• Joe Waggonner, 89, American member of the US House of Representatives from Louisiana (1961–1979). [105]

6

• Babasaheb Bhosale, 86, Indian politician, Chief Minister of Maharashtra (1982–1983). [106]
• Robert W. Bussard, 79, American physicist, researcher of nuclear fusion, cancer. [107]
• Jo Ann Davis, 57, American member of the US House of Representatives from Virginia since 2001, breast cancer. [108]
• Rodney Diak, 83, British stage and film actor, cancer. [109]
• Bud Ekins, 77, American motorcycle racer and stunt performer (The Great Escape), natural causes. [110] [111]
• Luca Giacometti, 44, Italian guitarist (Modena City Ramblers), car accident. [112] (Italian)
• Terence Hutchison, 95, British economist. [113]
• Tom Murphy, 39, Irish Tony Award-winning actor of stage and screen, lymphatic cancer. [114]
• Laza Ristovski, 51, Serbian keyboardist (Smak, Bijelo dugme), multiple sclerosis. [115] (Croatian)
• Robert Shipley, 70, American radio host (WAMU-FM, Washington, DC), cancer. [116]
• Elsa Tauser, 111, Germany's oldest person, natural causes. [117] (German)

5

• John Atchison, 53, American federal prosecutor and alleged child sex offender, suicide. [118]
• Alexandra Boulat, 45, French photojournalist, aneurism. [119]
• Walter Kempowski, 78, German author and archivist, intestinal cancer. [120]
• Władysław Kopaliński, 99, Polish lexicographer. [121] (Polish)
• Vladimir Kuzin, 77, Russian 1956 Winter Olympics gold medallist, long illness. [122] (Russian)
• Steven Massarsky, 59, American attorney and businessman, complications related to cancer. [123]
• George Malone, 67, American singer, second tenor of The Monotones, complications from stroke. [124]
• Edwyn Owen, 71, American ice hockey player, gold medallist at the 1960 Winter Olympics, car fire. [125]
• Matilde Salvador i Segarra, 89, Spanish composer, stroke. [126] (Spanish)
• Irmgard von Stephani, 112, Germany's oldest person. [127]
• Justin Tuveri, 109, Italian-French World War I veteran. [128]

4

• Earl Bennett, 87, American comedian, sound effects and film editor. [129]
• Bob Burdick, 70, American NASCAR driver. [130]
• Chen Chi-Li, 64, Taiwanese triad member, former leader of the United Bamboo Gang, pancreatic cancer. [131]
• Lorenzo D'Auria, 33, Italian member of SISMI kidnapped in Afghanistan, shot. [132]
• Antonie Iorgovan, 59, Romanian politician, main author of the Constitution of Romania, heart attack. [133]
• Don Nottebart, 71, American Major League Baseball player, stroke. [134]

3

• Violet Kazue de Cristoforo, 90, American poet, held in Japanese-American internment camps during WWII, stroke. [135]
• Kenneth R. Harding, 93, Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives (1972 - 1980), pneumonia. [136]
• Jimmy Hutmaker, 75, American alleged to be 'Mr. Jimmy" in The Rolling Stones song You Can't Always Get What You Want. [137]
• Henry Keezing, 77, American newspaper editor, after brief illness. [138]
• Herbert Muschamp, 59, American architecture critic for The New York Times, lung cancer. [139]
• Pablo Palazuelo, 90, Spanish artist. [140] (Spanish)
• Tony Ryan, 71, Irish entrepreneur and joint founder of Ryanair, after long illness. [141]
• Rogelio Salmona, 78, Colombian architect, Alvar Aalto Medal and Prince Claus Award winner, cancer. [142]
• Sir Richard Trant, 79, British Army general. [143]
• M. N. Vijayan, 77, Indian academic, writer and journalist. [144]

