/ Stars that died in 2023

Friday, April 5, 2013

Lee Davenport, American physicist, helped develop SCR-584 radar, died from cancer he was 95.

Lee L. Davenport  was an American physicist. He was a member of the MIT Radiation Laboratory during World War II, responsible for the development and deployment of the SCR-584 radar system.

(December 31, 1915 – September 30, 2011)

Early life

Lee Losee Davenport was born on December 31, 1915, in Schenectady, New York. His father, Harry, was a high school mathematics teacher. Davenport showed an early interest in electrical devices, building electric motors out of papers clips and copper wire.[1]

Pre-War

Davenport received his bachelor's degree from Union College (Schenectady) in 1937, and a master's degree in physics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1940.[2] He was a twenty-five-year-old graduate student working towards his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh when he was invited to join the Radiation Laboratory.[3]

WW-II

While at the Radiation Laboratory, Davenport was placed in charge of the SCR-584 program by physicist and laboratory deputy, Ivan Getting. The SCR-584 radar (Signal Corp Radio #584), a land-mobile radar that was designed to automatically direct anti-aircraft guns, was a major accomplishment of the Radiation Laboratory. It was the SCR-584 that enabled the shooting-down of about 85 percent of V-1 "buzz bombs" attacking London.[1]
Davenport, as a research fellow at the Radiation Laboratory in charge of SCR-584 development from 1941 through the end of World War II, worked with General Electric, Westinghouse and Bell Laboratories to produce more than 3,000 SCR-584 radar sets for the war effort.[1]
The SCR-584 was technically superb, but it required experienced operators. Davenport discovered this to be a problem when he traveled to England to find that some gun crews did not know how to operate the radar. At one site, American soldiers were reading the radar manuals while buzz bombs flew overhead.[1]
Davenport, interviewed by Robert Buderi for his 1996 book, "The Invention That Changed the World: How a Small Group of Radar Pioneers Won the Second World War and Launched a Technological Revolution," recalled that "Seven or eight buzz bombs came within range while I was there... and the crew never got a single shot off at any one of them."[1][4]
Davenport was again in England two months before D-Day to waterproof the thirty-nine SCR-584 trailers destined to be put ashore at Normandy Beach to direct anti-aircraft fire. Davenport was one of the few people who knew the date of the planned D-Day invasion.[3]
Shortly after D-Day, Davenport found himself five miles behind the front lines, testing SCR-584 capability.[3] He carried papers that identified him as a captain in the Signal Corps in the event that he were captured.[1] SCR-584 radar sets were used also in the Pacific for the retaking of the Philippines.[1]

Post War

After the war, Davenport completed his Ph.D. in physics in 1946 at the University of Pittsburgh. His dissertation was on the design of a radar-controlled missile, which was effectively the first guided missile.[2] He went on to Harvard University from 1946-1950 to lead construction of the second-largest (92-inch) cyclotron and to teach physics at Radcliffe College.[2][3]
After Harvard, Davenport became chief engineer for the B-47 bombsight at Perkin-Elmer Corporation (Stamford, CT). This bombsight incorporated an analog computer.[3] He became executive director of Perkin-Elmer, and then vice-president, director and chief engineer of Sylvania Corporation. He was named president of GTE Labs in 1962.[3]
Davenport survived a plane crash on July 2, 1963, and he gave congressional testimony about improving seat belt safety in airplanes.[3]

Honors

Davenport was a member of the American Physical Society, and he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering in 1973, cited for "original contributions to the development of radar, infrared analytical instrumentation, and leadership in development of communications technology."[5]


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Gilberto Fernandez, Cuban-born American Roman Catholic prelate, Auxiliary Bishop of Miami (1997–2002), died he was 76..

Gilberto Fernández  was the Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami.

(February 13, 1935 – September 30, 2011)

Priesthood at the Archdiocese of Havana

Bishop Fernández was born in Havana, Cuba. He studied at the Buen Pastor Seminary in Havana, and was ordained for the Archdiocese of Havana on May 17, 1959. He served in four parishes in the Havana area as the Assistant Pastor for El Salvador Church in Cerro, Havana (1959–1960), as the Administrator to St. Peter's Church in Batabano, Havana (1960–1961), as the Administrator of the Cathedral of Havana (1961–1962) and as the Pastor to El Cerro Church, Havana (1962–1966), before coming to Miami in July 1967.

