Obituaries – Page 17 – The Mississippi Link

Lou Myers, Mr. Gaines on 'A Different World,' dies

Actor Lou Myers, best known for his role as ornery restaurant owner Mr. Gaines on the television series “A Different World,” has died.

Tonia McDonald of Myers’ nonprofit, Global Business Incubation Inc., said Myers died Tuesday night, Feb. 19, at Charleston Area Medical Center in West Virginia. She said he was 76. McDonald said Wednesday that Myers had been in and out of the hospital since before Christmas and collapsed recently. An autopsy was planned.

A native of Chesapeake, W.Va., Myers had returned to the state and lived in the Charleston area. […]

Hundreds attend funeral for Ohio Players frontman 'Sugarfoot' Bonner

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Several hundred people gathered Saturday to say a musical and a spiritual goodbye Saturday to Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner, one of the granddads of funk music.

Bonner was a founder and lead singer of the Ohio Players, a Grammy-nominated band that originated in Southwest Ohio and dominated R&B and pop music in the 1970s.

Bonner, reportedly a father of 12 and a grandfather of 22, died of cancer on Jan. 27. He was 69. […]

Funeral held for former Judge William Myers

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Retired Judge William Harbin Myers, who served on the Mississippi Court of Appeals and was the Gulf Coast chancery judge who oversaw Mississippi’s landmark lawsuit against the tobacco industry, died Thursday, Feb. 7.

Funeral services were held Monday, Feb. 11, in Ocean Springs. Myers was 71.

Mississippi Court of Appeals Chief Judge L. Joseph Lee said Friday, “I am honored to have served with Judge Myers during his entire tenure on the court. He was always pleasant, kind hearted and genuinely cared for all, and was well loved by everyone on the court.” […]

Civil rights pioneer Ruth Anderson dies in Iowa

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– Ruth Anderson, an Iowa native known as a pioneer in the local civil rights movement, has died at age 91.

Sanders Funeral Services says Anderson died Jan. 22 at her Waterloo home after a lengthy illness. […]

Editor who grew up black in Nazi Germany dies

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Hans Massaquoi, a former managing editor of Ebony magazine who wrote a memoir about his unusual childhood growing up black in Nazi Germany, has died. He was 87.

His son said Massaquoi died Jan. 19, on his birthday, in Florida. He had been hospitalized over the Christmas holidays. […]

Legislative Black Caucus founder Turnley dies

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Funeral services were recently held for Richard Turnley Jr., the first black member elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives from Baton Rouge in modern times and a founder of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus.

Tamara Turnley Robinson said her father died Jan. 19 at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital after a long illness. He was 79. […]

State Rep. David Gibbs dies at 76

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State Rep. David Gibbs, recalled by colleagues as a common-sense lawmaker who preferred to keep a low profile and make things happen behind the scenes, died Sunday. He was 76.

Gibbs, who had cancer, died about 5 a.m. Sunday, said Rep. Kenny Wayne Jones, D-Canton, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus. He had been hospitalized at Northeast Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo. Hospital spokeswoman Deborah Pugh confirmed his death. […]

Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf dies at 78

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Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who topped an illustrious military career by commanding the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait in 1991 but kept a low public profile in controversies over the second Gulf War against Iraq, died Thursday.

He was 78.

Schwarzkopf died in Tampa, Fla., where he had lived in retirement, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. […]

Notre Dame’s 1st black starting QB dies at 60

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On Jan. 7, sophomore Everett Golson will attempt to tie a Notre Dame record by winning his first 11 starts as the Fighting Irish quarterback (originally set by Bob Williams from 1949-50).

Maybe the most refreshing aspect of this potential milestone is Golson is known as a quarterback – not “a black quarterback.”

That’s not how it was for Cliff Brown, who became Notre Dame’s starter as a sophomore in 1971, the man who bridged Joe Theismann (1969-70) and Tom Clements (1972-74). Theismann was a Heisman runner-up for the No. 2 team in 1970, and Clements directed the 1973 national title […]

Jenni Rivera, soulful, troubled Mexican music star dies

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Jenni Rivera launched her career hawking cassette recordings of her songs at flea markets, but a powerful voice, soulful singing style and frank discussion of personal troubles powered her to the heights of a male-dominated industry, transforming her into the one of the biggest stars of the genre known as grupero.

Her life was cut short at its peak on Sunday by an airplane crash in northern Mexico that also killed six friends and co-workers. […]