The Hardest-Working Paper in America
Maureen O'Donnell
I write obituary stories for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Renowned sportswriter Bill Nack, dead at 77, wrote classic book on Secretariat
Bill Nack, who grew up in Skokie, wrote classic pieces on Secretariat and others in a storied career, most famously at Sports Illustrated.
Irfan Ahmad Khan, Islamic scholar who promoted interfaith ties, dead at 86
Irfan Ahmad Khan was one of the best-known Quranic scholars in Chicago’s South Asian Muslim community and worked to promote interfaith understanding.
Aaron Elster, who kept Holocaust memories alive via 3-D hologram, dead at 86
Aaron Elster is one of a handful of Holocaust survivors whose memories will live on thanks to holograms at the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie.
Gold Coast real estate broker, philanthropist Gabrielle Weisberg has died at 60
Gabrielle Weisberg was “the type of woman who said, “I want to be a member” — and she shows up for you,” said Service Club president Tracey DiBuono.
Izola White, who ran landmark South Side soul food restaurant, dead at 96
Izola White, whose namesake Izola’s Restaurant in Chatham was a South Side landmark, has died at 96.
Yvonne Staples of the Staple Singers dead at 80
Yvonne Staples, who helped propel Chicago’s Staple Singers into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died at 80 at her South Shore home.
Bill Freeman, 40-year Chicago cop worked with kids, stars, Bulls, dead at 76
Bill “Chico” Freeman was a cop for 40 years, much of that at Henry Horner Homes, where he urged kids to work hard. He also was a bodyguard to stars.
Music marketer Mike Egan, dead at 64, ‘guy who would turn you on to early Cure’
Mike Egan, a longtime Chicago music marketer, is dead of a heart attack at 64. “He had good ears,” says Joe Shanahan, founder of Metro and smartbar.
Chicago banker Alfred O’Malley, dead at 89, had role in financing ‘The Graduate’
Alfred O’Malley, who for decades headed Chicago’s Standard Bank, has died at 89. He had a role in financing “The Graduate” and “The Lion in Winter.”
2 Chicago stars from golden age of gospel, Ann Yancy and Clay Graham, have died
Chicago’s Ann Yancy and Clay Graham, who were stars during the golden age of gospel music, have died.
Longtime casket salesman John Gibbons laid to rest in one of his own models
John Gibbons’ 70-year career selling caskets is “a damn-near record,” said Michael Beardsley of the Casket and Funeral Supply Association of America.
Arnold R. Hirsch dies; analyzed Chicago segregation in influential book
Author Ta-Nehesi Coates once wrote in The Atlantic: “. . . .if you want to understand modern Chicago, you can’t do without Hirsch’s work.”
Coach, teacher Mark Rebora, dead at 57, inspired kids at Glenbrook North, Loyola
Mark Rebora “didn’t hold anything back,” said his son Cole. “Always pedal to the metal 110 percent, everything he did, family, friends, partying.”
Futures trader Ivan Lefton, who escaped Hungary to freedom, dead at 70
Ivan Lefton, a futures trader who lived in River North, has died of complications from sepsis and pneumonia. He was 70.
Jay B. Ross, lawyer who fought for royalties for music legends, dead at 76
Chicago entertainment lawyer Jay B. Ross “was ‘Mr. Fix-It’ for bad contracts,” said singer Tomiko Dixon, granddaughter of blues legend Willie Dixon.
