Sir Zelman Cowen, Australian constitutional lawyer and academic, 19th Governor-General of Australia (1977–1982), died he was 92.

Sir Zelman Cowen, AK GCMG GCVO QC PC was the 19th Governor-General of Australia  died he was 92..

(7 October 1919 – 8 December 2011)

Early life

Cowen was born in Melbourne in 1919 to a Jewish family.^[1] He was educated at St Kilda Park state school, Scotch College and the University of Melbourne. He served in the Royal Australian Navy during World War II and then went as a Rhodes Scholar to New College, Oxford, where he completed a Bachelor of Civil Law degree and jointly won the Vinerian Scholarship. From 1947 to 1950 he was a fellow of Oriel College, Oxford,^[2] and was also a consultant on legal matters to the British Military Government in Allied-occupied Germany.

Educational career

In 1951 Cowen returned to Australia and became Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Melbourne, a post he held until 1966. During these years he was frequently a visiting professor at American universities, including the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois and the University of Washington. He also advised the British Colonial Office on constitutional matters and advised the governments of Ghana and Hong Kong on legal issues. Among many other works, he published a biography of Sir Isaac Isaacs, the first Australian-born and first Jewish Governor-General of Australia.^[3]
Cowen was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, in 1966 and, in 1970, he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Queensland in Brisbane. By this time he was regarded as one of the leading constitutional lawyers in the English-speaking world. He was Emeritus Professor of Law at Melbourne and the Tagore Professor of Law at the University of Calcutta. During his time in Queensland he handled disturbances at the university, resulting from protests against the Vietnam War, with diplomatic skill.^{[citation needed]}

Governor-General

When Sir John Kerr's turbulent period of office as Governor-General ended with his early resignation in 1977, the Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, offered Cowen the post. He was in some ways a perfect choice. He was a distinguished Australian with an international reputation, his knowledge of the Constitution and the law were beyond dispute, and his political views were unknown. The fact that Cowen was Jewish gave his appointment a multicultural aspect in keeping with contemporary Australian sentiment.^{[citation needed]} He served four and a half years as Governor-General, from December 1977 to July 1982.

Post vice-regal career

From 1982 to 1990 Cowen was Provost of Oriel College, Oxford.^[2] After his retirement he returned to Australia and became active in Jewish community affairs in Melbourne. He also pursued a range of other interests, including serving for five years on the board of Fairfax Newspapers (three of them as Chairman) during a turbulent period for the company; and being patron of St Kilda Football Club. During the lead-up to the 1999 Australian republic referendum, he supported a moderate republican position.^{[citation needed]}
Cowen had four children, Shimon, Yosef, Kate and Ben.^[4] His son, Rabbi Shimon Cowen, is Director of the Institute for Judaism and Civilization in Melbourne.

Death

Cowen suffered from Parkinson's disease for at least the last 15 years of his life.^[5][6] He died on 8 December 2011, at the age of 92, at his home in Toorak, Victoria.^[1] It was the 34th anniversary of his swearing-in as Governor-General in 1977.
His state funeral at Melbourne's Temple Beth Israel was attended by the current Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, and former Prime Ministers Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke and John Howard.^[7]

Honours

Cowen's first honour was a Knight Bachelor in 1976. When appointed Governor-General he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) and Knight of the Order of Australia (AK) in 1977, and sworn of the Privy Council in 1977. When Queen Elizabeth II visited Australia in 1980 she appointed Cowen a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO).
In 1981, the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) established the 'Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture' which is widely recognised as Australia’s leading award for public buildings.
Melbourne Law School awards the Zelman Cowan National Scholarship to incoming Juris Doctor students. Awarded purely on the basis of academic merit,^[8] it is the law school's most prestigious scholarship.

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Teresa Hsu Chih, Chinese-born Singaporean social worker, died she was 113.

