Obituaries 01 (Sep 08 - Jul 11)

[winston]

Former Indonesian President Wahid dies at 69

Hospital nurse says former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has died at age 69

A hospital nurse says former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has died. He was 69.

Chief nurse Buwahyuat at the Ciptomangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta told The Associated Press on Wednesday Wahid had been receiving treatment in the intensive care unit. Buwahyuat like many Indonesians uses one name.

"Gusdur has passed away," she said, referring to Wahid's popular nickname.

The exact cause of death was not immediately released. The former president had suffered from several medical problems in recent years including kidney trouble.

Wahid ruled the country briefly in tumultuous years after the end of the 32-year Suharto dictatorship in 1998. He is known as a champion of democracy and moderate Islam.

Source: AP News

[winston]

Ruth Lilly, who has given US$500mil to charity, dies at 94


INDIANAPOLIS: Ruth Lilly, a prolific philanthropist who was the last surviving great-grandchild of pharmaceutical magnate Eli Lilly, has died at age 94.

A family spokesman says Lilly died Wednesday in Indianapolis.

Over the course of her life, the Indianapolis native gave away much of her inheritance from the Eli Lilly & Co. fortune.

Court documents showed in 2002 that Lilly had bequeathed nearly US$500 million to charitable and arts-related groups.

That included an estimated $100 million to the influential literary magazine "Poetry," which had rejected Lilly's submissions for years.

Lilly began writing poetry in the mid-1930's.

The magazine has published the works of poets William Butler Yeats and Dylan Thomas.

Lilly's attorney said in 2002 she didn't take rejections from the publication personally.

Lilly also established two fellowships for graduate students in poetry and an endowed chair of poetry at Indiana University.

The Indianapolis Museum of Art is located on the site of Lilly's parents' estate, which she and her brother donated in 1966, along with a trust income to maintain it.

Lilly's wealth was valued at more than $1 billion in 2002.

The family statement said she gave away "the vast bulk of her inheritance, largely to Indiana-based institutions."

A family statement released Thursday said that during her later years, Lilly's philanthropy widened her circle of contacts and interests and her life "became much more interesting and rewarding."

Lilly was married for more than 40 years but her marriage ended in divorce, with no children.

Her financial dealings have been handled by a court-appointed guardian since 1981, when she was declared incompetent.

Lilly battled depression for most of her life but was helped greatly by Eli Lilly & Co.'s blockbuster antidepressant Prozac, which came on the market in 1988, The Indianapolis Star reported. - AP


Source: AP-Wire

[winston]

Taco Bell founder dead at 86

Glen W. Bell, founder of Taco Bell chain, dies at 86


Glen W. Bell Jr., an entrepreneur best known as the founder of the Taco Bell chain, has died. He was 86.

Bell died Sunday at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, according to a statement posted Monday on the Taco Bell Web site.

The Irvine-based company did not release a cause of death.

"Glen Bell was a visionary and innovator in the restaurant industry, as well as a dedicated family man," Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell, said in the statement.

Bell launched his first restaurant, called Bell's Drive-In, in 1948 in San Bernardino after seeing the success of McDonald's. His restaurant sought to take advantage of Southern California's car culture by serving hamburgers and hot dogs through drive-in windows.

The World War II veteran next helped establish Taco Tias in Los Angeles, El Tacos in the Long Beach area, and Der Wienerschnitzel, a national hot dog chain.

Bell launched Taco Bell in 1962 in Downey after cutting ties with his business partners and quickly expanding around Los Angeles.

He sold the first Taco Bell franchise in 1964. In 1978, Bell sold his 868 Taco Bell restaurants to PepsiCo for $125 million in stock.

Taco Bell is now owned by Yum! Brands and is the largest Mexican fast-food chain in the nation, serving more than 36.8 million consumers each week in more than 5,600 U.S. locations.

Bell is survived by his wife, Martha, three sisters, two sons, a daughter and four grandchildren.

A private funeral is planned.

Source: AP News

[millionairemind]

Feb 2, 2010
Ng Teng Fong dies
By Reico Wong , Wendy Lim and Joyce Teo

SINGAPORE'S richest man, property magnate Ng Teng Fong died early on Tuesday morning.