Priesthood at the Archdiocese of Miami

In Miami he served as Assistant Pastor at St. Ann's Mission in Naranja (September 1967 – October 1969), as the Administrator, Our Lady Queen of Peace in Delray Beach (October 1969 – September 1971), as Assistant Pastor at St. Patrick Church, Miami Beach (September 1971 – June 1974), as Pastor, Sacred Heart Church in Homestead (June 1974 – May 1979), as the Pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Miami (May 1979 – April 1988), as the Pastor at San Pablo Church in Marathon (April 1988 – December 1989), as Pastor at St. Kevin Church in Miami (December 1989 – June 1996) and as the Spiritual Director, St. John Vianney Seminary, Miami (June 1996 – June 1997).

Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Miami

He was appointed as an Auxiliary Bishop of Miami and the Titular Bishop of Hirina on June 23, 1997, and was ordained a Bishop on September 3, 1997. His Principal Consecrator was the then- Archbishop of Miami, John Clement Favalora. His Co-Consecrators were Archbishop Edward Anthony McCarthy and Auxiliary Bishop Agustin Roman, all of Miami. Auxiliary Bishop Fernández resigned as Auxiliary Bishop because of health reasons on December 10, 2002. At the time, he did not disclose what they were, but asked the people of South Florida "to help me with your prayers, and I will help you also with mine." At the time of his death, news reports said he had suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Auxiliary Bishop Fernández, 76, died, after a long illness, on Friday, September 30, 2011. The current Archbishop of Miami, Thomas G. Wenski, celebrated a Funeral Mass on Monday, October 3, 2011 for him. Those who worked with the late Bishop said they will remember him as being humble, gentle and "a true Christian gentleman." Archbishop Wenski called him his "twin," referring to the fact that they were ordained together as Auxiliary Bishops of Miami on September 3, 1997, by the now-retired Archbishop Favalora. He retired after just a few short years as a Bishop, "but his long illness was a cross that he embraced and offered" for the Miami Archdiocese, the Archbishop said in a statement. "We trust that he will continue to pray for us as we now entrust his soul to the Lord. May he rest in peace." The Funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Mary Cathedral, followed by burial in the priests section of Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery in Miami.[1]

His Family

His parents were Jose Fernández and Consuelo Villar. His siblings are Msgr. Orlando Fernández (1926–2000), and Father Nelson Fernández, both of the Archdiocese of Miami; another brother, Fausto Fernández, is administrator of Marian Towers, an archdiocesan apartment complex for low-income elderly; Sister Lilia Fernández is a Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine who ministers at Mercy Hospital in Coconut Grove; two other sisters, Ondina and Teresita, live in Miami and another brother, Miguel Angel Fernández, lives in Mexico with his wife and two daughters.


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Peter Gent, American football player (Dallas Cowboys) and author (North Dallas Forty), died he was 69.


George Davis Peter Gent  was a Michigan State University basketball player and National Football League wide receiver turned novelist.

(August 23, 1942 – September 30, 2011)

Early days

At Bangor High School (Michigan), Gent was a standout four-sport athlete (football, basketball, baseball and track). In basketball he lead the Bangor Vikings team to the 1960 state Class C Championship, while accumulating a 22.6 scoring average. The team was known as the Cardiac Kids for their late-game wins in District, Regional, Quarter-Final and Semi-Final games. The final game against top-ranked Grand Rapids Lee was no exception, it was tied 41–41 after three quarters and Bangor went on to win it 57–45. Gent led the team with 21 points, and was named to the All-Tourney Team which was chosen from schools of all sizes throughout the state.
The Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan, in association with the Detroit Free Press, has sponsored since the spring of 1981, the Hal Schram Mr. Basketball award, given to the state’s top prep senior. Gent was awarded the “Retro" Mr. Basketball award, given to state players previous to 1981, that would have been named Mr. Basketball if there was such an award at the time.