Teresa Hsu Chih , or commonly known as Teresa Hsu ) was a Chinese-born Singaporean social worker, known affectionately as "Singapore's Mother Teresa", in recognition for her active lifelong devotion in helping the aged sick and destitutes locally died she was 113..^[4] The retired nurse was the founder of the non-profit charities—Heart to Heart Service and the Home for the Aged Sick, one of the first homes for the aged sick in Singapore. She had been a social worker in China and Paraguay and a nurse in England, before coming to Singapore to start similar non-profit charities since 1961. As a supercentenarian, Hsu was still involved in charity work and was one of very few supercentenarians who were recognized for reasons other than their longevity. She had spent almost all her savings on feeding and housing the poor and the elderly, all of whom are younger than she was, but she herself led a simple and humble lifestyle.^[5] In 2005, she received the Special Recognition Award from the Singapore government in recognition of her contribution to the country.^[6]

 

^{(7 July 1898 – 7 December 2011)}

Biography

Early years

Hsu was reportedly born on 7 July 1898, in Shantou prefecture of China, during the reign of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, although this has never been independently verified. When Hsu was young, her father walked out on the family for another woman.^[7] Her mother, who was illiterate, had to fend for the three girls and one brother singlehandedly. At 16, her family moved to Penang in Malaya, where they worked as cleaners in a convent. As she did not want to be a cleaner all her life, Hsu asked the nuns there to allow her to study with the children, and they agreed. Combining study with work, she passed her Senior Cambridge examinations four years later. Equipped with a basic education, she ventured to Hongkong to work and, later, to Chongqing, China, where she became a secretary and bookkeeper at a German news agency in the 1930s. She quit her job to become a volunteer, helping the injured during the Sino-Japanese War.^[8]
Recalling her inability to help the wounded people whom she saw during the Second World War, Hsu decided to become a nurse. As she was overaged at 47, she wrote a request to the chief matron of the Nursing Council in London. Touched by Hsu's sincerity and dedication, her application was accepted. She spent eight years in England doing nursing and another eight in Paraguay as a member of the German charity group Bruderhof, to start hospitals and homes for the aged there.^[8] In her mid-50s, she decided to return home to Penang to be with her mother. In Malaysia, she assisted her brother in starting the Assunta Foundation for the Poor in Ipoh. She also played a key role in the startup of three homes for the elderly and two homes for young girls and neglected children in Ipoh.^[9]

Home for the Aged Sick

The Society For The Aged Sick at Hougang Avenue 1, Singapore

In 1961, she came to Singapore to live with her older sister, Ursula, late principal of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in Bukit Timah. On seeing her dedication and commitment in helping the poor and sick, Ursula bought her a 0.6-hectare piece of land at Jalan Payoh Lai in 1965, so that Hsu could open the first home for the aged sick in Singapore.^[5] The two sisters ran the Home for the Aged Sick for five years. Ursula financed its operations with her pay, while Hsu managed it and made some extra cash by selling the harvest of 10 coconut trees and a dozen banana trees in the backyard.^[10]
The sisters converted a servants' quarters and a bungalow into wards for their patients, but it became increasingly difficult to cope with the numbers. In 1970, with about 100 patients, they approached the Rotary Club for funds. The Rotary Club agreed to finance the home on condition that the club take over the running of it. The sisters handed the deeds over to the Society for the Aged Sick, an association formed by the Rotary Club members. The society built three blocks to house the increasing number of residents and Hsu remained the home's matron until 1980, when she was asked to retire at 83.^[10] Hsu moved into a three-room apartment on the rooftop of the Home, built by the society. After her sister died, she left Hsu a sum of money which she was able to buy flats with—five in Singapore and two in Malaysia for those people who had no money and who were asked to move.^[11] When asked where all her compassion and deep caring came from, Hsu replied:

I must have got it from my mother because she was totally dedicated to the job she chose to do and that was looking after the family. I think that trait was passed down to us. I've no family, so I look after everybody else. I choose to serve everybody else who comes to me—that is my job... The world is my home, all living beings are my family, selfless service is my religion.^[5]

Heart to Heart Service

The Heart to Heart Service Centre is located at the premises of the Society For The Aged Sick in Hougang, Singapore

Shortly after she retired, Hsu set up the Heart to Heart Service with Sharana Yao, her co-social worker, a non-profit, non-government aided welfare service which provides food, clothes and monthly cash contributions to those in need. With the help of volunteers who drive her around, she brought necessities to the homes of elderly women and destitutes in their 80s and 90s on public assistance, such as rice, sugar, biscuits, beverages and monthly cash allowances of between S$20 and S$180. She got her rations and funds from various sources—merchants, people in the neighbourhood, church friends, and their friends. The needy get on Heart-to-Heart's list based on good faith by word of mouth.^[10] In 2000, a Straits Times reader wrote to comment on her selfless contributions to the society and urged the young to follow her example:

As we admire the grit, good humour and faith that Ms Hsu has, might we also ponder over a certain dilemma: Where are the Teresa Hsus of today? Ms Hsu is at an age where most would have long retired, but she takes it upon herself to be of service to others, to those who are less fortunate than her. A society like Singapore requires a lot more individuals like this and we need them now... We need to have more youths as volunteers or pursuing a career in social work as they will be the core of our society... More publicity and attention must be drawn to volunteer opportunities and more must be done to recognise dedicated people like Ms Hsu. We cannot continue in our efforts of building a gracious society without strengthening volunteerism as a culture. There is little to be gained by being more cultured if we do not take the plight of the less fortunate into consideration.^[12]

Lifestyle

Hsu was still actively involved in charity work after turning 110. An advocate of healthy living, Hsu often gave public talks at schools, welfare homes, and hospitals in Singapore and overseas about health and service to the needy.^[9] When asked about the secret of her good health and longevity, Hsu attributed her good health to a spartan lifestyle, vegetarian diet, and to her positive attitude towards life.

I prefer to laugh than to weep. Those people who cry to me, I always tell them it is better to laugh than to use tissue paper, as laughing is free but tissue paper still cost five cent. 'Ha ha ha' cost no cents.^[11]

She would start her day at 4 am with calisthenics, meditation and an hour of yoga exercises. At night, she would do yoga again, then read until midnight. She picked up yoga at age 69, when she bought a book titled Forever Young, Forever Healthy. She also taught yoga to the young and old at temples, associations, hospitals and schools. She ate sparely; her breakfast is a glass of water or milk. Lunch was often milk and salad, unless "people bring me food", and it was milk or yogurt for dinner.^[13] At home, she has a 2,000-volume private library she calls Prema, which in Sanskrit means "divine love". Today, her days were kept busy with trips to help needy senior citizens, reading and yoga practice at her sparsely-furnished single-storey house attached to the Society For The Aged Sick.^[8]

Death

Hsu died on Wednesday, 7 December 2011, peacefully at home and was cremated on the same day without any rites, as instructed by her.^[14][15] She was the oldest living person in Singapore at the time of her death.

Commendation

• 2006 aged 108: Received the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre's Special Recognition Award from Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar.^[6]
• 2005 aged 107: A photography exhibition was held to honour Hsu's life and work at the Mica Building, from July 6 till July 18, titled OneZeroSeven Photography Exhibition: Teresa Hsu Chih.^[16]
• 2004 aged 106: Received the Sporting Singapore Inspiration Award from Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, for her devotion to the teaching of yoga.^[17]
• 2003 aged 105: Received the Active Senior Citizen of the Year Award from Chan Soo Sen, Minister of State (Education, Community Development and Sports).^[18]
• 2002 aged 104: Received a Honorary Doctorate Degree from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia.^[2]
• 1999 aged 101: Received a one-off Special Award at the Woman of the Year 1999 awards ceremony at the Raffles Hotel organised by Her World magazine.^[19]
• 1997 aged 99: Named 'Hero for Today' by the Chinese-edition of the Reader's Digest.^[20]
• 1994 aged 96: Received the Community Service Award awarded by the Life Insurance Association for her contribution to community service.^[21]

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Margaret Draper, American radio actress and disc jockey, died from natural causes she was 94.

Margaret Ruth Draper  was an American actress and international service worker. She was born in 1916, the third of six children born to Delbert Morley Draper and Frances Mary Rogers. Shortly after her birth her family relocated to Salt Lake City where she lived until 1934.^[1]

(November 20, 1916 – October 14, 2011)

She performed in her first play when she was four, when the University of Utah drama department came to Stewart School to find two children – Draper and her brother Courtney - to appear in The Hour Glass. Draper attended East High School in Salt Lake City, where she pursued her chosen passion in dramatic, dancing and musical productions. Due to shortened school years and the Great Depression, She entered the University of Utah at age 15.^{[citation needed]} However, due to poor grades, she was sent by her parents to business college for a year, where she learned skills that helped her earn a living when she was later to arrive in New York. She was readmitted to the University the following year, and majored in dramatics, graduating with a respectable average.^{[citation needed]}
The summer she graduated from university, she was invited to accompany a friend and his sister to New York City in their Ford coupe; despite her older sister’s impending wedding, she accepted without hesitation, realizing this would be her only chance to pursue a career in the theatre. She departed the following day with a single bag and $38.50 in her purse. Alone in New York, she found a small room in Tudor City, and realized that she soon must find employment, which she secured in G. Schirmer's music store.^{[citation needed]}
By dint of perseverance and incessant self-promotion, she landed her first job with the Provincetown Theater in return for translating a French play. During World War II, she worked for two years for the Red Cross in Europe and the Middle East as a recreational director, and returned to lean years in New York until 1947, when she got her first radio role with Carl Beier in the CBS program, Joe Powers of Oakville. She later appeared in the Actor's Equity presentation of "Peer Gynt", and was voted one of the most promising actresses of the year. She obtained supporting roles in two Broadway shows, and in 1949 was invited to audition for the part of Liz Dennis in "Brighter Day". She won the part, and played Liz until around 1954, when the part of Linda Pepper was being cast for "Pepper Young's Family", which she won.^{[citation needed]}