The 82-year-old self-made billionaire started the privately-held Far East Organisation as well as the Hong Kong-listed Sino Group.

With a net worth of US$8 billion (S$11.2 billion), he was Singapore's richest man, according to the 2009 Forbes Asia Singapore Rich list.

His other interests include Sino Land Group in Hong Kong and Singapore-listed food and drinks maker Yeo Hiap Seng. He developed more than 700 hotels, malls and private condominiums in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Despite his fortune, he led a frugal and unostentatious lifestyle. Although he controlled at least a quarter of Singapore's housing market, Mr Ng lived in the same house for 30 years, and used to take his own lunch on to airplanes.

Among his six children, his older son, Robert, and younger son, Philip, are in charge of the Hong Kong and Singapore businesses respectively.

[LenaHuat]

Will we have a NgTengFong General Hospital in the eastern part of Singapore?
Common on, it's only S$125 million

[winston]

Hong Kong man with the golden toilet dies

HONG KONG (AFP) – A flamboyant Hong Kong socialite who owned the city's first golden toilet and travelled around with his fashionista wife in a pink Rolls Royce has died at 75, his son said Wednesday.

Lawyer Chau Kai-bong lived in Villa d'Oro, a mansion draped in gold from the window trimmings to bathroom fixtures. Carpets and even chauffeur uniforms were also draped in shocking pink.

Chau's son Brandon, also a lawyer, told AFP his father saw his newborn grandson before succumbing to cancer on Tuesday.

Chau and his wife Brenda often appeared at glamour balls with matching outlandish outfits and were frequently splashed across the society pages in the southern Chinese city.

"Some reporters criticise the way we dress. They know nothing about fashion," Chau was quoted as saying in a 2007 magazine article.

"I could have become a monk. I've got a sixth sense. I can feel things before they happen," he added.

"Long story short: my father tricked me into becoming a lawyer. I never loved it but I made a living out of it."

The socialite earned a law degree at Cambridge University before returning to Hong Kong in the 1960s to set up his own legal practice.

Chau's father, Sir Chau Sik-nin, was a renowned eye specialist and prominent political figure in Hong Kong between the 1940s and 1960s during British colonial rule. Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100210/en ... esocialite

[winston]

Alexander Haig, former secretary of state, dies

Alexander Haig, four-star general and former secretary of state for Reagan, dies at age 85

ANNE GEARAN
AP News

Feb 20, 2010 09:12 EST

Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who served Republican presidents and ran for the office himself, has died.

The Haig family says he died Saturday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore from complications associated with an infection. He was 85.

Haig's long and decorated military service launched the Washington career for which he became better known. But he never lived down his televised response to the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

Hours after the shooting, then-Secretary of State Haig went before the cameras intending, he said later, to reassure Americans that the White House was functioning.

"As of now, I am in control here in the White House, pending the return of the vice president," Haig said.

Source: AP News

[winston]

The Actors and Actresses that I used to watch on TV are leaving one by one ...

Report: Actor Peter Graves dead at 83
Los Angeles Times says ‘Mission: Impossible’ star died of natural causes

updated 8:44 p.m. ET March 14, 2010

Actor Peter Graves, 83, was found dead of natural causes at his southern California home on Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Graves, born in Minneapolis as Peter Aurness, is best known for his lead role in the TV program "Mission: Impossible," which ran from 1967 to 1973, and that show's 1988-1990 revival.

Actor James Arness is Graves' brother.

[kennynah]

we birth, we live and we die... this has been in the entire universe...

we just need to be prepared when the day comes...

[learn2win]

The Actors and Actresses that I used to watch on TV are leaving one by one ...

Report: Actor Peter Graves dead at 83
Los Angeles Times says ‘Mission: Impossible’ star died of natural causes

updated 8:44 p.m. ET March 14, 2010

Actor Peter Graves, 83, was found dead of natural causes at his southern California home on Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Graves, born in Minneapolis as Peter Aurness, is best known for his lead role in the TV program "Mission: Impossible," which ran from 1967 to 1973, and that show's 1988-1990 revival.

Actor James Arness is Graves' brother.

When we are young, we attend birthday parties, bbq, go discos, etc. It will then go on to wedding dinners and then baby's birthday celebration. Lastly, it will be funerals.