College career

Gent was a center/forward with the Michigan State University basketball team from 1962 to 1964. He became the first player in school history to lead the basketball team in scoring three consecutive seasons. In his senior year, he averaged 21 points per game. He left school ranked as MSU's second career scorer, with a total of 1,146 points. He averaged 17.4 points per game for his college career, he was third team All-Big Ten in 1963 and second team All-Big Ten in 1964.
In 1964 he was awarded the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor, which is given annually to a male and female athlete at each of the Big Ten institutions, who demonstrates the greatest proficiency in scholarship and athletics. Gent graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in advertising.
Gent was the recipient of the 2005 Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Although he never played a down of college football, Gil Brandt was impressed by his athleticism and offered him a try out with the Dallas Cowboys. On a lark, Gent went to the Cowboys training camp in the summer of 1964, after hearing they were paying $500 to players who attended.
As with Cornell Green whom the Cowboys had converted two years earlier, he was first tried at defensive back, but at 6–4 and about 210 pounds, he wasn’t compact enough to execute the quick turns and pivots required to play in the secondary. The coaches decided that Gent’s best chance was at wide receiver, where he wound up making the team and turning down a contract offer with the Baltimore Bullets, who had drafted him in the 14th round of the 1964 NBA Draft.
He became a valuable wide receiver by his second year in 1965, while splitting time with Buddy Dial and playing opposite to Bob Hayes. In 1965, Gent caught 16 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns. In 1966, he had 27 receptions for 474 yards (averaging 17.6 yard per catch) and one touchdown. In 1967 with the arrival of Lance Rentzel and his declining health problems, he was moved to tight end.
Gent's career was marred by injury, having had 2 knee operations and constant back problems. He was known for his intelligence, soft hands and size. He caught passes mostly from quarterback Don Meredith, with whom he enjoyed a close friendship off the field.

New York Giants

In 1969 he was traded to the New York Giants, but he was cut before the regular season started, ending his NFL career.

Post-Football life

After leaving professional football, Gent wrote a semi-autobiographical novel titled North Dallas Forty, for which he will be remembered the most. Many have hypothesized that the main characters of the book, a quarterback and a wide receiver, are based on Gent and Don Meredith. The novel, published in 1973, exposed the seamier side of American football. It examines the NFL's hypocrisy regarding drug use—as heavy use of painkillers is recklessly encouraged to keep players on the field but personal use of marijuana and narcotics is frowned on. The book was made into a movie of the same name in 1979 starring Nick Nolte, Mac Davis, G.D. Spradlin, and Dayle Haddon. Gent wrote the screenplay for the film. He experienced creative difficulties with producer Frank Yablans on the set of the film.[1]
Gent made his home in Texas for many years, where he was friends with many of the significant creative minds of the day, including Larry L. King, Billy Lee Brammer, Gary Cartwright, Bud Shrake, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Dan Jenkins. They called themselves the Mad Dogs.
Gent also examined the corruption deriving from the huge sums of money involved in modern professional sports in a sequel volume entitled North Dallas After 40, published in 1989, and in an unrelated football novel The Franchise, published in 1983.

Personal life

Gent had two children, Holly Gent Palmo (born 1963) and Carter Davis Gent (born 1976). He resided in Bangor, Michigan at the time of his death from a pulmonary disease[2] on September 30, 2011, and was working on a novel.[3][4]

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Tone Pavček, Slovenian author and translator, died he was 83.

Tone Pavček  was one of the most influential Slovene poets, translators and essayists from the first post-war generation. He published a number of collections of poetry, well received by readers and critics alike. He also translated numerous Russian works into Slovene.

(29 September 1928 – 21 October 2011)

Early life

Tone Pavček was born on September 29th 1928 in Šentjurij in southeastern Slovenia. He lived in Šentjurij until he was 16 years old. He attended the first grade of elementary school in his home town, but was soon sent to a boarding school in Ljubljana. In Ljubljana he completed a classical high school, and went to study law from which he graduated in 1954, although he never performed legal services afterwards.


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Anis Mansour, Egyptian writer and columnist, died from pneumonia he was 86.


Anis Mansour, also transliterated as Anīs Manṣūr was an Egyptian writer.

