The Hardest-Working Paper in America
I write obituary stories for the Chicago Sun-Times.
TV journalist Elizabeth Brackett dies after bike accident, services Wednesday
Elizabeth Brackett’s funeral will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Kenilworth Union Church in Kenilworth.
Anthony Gattuso dies at 86; Italian immigrant held many jobs, became star cook
An immigrant from the small town of Valanidi in southernmost Italy, it took him two weeks by boat to get to America in 1953.
Gamaliel Ramirez, dead at 68, his Chicago murals captured beauty of Puerto Rico
Gamaliel Ramirez’s formal education ended in grade school, but he taught himself to paint and left his mark on Chicago with his murals and paintings.
Jazz pianist, composer, Chicago club favorite Ghalib Ghallab has died at 67
Jazz pianist and composer Ghalib Ghallab, a favorite at Chicago clubs and in Las Vegas, died Tuesday of cancer, his wife said. He was 67.
Peggy Roche Boyle, who taught Irish dance for over 40 years, has died at 73
Peggy Roche Boyle was a heel-clicking, tapping, leaping link to the line of teachers who kept Irish dance steps alive.
Ed Kirk, who helped build an aquatic dynasty at DuSable High School, dead at 87
Swimming for DuSable High School in 1950, Ed Kirk is believed to be the first African-American statewide swim champ in Illinois. He has died at 87.
Mundelein College president Sr. Ann Ida Gannon dies at 103
“She was ahead of her time in many ways,” said Sr. Jean Dolores Schmidt, chaplain for Loyola University’s men’s basketball team.
Bernard ‘Bernie’ Carey, former Cook County state’s attorney, has died at 83
Bernard Carey, who was propelled into the Cook County state’s attorney’s office because of outrage over the killings of two Black Panthers, has died.
Barbara Steiner, who helped build Holocaust museum in Skokie, dead at 92
Barbara Steiner, who survived Nazi camps and helped build the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie, died Wednesday at 92.
Donna Alexander, ex-‘Breck Girl’ who headed Cook County Animal Control, has died
Donna Alexander, Cook County Animal and Rabies Control boss, dies at 61. As a teen, she was among first African-American “Breck Girls” in shampoo ads.
Desiree L. Tate, dead at 62, was a consultant to Obama, Rahm, Harold Washington
Public relations expert Desiree Tate “was a significant civic leader,” said Leon D. Finney Jr., head of the Woodlawn Community Development Corp.
Lewis Myers Jr., Chicago lawyer hailed as a champion of civil rights, dead at 70
Chicago attorney Lewis Myers Jr. “was a pioneering figure and a champion of civil and human rights,” said U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Illinois.
Family will remember one of last WWII ‘Tin Can sailors’ on Memorial Day
“We got hit with a suicide plane. It bounced off the bridge, blew me off to the deck below,” World War II sailor Vic Kubelsky recalled years later.
Anita Doty, whose delicious gumbo begat 2 Chicago-area restaurants, dead at 78
When Anita Doty ladled out gumbo, “You would have people come in, and they would have $20 in their hands, waving it, ‘Can I get a bowl?’ ’’
Former Chicago City Council member Marion Volini has died at 83
Former Ald. Marion Volini represented the 48th Ward on the Chicago City Council and also served on the McCormick Place board.
