2019 IN MEMORIAM: It's So Hard To Say Goodbye

IN MEMORIAM

A number of noteworthy people closed their eyes for the last time in 2019. They were writers, actors, directors, musicians, publicists, entertainment executives, activists, community leaders, and politicians. All were influential in their own way. And, before leaving the planet, they all made their mark and touched the lives of so many.  This column remembers their legacies and pays tribute to those who passed this way.  Respect!

JANUARY

Jan. 5 – Mungau Dain, an actor from the Pacific Islands. He was 24.

Jan. 6 – Kwamie Lassiter, former Arizona Cardinals safety. He was 49.

Jan. 7 – John Lyle, Tuskegee Airman.  He was 98.

Jan. 7 - Clydie King, backup singer. She was 75.

Jan. 10 -  Larry Cunningham, member of The Floaters - “Float On.” He was 67.

Jan. 15 – Carol Channing, actress, singer, Broadway and film icon.  She was 97.

Jan. 19 – Tikey “Trap House” Patterson, rapper. He was 35.

Jan. 22 – Kevin Barnett. Co-creator/executive producer of Rel. He was 32.

Jan. 26 – Dr. James Frank, former commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. He was 89.

James Ingram

Jan. 29 – James Ingram. Soul singer. He was 66.

Jan. 31 – Susan Jarreau, widow of singer Al Jarreau.

FEBRUARY

Feb. 3 – Dr. Michelle King, the first African American woman to lead L.A. Unified. She was 57.

Kristoff St. John

Feb. 3-4 – Kristoff St. John, the actor is known for his role in The Young and the Restless. He was 52.

Feb. 6 – Lonnie Simmons, music producer, exec. He was 74.

Feb. 7 - Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, first black Major League Baseball manager. He was 83.

Feb. 9 – Blaine “Cadet” Johnson, rapper. He was 28.

Feb. 9 – Willie Bo, rapper. He was 21.

Feb. 10 – Nehanda Abiodun, Revolutionary who fled to Cuba. She was 68.

Feb 11 – Harvey Scales, singer, songwriter, producer. He was 77.

Feb. 15 - Kofi Burbridge, keyboardist, flutist. (Tedeschi Trucks Band)  He was 57.

Feb. 16 – Rev. Dr. John Cherry, founder of From The Heart Church Ministries. He was 79.

Feb. 19 - Don Newcombe, legendary LA Dodgers pitcher. He was 92.

Feb. 19 - Artie Wayne, songwriter/singer/publisher. He was 77.

Feb. 28 - Nathaniel Taylor, actor. Rollo on Sanford & Sons. He was 80.

MARCH

March 2 - Janice Freeman, a contestant on The Voice. She was 33.

March 3 - Sharon Woodson-Bryant, journalist, mentor.  She was 71.

  

March 3 - Med Hondo, the firebrand French-Mauritanian pioneer of African cinema.  He was 82.

March 9 - Freeda Foreman, former boxer and daughter of two-time heavyweight champion George Foreman. She was 42.

March 10 – Reggie Rutherford, entertainment executive/cameraman/stage manager. He was 66.

March 10 – Pius Adesanmi, Nigerian-born Canadian professor, director of Carleton University's Institute of African Studies and a professor at the Ottawa school.

March 13 - Michael Wycoff, singer/pianist. He was 63.

March 15 - Johnny Lam Jones, former New York Jets and UT Longhorn player. Olympic Gold Medalist. He was 60.

March 18 – Andre Williams, R&B singer-producer. He was 82.

Eunetta T. Boone

March 20 – Eunetta T. Boone, TV writer, producer. She was 63.

March 21 - John H. Adams, Jr. Tuskegee Airman. He was 96.

March 26 - Ranking Roger, co-founder of General Public, English beat singer. He was 56.

March 24 - Bob Slade, radio legend. 

Nipsey Hussle

March 31 – Nipsey Hussle, rapper. He was 33.

APRIL

April 2 - Lorraine Branham, Syracuse University Newhouse dean. She was 66.

Kim English

April 2 – Kim English, gospel singer. She was 48.

April 16 - Kent “Boogaloo” Harris, legendary songwriter. He was 88.

April 26 – Larry “Flash” Jenkins, actor. He was 63.