(August 18, 1925[1] – October 21, 2011[2]
Anis Mansour was born in Al-Mansoura. He obtained his BA in philosophy in 1947 and started his journalistic career in the same year by joining "al-asas" newspaper staff, and later he joined many other newspapers and magazines such as "rose al-yousef" and "al-ahram". In 1976 he became the editor in chief of "akher sa'a" and "october" magazines.
Anis wrote more than 170 books on many subjects, some of which were translated into French, Dutch and Russian. he translated about 200 short stories and more than 20 plays into Arabic.[3] he introduced Alberto Moravia to the Arabic literature by being the first to translate his works into Arabic. His best known book is "حول العالم في 200 يوم : الحائز على جائزة الدولية / Ḥawla al-ʻālam fī 200 yawm : al-ḥāʼiz ʻalá jāʼizah al-dawlīyah", ("Around the world in 200 days") [4] which was his actual journey around the world in the beginning of the 1960s, the book gives many facts and traditions of the countries he had been to, including India,Japan, the USA and others, and also his meeting with the Dalai Lama.
Anis died in Cairo.


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Digby Jacks, British president of the National Union of Students (1971–1973), died he was 66.

Digby Jacks  was President of the UK's National Union of Students between 1971[1] and 1973 and was subsequently a trade union official for the Manufacturing, Science and Finance trade union.[2]

(16 May 1945 – 21 October 2011)

A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain when elected NUS President, he was the second candidate from the left - in this case the Radical Student Alliance, succeeding Jack Straw, also elected on the RSA ticket, to win since the beginning of the Cold War: national student politics having previously been dominated by an anti-Communist alliance.[3]
After his term as NUS president he wrote the book Student Politics and Higher Education (ISBN 0853153264), which examines the broad left's political strategy in student politics.[4] Retiring as a regional officer for the Amicus trade union in 2005, he was a Labour councillor in the London Borough of Hounslow until 2006 and secretary of the lobbying group Alliance for Finance.[5]
He died in October 2011. [6]

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Bertram Nelson Herlong, American bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee, died he was 77.

The Right Reverend Bertram Nelson Herlong  was the tenth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee.

(October 16, 1934 – October 21, 2011)

Early life

He was born in Lake City, Florida and graduated from Columbia High School in 1952. He received a bachelor's degree in Literature and English from the University of Florida in 1956, and married Barbara Ann Vickers in June, 1957. The couple had two children, Angela and Michele.[1]

Ministry

After the death of his brother, George, Herlong was called to the ministry and enrolled at the University of the South where he was awarded a Bachelors of Divinity[1] in 1959. He was ordained to the diaconate on July 25, 1960 by Edward Hamilton West, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida, and to the priesthood by the same bishop on March 13, 1961. Herlong's ministry began at Church of the Epiphany in Crestview, Florida and he was the first vicar at St. Jude's Church in Valparaiso, Florida. He became Canon Pastor at St. John's Cathedral in Jacksonville, Florida and was Assistant Headmaster and Chaplain at Jacksonville Episcopal High School.
Herlong earned a Master of Sacred Theology degree in 1970 by taking classes over seven summers. He was appointed associate rector of Trinity Church, Wall Street in 1972, becoming vicar of Trinity's St. Paul's Chapel in 1977. He continued his education at the New York Theological Seminary and was awarded a Doctorate of Ministry in 1980. He was also active in the community, starting a hospice at Beekman Downtown Hospital in Manhattan and organizing St. Margaret's Housing Center for seniors. He was also a director for the New York Board of Trade.[1]
He became Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, Detroit in 1979. In 1988, he was a candidate in the episcopal election of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida before being elected bishop of the Diocese of Tennessee on January 30, 1993. He was consecrated on June 26, 1993 and awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1993.

Herlong's principal consecrators were

Bishopric

He was succeeded as diocesan bishop by John Crawford Bauerschmidt, eleventh Bishop of Tennessee, who was consecrated on January 27, 2007.
Herlong was a member of the Board of Directors of The Living Church Foundation and episcopal visitor of the Community of Saint Mary, Southern Province. He was considered a leader among conservatives in the Episcopal Church USA.


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Dickey Betts died he was 80

Early Career Forrest Richard Betts was also known as Dickey Betts Betts collaborated with  Duane Allman , introducing melodic twin guitar ha...