Obituaries in the news
Bob Dove
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Bob Dove, a Hall of Fame end at Notre Dame who played eight season in the NFL and was a longtime assistant coach at Youngstown State, died after a lengthy illness, the Lane Funeral Home said. He was 85.
Dove, who died Wednesday, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000, was chosen to Street & Smith Magazine's second team when, in 1990, it picked the top college players of the previous 50 years. The Washington Touchdown Club awarded Dove its Rockne Trophy as the nation's best lineman in 1942.
In 1948, Dove joined the NFL's Chicago Cardinals, where he played for five seasons. In 1953, he was traded to the Detroit Lions and played on their 1953 and 1954 championship teams. He retired in 1955.
He was an assistant coach at the University of Detroit from 1955-57, then became an assistant for the Detroit Lions in 1958-59 and for the Buffalo Bills in 1960-61.
He was the head coach at Hiram College for seven seasons.
Dove joined the Youngstown State staff in 1969 and coached under four coaches, including Jim Tressel, now the Ohio State coach. In 1987, he was named coach emeritus and served in that position through the 1991 Division I-AA national championship season.
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Scott Crossfield
RANGER, Ga. (AP) — Scott Crossfield, the hotshot test pilot and aircraft designer who in 1953 became the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound, was killed in the crash of his small plane, authorities said. He was 84.
Crossfield's body was found in the wreckage Thursday in the mountains about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta, a day after the single-engine plane he was flying dropped off radar screens on a flight from Alabama to Virginia. There were thunderstorms in the area at the time.
The cause of the crash was under investigation. Crossfield was believed to be the only person aboard.
During the 1950s, Crossfield embodied what came to be called "the right stuff," dueling the better-known Chuck Yeager for supremacy among America's Cold War test pilots. Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947; only weeks after Crossfield reached Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound, Yeager outdid him.
Crossfield, who lived in Herndon, Va., and flew regularly into his 80s, was one of a group of civilian pilots assembled by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the forerunner of NASA, in the early 1950s. Yeager did his test-flying as an Air Force pilot.
Among his many honors, Crossfield was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1983.
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Darwin N. Davis
STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Darwin N. Davis, who was among the first blacks to hold a top corporate position after rising through the ranks of an insurance company, died of cardiac arrest, his son said. He was 74.
Last year Davis, who died Sunday, was named as one of "the bravest generation" by Fortune magazine for being among the first black executives to fight their way to the top of corporate America. He worked his way up to senior vice president at AXA Financial, formerly Equitable Life Insurance, and retired in 1988 after 22 years at the company.
The Jackie Robinson Foundation presented him with its 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Davis was hired as a sales agent by Equitable Life in 1966 and quickly showed his business prowess. He generated more than $1 million in sales within his first two years and was promoted to district manager. He worked his way up to agency vice president by 1975 and to senior vice president eight years later.
In a 2003 profile written by Black Enterprise, Davis said there has been systemic racial discrimination in America for centuries.
After Davis retired, he was active in a number of organizations including the NAACP, the Jesse Owens Foundation and the Black Leadership Council on AIDS.
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Henderson Forsythe
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — Henderson Forsythe, a Tony Award-winning character actor who played the sheriff in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and spent 31 years on the soap opera "As the World Turns," has died. He was 88.
Forsythe, who died Monday, won the Tony Award for outstanding featured actor in a musical in 1979 for his portrayal of Ed Earl Dodd, the profane sheriff in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." He later reprised the role in London and was nominated there for actor of the year in a musical.
Forsythe played Dr. David Stewart on "As the World Turns" from 1960 to 1991. In a 1979 interview with The Associated Press, he said he didn't consider soap opera acting to be beneath him.
He had roles in movies, including "Silkwood" in 1983 and "End of the Line" in 1988. On the small screen, he appeared in episodes of "Law & Order" and "Eisenhower and Lutz" and played the Col. Harland Sanders in commercials for KFC restaurants.
But Forsythe's love was theater. He also had roles in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," "A Delicate Balance," "The Texas Trilogy" and "The Birthday Party."
Forsythe was born Sept. 11, 1917, in Macon, Mo. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Iowa, where he appeared in many productions and was a classmate of Tennessee Williams. The university said he was the first person to earn a master's in fine arts from its theater department.
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Robert Wegman
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Robert Wegman, a pioneer of one-stop shopping who transformed his family's business into one of the nation's largest private companies, has died. He was 87.
Wegman, who died Thursday, took over as president of the 90-year-old business begun by his father and uncle in 1950 and over decades introduced private-label products and laser scanning at the checkout.
He was behind the "Shoppers Club" electronic discount program and Wegmans' "Strive for 5" program offering recipes with nutritional analyses that emphasized fresh vegetables and fruits.
He is credited with pioneering one-stop shopping, placing bakeries, imported foods and cafes into huge stores, along with photo labs, video departments and child play centers.
The 70 Wegmans emporiums in five states employ more than 35,000 people and posted sales of $3.8 billion in 2005.
The company's employee scholarships, high-end wages and health insurance program have landed Wegmans on Fortune magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" for nine straight years.
In 2005, Wegmans was ranked No. 1 on the list, leading the chairman to say, "This is the culmination of my life's work."
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Elaine Young
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Elaine Young, the real estate agent to the stars who bought and sold so many celebrity properties that she became a celebrity herself, died of cancer according to family members. She was 71.
Young died Thursday. Glamorous and ebullient, she lived a life that rivaled those of her star clients, who included Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, Burt Reynolds, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Stevie Wonder, among others.
In the 1970s she did what many Hollywood stars were doing, sought to improve her appearance through cosmetic surgery. It was the beginning of a horror story that would haunt her for the rest of her life.
As she told it many times in interviews warning others about the pitfalls of such operations, she was maimed by a doctor who injected loose silicone into her face to accentuate her cheekbones. After a time, the silicone began to migrate, causing eye problems and disfigurement.
Young's soft voice and gentle manner belied her flossy image, and famous clients were drawn to her. Indeed, she was one of them, born and raised in the realm of Hollywood fantasy.
The slogan Young placed on her Web site might well serve as her epitaph: "If you want to live in heaven, acquire a home or condo from Elaine Young."