Family life

Margaret Draper married actor Joe De Santis in May 1949, and became the mother of her only child, Christopher, in 1951. The marriage ended in 1957. In 1959, she married Nicol Bissel, an architect. She moved to Mamaroneck, New York, and for a year and a half played the part of housewife and mother. She divorced again, in 1960, and returned to Manhattan, where she worked in various theatrical productions whenever possible, but made her living, in large part, doing TV and radio commercials. In addition to hundreds of individual spots for various products, she acted as the spokesperson for Camel cigarettes, Kraft Foods products, Woolite detergent and others.^{[citation needed]}
In 1966, she became a disc jockey for an all-woman FM radio station in New York, WFEM (otherwise known as WNEW-FM) and in 1969, she joined the United Seamen's Service, an organization that provided rest and service clubs for merchant marine sailors around the world. Her first assignment was as the assistant Director of the club in Cam Ranh Bay, Viet Nam. In 1970, the Viet Nam club was closed because of the war, and she was transferred to the club in Naples, Italy as director, where she served until 1972.^{[citation needed]}
In 1972, she married J. Norman Messer (CDR USN) who was serving as Executive Officer on the USS Cascade, stationed in Naples. They moved to Key West, Florida, but Margaret was once again divorced in 1973. Subsequently, she lived in Geneva, Switzerland; in Alexandria, Egypt, where she established a club for the United Seamen's Service; and in Washington, D.C., where she worked for the National Alliance of Business as a reference specialist in the PSIP Clearinghouse.^{[citation needed]}

Later years & death

Draper retired in 1985, in New York City, and began writing an autobiographical novel. She resided for a time in Santa Fe, New Mexico but found that she missed the culture, theater, and activity or New York, as well as her many friends, and returned there. In later life she was married to Wesley Brown and traveled extensively with him until his death after four years.^{[citation needed]}
In 2003, Draper moved to an independent living community in Salt Lake City. In the fall of 2010, she moved to her son's home in Payson, Utah, and the following spring she settled in a care facility in that same town, where she died on October 14, 2011, aged 94.


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Ashawna Hailey, American computer scientist, died she was 62.

Ashawna Hailey , born Shawn Hailey, created the HSPICE program which large parts of the worldwide semiconductor industry use to simulate and design silicon chips.^[3][2]

(October 8, 1949 – October 14, 2011)

Her company, Meta-Software, produced compound annual growth rate in excess of 25–30 percent every year for 18 years, and eventually became part of Synopsys, which calls HSPICE "the 'gold standard' for accurate circuit simulation".^[3][4][5] In 1973 she created Advanced Micro Devices' first microprocessor, the Am9080, a clone of the Intel 8080, and in 1974, AMD's first nonvolatile memory, the 2702 2048-bit EPROM.^[3] Earlier, she built the launch sequencer for the Sprint Anti-Ballistic Missile System for Martin Marietta.^[6]
She attended Texas Tech University along with her twin brother Kim, starting her first company while still in college.^[3]
Shawn was born a man, but changed her gender to female and her name to Ashawna after retiring from her career in technology.^[6]
As a philanthropist, Ashawna sought to reform government policies on recreational drugs. She donated to the ACLU Foundation, Code Pink, the Drug Policy Alliance, Feeding America,^[6] Rainforest Action Network, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition,^[7] the Marijuana Policy Project, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS),^[8] and served on the board of MAPS.^[9]


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Adam Hunter, Scottish golfer, leukemia, died he was 48.

Adam Hunter was a Scottish professional golfer. His achievements included winning the 1995 Portuguese Open. He later became a renowned coach for such golfers as Paul Lawrie.