April 26 – Jessie Lawrence Ferguson, Boyz N The Hood actor. He was 76.

John Singleton

April 28 - John Singleton, director, screenwriter, producer. He was 51.

MAY

May 8 - Chris McNair, father of Carol Denise McNair who was killed in the 1963 church bombings. He was 93.

May 15 –Chuck Barksdale, bass singer of the legendary group The Dells.  He was 84.

May 19 - Melvin Edmonds, co-founder and co-lead singer of After 7.

May 21 - Binyavanga Wainaina, one of Africa’s best-known authors and gay rights activists.    He was 48.

May 28 – Willie Ford, The Dramatics co-founder, and bass singer. He was 68.

May 28 - John Gary Williams (The Mad Lads). He was 73.

May 30 – Kam Williams, prolific journalist and film critic. He was 66.

May 30 – Patricia Bath, pioneering ophthalmologist. She was 76.

May 30 – Frank Lucas, (American Gangster) American drug trafficker.  He was 88.

JUNE

Leah Chase 

June 1 - Leah Chase, owner of Dooky Chase restaurant in New Orleans.  She was 96.

June 4 - Billy Mayo, Actor. He was 61.

June 9 - Bushwick Bill, Geto Boys rapper. He was 52.

June 14 – DJ Official, Grammy award-winning producer. He was 26.

June 27 – John Shearer, photographer. He was 72.

June 28 - Paul Benjamin, actor. He was 81.

JULY

Jada Russell

July 2 - Jada Russell, CEO of High Style Marketing and PR. She was 45.

July 5 - Tyshon Dye, former Clemson running back. He was 25.

July 9, Phil Freelon, architect and co-designer of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.  He was 66.

July 10 - Jerry Lawson, baritone lead singer, and arranger for The Persuasions.  He was 75.

July 13 – Sadie Roberts-Joseph, founder of the Baton Rouge African American Museum. She was 75. 

July 14 - Pernell ‘Sweet Pea’ Whitaker, Hall of Fame boxer who won Olympic gold. He was 55.

July 15 – Edith Irby Jones. The first black student to enroll at an all-white medical school in the South and later became the first female president of the National Medical Association. She was 91.

July 16 – Johnny Clegg, a South Africa musician who performed in defiance of racial barriers imposed under the country’s apartheid system. He was 66.

July 17 – Elijah “Pumpsie” Green, the former Boston Red Sox infielder was the first black player on the last major league team to field one.  He was 85.

July 19 - Al McKenzie, The Temptations music director. He was 57.

July 22 - Art Neville, Neville Brothers. He was 81.

AUGUST

Aug. 2 – Dr. Carl Bell, psychiatrist; a national leader in treating childhood trauma resulting from violence. He was 71.

Aug. 3 - Shannon McDonald, Lancaster Commissioner. She was 43.

Toni Morrison

Aug. 6 – Toni Morrison, novelist (Beloved). She was 88.

Aug. 12 – Darryl Drake, Pittsburgh Steelers Wide Receivers Coach. He was 62.

Aug. 12 – Rev. E.V. Hill II, senior pastor of Mount Zion MB Church in Los Angeles. He was 52.

Aug. 14 – Al Broomfield, singer. He was 65.

Aug. 16 - Nancy Parker, New Orleans award-winning broadcast journalist.  She was 53.

Aug. 16 - Franklin Augustus, New Orleans stunt pilot.  He was 69.

Aug. 17 - Cedric Benson, Former Longhorn, NFL running back. He was 36.

Aug. 25 - Gerald Buddie Tiller, Dem Franchise Boy Member.

Aug. 26 - Isabel Toledo, designer for Michelle Obama. She was 59.

Aug. 27 - Pedro Bell, artist of Funkadelic album covers. He was 69.

SEPTEMBER

Sept 4 - Lashawn Daniels, Grammy-winning songwriter. He was 41. 

Sept. 5 – Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. He was 95.

Sept 6 - Clay McMurray, songwriter, producer and engineer.

John Wesley

Sept. 8 - John Wesley, actor. He was 72.

Sept. 9 – Joan Johnson, co-founder of Johnson Products Company. She was 89.

Sept. 14 - Juanita Abernathy, U.S. civil rights advocate. She was 88.