2

• Frederick Bayer, 85, American emeritus curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, congestive heart failure. [145]
• Tex Coulter, 83, American National and Canadian Football League player. [146]
• Gianni Danzi, 67, Italian Archbishop of the Territorial Prelature of Loreto. [147]
• Elfi von Dassanowsky, 83, Austrian opera singer, actress and film producer. [148]
• Šime Đodan, 79, Croatian parliamentarian, defence minister (1991). [149]
• Gary Franklin, 79, American film critic, KABC-TV (Los Angeles). [150]
• Richard Goldwater, 67, American president of Archie Comics, creator of Josie and the Pussycats, cancer. [151]
• George Grizzard, 79, American actor, lung cancer. [152]
• Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, 94, former Princess of Greece, last surviving great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. [153]
• Dan Keating, 105, Irish republican activist, last surviving veteran of the Irish War of Independence. [154]
• J. Edward Lundy, 92, American automobile executive (Ford Motor Co.). [155]
• Tawn Mastrey, 53, American radio disc jockey (KNAC), hepatitis C. [156]
• James Michaels, 86, American editor of Forbes (1961–1999), pneumonia. [157]

• José Antonio Ríos Granados, 48, Mexican politician, PAN mayor of Tultitlán (2000–2003), air crash. [158] (Spanish)

1

• Chien Yi-Fei, 60, Taiwanese basketball coach, nasopharyngeal cancer. [159]
• Bernard Delaire, 108, last French Naval veteran of World War I. [160] (French)
• Bruce Hay, 57, British rugby player for Britain and Scotland, brain tumour. [161]
• Ronnie Hazlehurst, 79, British theme song composer (Are You Being Served?) and jazz musician, stroke. [162]
• Israel Kugler, 90, American labor leader and professor, pneumonia. [163]
• Harry Lee, 75, American politician, Sheriff of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, leukemia. [164]
• Chris Mainwaring, 41, Australian footballer (West Coast Eagles), television and radio sports journalist. [165]
• Al Oerter, 71, American athlete and Olympic gold medallist in discus (1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968), heart failure. [166]
• Tetsuo Okamoto, 75, Brazilian swimmer and Brazil's first Olympic swimming medallist (1952), respiratory failure. [167]
• Pedro Saul Perez, 54, Dominican advocate for the rights of Dominican immigrants in Puerto Rico, heart attack. [168]
• Ned Sherrin, 76, British broadcaster and theatre producer, throat cancer. [169]
• Ralph W. Sturges, 88, American Mohegan tribal chief. [170]
• Henry Wells, 92, American expert on Latin American politics, professor and author, complications from Alzheimer's disease. [171]

September 2007

See Deaths in September 2007.

August 2007

See Deaths in August 2007.

July 2007

See Deaths in July 2007.

June 2007

See Deaths in June 2007.

May 2007

See Deaths in May 2007.

April 2007

See Deaths in April 2007.

March 2007

See Deaths in March 2007.

February 2007

See Deaths in February 2007.

January 2007

See Deaths in January 2007.

External links

• Obituaries on the Web
  • General
    • Obituaries.com
    • Recent AP Obituaries
  • US
    • The New York Times: Obituaries
    • Washington Post: Obituaries
    • The Boston Globe: Obituaries
  • South Africa
    • Mail & Guardian (South Africa) Obituaries
  • UK
    • The Daily Telegraph: Obituaries
    • The Guardian: Obituaries
    • The Independent: Obituaries
    • The Times: Obituaries
    • Lasting Tribute: Obituaries
  • Australia
    • The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia): Obituaries

• Specialized websites
  • Entertainment Insiders
  • coffindodgers
  • Celebrity Death Beeper
  • Celebrity Obits
  • Dead or Alive
  • Dead People Server
  • Famous Dead Database
  • Find a Grave
  • Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring Freedom Casualties
  • VIPatients.com
  • Writers We've Lost
  • Written in Stone - Literary deaths

For earlier deaths, see Deaths in 2006, Deaths in 2005, Deaths in 2004, Deaths in 2003, Deaths in 2002, Deaths in 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, ...