(26 September 1963 – 14 October 2011)

Career

After completing two-and-a-half years of a golf scholarship at Virginia Tech in the United States,^[1] he turned professional in 1984. He joined the European Tour the following year after coming through final qualifying school. He failed to hold on to his tour card in his rookie season, but was back on tour after another successful visit to qualifying school.
Having lost his playing privileges again at the end of the 1986 season, when he made just one cut, Hunter did not return to the European Tour until 1990. He maintained consistent form though the 1990s earning sufficient money each season to retain his tour card until the end of 1998.^[1] His only win on the tour came at the 1995 Portuguese Open, and that season he finished a career high 63rd on the European Tour Order of Merit. He also won the 1987 Northern Open, a non-tour event.
Hunter became a successful golf coach. He worked many top professionals, including 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie from 1998 to 2004,^[2] and LPGA Tour player Catriona Matthew. He also provided coaching to Scottish golfers Stephen Gallacher, Alastair Forsyth and Gary Orr.^[3]

Death

Hunter died at the Beatson Oncology Centre on 14 October 2011 from leukaemia, two years after his diagnosis with the disease.^[3] He was 48.

Professional wins (5)

European Tour wins (1)

• 1995 Portuguese Open

Other wins (4)

• 1985 Granite City Classic, Scottish U25 Champion
• 1986 Carnoustie Challenge
• 1987 Northern Open

Results in major championships

Tournament	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991
The Open Championship	CUT	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT

Note: The Open Championship was the only major Hunter played.
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut


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Laura Pollán, Cuban opposition leader, founder of the Ladies in White, died from cardiorespiratory arrest she was 63.

Laura Inés Pollán Toledo  was a prominent Cuban opposition leader. Pollan founded the dissident group, Ladies in White, which holds pacific protest marches with the wives and spouses of political prisoners in Cuba to demand their release.^[1] The Ladies in White are routinely and violently repressed by the Cuban government.^[2]

(February 13, 1948 – October 14, 2011)

Pollan worked as a literature teacher until her retirement in 2004.^[2] In 2003, her husband, Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, and seventy-four other Cubans, now known as the Group of 75, were arrested in the Black Spring, a crackdown on opposition figures.^[2] The group, which included journalists, activists, and commentators, which the Cuban government accused of taking money from foreign governments, including the United States.^[2]
Pollan soon began appearing outside government facilities where her husband could have potentially been imprisoned.^[2] She soon ran into the wives of other political prisoners, which led to the founding of the Ladies in White.^[2] Pollan always wore white, a symbol of the organization, and became a key opposition figure in Cuba.
Pollan died of cardiorespiratory arrest on October 14, 2011, at the age of 63.^[2] She had been hospitalized since October 7.^[2] According to the Cuban government, she had suffered from dengue fever.^[3]


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Hasan Güngör, Turkish Olympic gold (1960) and silver (1964) medal-winning weightlifter, died he was 77.

Hasan Güngör was a Turkish Olympic medalist sports wrestler in the Middleweight class (79 kg until 1961, 87 kg from 1961 on) and a trainer. He won the gold medal in Men's Freestyle wrestling at the 1960 Olympics and the silver medal at the 1964 Olympics.
He was born 1934 in Acıpayam, a town in Denizli Province of western Turkey. Besides his medal wins at two Olympics, he wrestled several titles at World, European and Balkan championships and became also European champion in his class. After his retirement from the active sports in 1967, Güngör served 21 more years as a trainer for the juniors' and seniors' national team.
Güngör was married and had three children. He lived in Denizli until his death.

(July 5, 1934 – October 13, 2011)

Achievements

• 1957 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey - bronze (Middleweight)
• 1959 Balkan Championships in Istanbul, Turkey - gold (Middleweight)
• 1960 Balkan Championships in Burgas, Bulgaria - silver (Middleweight)
• 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy - gold (Middleweight)
• 1961 World Championships in Yokohama, Japan - bronze (Middleweight)
• 1962 World Championships in Toledo, Ohio, U.S. - silver (Middleweight)
• 1963 Balkan Championships in Istanbul, Turkey - silver (Middleweight)
• 1963 Mediterranean Games in Naples, Italy - gold (Middleweight)
• 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan - silver (Middleweight)
• 1965 Balkan Championships in Yambol, Bulgaria - bronze (Middleweight)
• 1966 European Championships in Karlsruhe, Germany - gold (Middleweight)
• 1966 World Championships in Toledo, Ohio, U.S. - silver (Middleweight)
• 1967 European Championships in Istanbul, Turkey - 4th (Middleweight)
• 1967 World Championships in New Delhi, India - 4th (Middleweight)

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