Sept. 14 – Azellia White, one of the first African American women to earn a pilot’s license in the U.S.   She was 106.

Sept. 20 – Veniece Starks, Atlantic Records promo rep.  She was 79.

Sept. 27 – Jimmy “Dollar Bill Y’all” Spicer, rapper. He was 60.

Jessye Norman

Sept. 30 – Jessye Norman, regal soprano/Grammy-winner. She was 74.

Sept. 30 - Annette Butler, singer married to Jerry “Iceman” Butler.  She was 81.

  

OCTOBER

Oct 1 – Louis Rankin, dancehall artist. He was 66.

Diahann Carroll

Oct. 4 – Diahann Carroll, groundbreaking actress. She was 84.

Oct. 5 - John Mbiti, theologian and an Anglican priest, he punctured myths about African religions. He was 87.

Oct. 11 - Charles Jones, co-founder of Capital City Mambo Sauce. He was 45.

Oct. 16 – Patrick Day, boxer. He was 27.

Elijah Cummings

Oct. 17 – Elijah Cummings, legendary Baltimore Congressman. He was 68.

Oct. 17 - Ray Santos, Latin music maestro. He was 90.

Oct. 22 – Mary Stampley, daughter of gospel singer Micah Stampley. She was 15.

Oct. 22 – Willie Brown, Oakland Raiders cornerback. NFL Hal of Famer. He was 78.

Oct. 24 - State Sen. Leroy Johnson, First back Georgia state senator elected after Reconstruction. He was 91.

Rep. John Conyers

Oct. 27 – Rep. John Conyers, former Detroit Congressman; longest-serving African American in Congressional history. He was 90.

Oct. 29 – John Witherspoon, comedian. He was 77.

Oct. 28 - Andile Gumbi, former Simba in Broadway’s The Lion King. He was 36.

NOVEMBER

Nov. 5 – Ernest J. Gaines, novelist, “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” and “A Lesson Before Dying.”  He was 86.

Nov. 8 – Jackie Moore, known for her 1970 hit “Precious, Precious.”  She was 73.

Nov. 10 - Bernard J. Tyson, Kaiser Chairman/CEO. He was 60.

Nov. 11 – Charles Rogers, former Detroit Lions wide receiver and Michigan State University football star. He was 38.

Nov. 18 – Jamarr Antonio “Bad Azz” Stamps, rapper. He was 43.

Nov. 20 – Harrison Dillard, a four-time Olympic champion. He was 96.

Nov. 20 – Almaas Elman, a Somali-Canadian aid worker, and activist.

Nov. 27 - Rev. Clay Evans, legendary preacher and gospel icon. He was 94.

Nov. 20 – Pastor Dimitri Bradley, City Church of Richmond. He was 51.

Nov. 23 - Barbara Hillary, trailblazer explorer. First black woman to reach north and south poles. She was 88.

Nov. 25 – Rev. George Clements, Holy Angels pastor, and advocate for civil rights and adoption. He was 87.

Nov. 29 - Irving Burgie, songwriter of Calypso hit “Day-O”. He was 95.

DECEMBER

Dec. 4 - Dr. Margaret Lawrence, pioneering Black female psychoanalyst, and pediatrician. She was 105.

Jarad Anthony "Juice Wrld" Higgins

Dec. 8 – Jarad Anthony “Juice Wrld” Higgins. He was 21.

Dec. 13 - Richard Hatcher, Gary, Indiana’s first African American mayor and first African American mayor of a large U.S. city. He was 86.

Dec. 15 - James “Radio” Kennedy, the inspiration behind the movie, “Radio.” Cuba Gooding, Jr. played him in the movie. He was 73.

Dec. 16 - Earl Paysinger, former LAPD first assistant chief.  He was 64.

Dec. 16 – Ruby Collins, singer. She was 51.

Dec. 18 - Coach Herman Boone, T.C. Williams High School football head coach played by Denzel Washington in "Remember The Titans."  He was 84.
Dec. 21 – Robert Seth Hayes, former Black Panther. He was 72.

Dec. 24 – Edward Aschoff, ESPN football reporter. He was 34.

Dec. 25 – George Moore, former newsman, deejay, and radio personality.