2007 notable deaths | Tribute to local newsmakers

B | Louis Malcolm "L.M." Boyd, 79, whose trivia column for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer under the pen name "Mike Mailway" turned into a syndicated staple of obscure facts and historical tidbits in 400 newspapers across the country, died Jan. 22 in Seattle. He had suffered small strokes in recent years.

C | Charlie Chong, 80, who rode a wave of public discontent about neglected potholes and neighborhoods to a City Council seat and a prominent role in Seattle politics, died April 26 from complications from a stroke and brain aneurysm.

Walt Crowley, 60, a political commentator and prominent local historian who co-founded HistoryLink.org, an online encyclopedia of Washington state history, died Sept. 21 of a stroke following cancer surgery.

D | Josef "Joe" Diamond, 99, an attorney best known in Seattle as the architect of the self-pay parking-lot empire that bears his name, died March 3 in Seattle.

E | Carol Edwards, 65, known to many as the "Mother of Woodinville" — she created The Woodinville Weekly, founded the Woodinville Community Band and co-founded the city's Chamber of Commerce, farmers market and wine festival among other community projects — died Oct. 27 of complications from Lou Gehrig's disease.

F | Sebastian "Buzz" Fiorini, 91, who founded the Fiorini Ski School, teaching thousands of Northwest youngsters to ski, and founder of the Fiorini Sports store in University Village, died of respiratory problems Sept. 21 in West Seattle.

G | Rabbi William Greenberg, 81, the former head of Seattle's Congregation Ezra Bessaroth who was esteemed as a teacher and a speaker, died May 31 in Seattle.

H | The Rev. Gwen Hall, 56, pastor of Sojourner Truth Ministries on Seattle's Beacon Hill and an early voice for gay rights, died Aug. 24 from complications related to heart failure.

Gerard Hanauer, 80, who made his fortune with his Seattle-based family business, Pacific Coast Feather, died Dec. 2 in Seattle of complications from a long illness. His $15 million gift to Seattle Opera last summer established him as one of the arts community's most generous donors.

K | Bruce R. Kennedy, 68, of Burien, the former Alaska Airlines chief executive who led the company's expansion as an international carrier before stepping down in 1991 to pursue humanitarian interests, was killed June 28 when his single-engine plane crashed in central Washington.

L | Polly Lane, 70, a Seattle Times reporter for 34 years, most of it covering commercial real estate and the aerospace industry, died of cancer Jan. 9 in Anacortes.

Phil Lucas, 65, an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker who taught at Bellevue Community College, where he founded an American Indian Film Festival, died Feb. 4 after complications from heart surgery.

M | Karen Marchioro, 73, who helped reshape Washington's Democratic Party in 12 years as chairwoman, died of cancer Aug. 30 in Bellevue.

Jack Metcalf, 79, a strong Republican advocate for the environment and veterans during his three terms in Congress from Langley, Island County, died March 15 at an Alzheimer's care facility in Oak Harbor. He was also a longtime state lawmaker and a schoolteacher for 30 years, mostly in Everett.

Georg N. Meyers, 91, retired Seattle Times sports editor whose crafted columns were a staple of the local sports scene for nearly 30 years, died March 5 in Seattle.

Janet Miller, 64, who founded the Children's Trust Foundation, a charity that funds family-support and parent-education programs, and who helped persuade the state Legislature to create the Washington Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, died June 29 on Bainbridge Island after being diagnosed with kidney cancer.

Dr. William Mitchell Jr., 59, a nationally recognized naturopath and co-founder of Bastyr University, died Jan. 23 of a heart attack.

N | Larry Nelson, 70, a local broadcast legend who hosted a morning show on KOMO radio for 30 years, died of lung cancer Nov. 29 in Seattle.

O | John L. O'Brien, 95, a state House speaker who set a record by serving more than a half-century in the Legislature, died April 22 in Seattle. A Democrat, he had represented a South Seattle district.

Charles "Chuck" H. Odegaard, 79, who led the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission for 16 years, then spent nearly two decades with the National Park Service, died July 9 in Seattle from complications after a stroke.

Bob Oke, 66, a former state senator from Port Orchard and senior Republican known for battling the tobacco industry and promoting a new Tacoma Narrows Bridge, died May 14 in Seattle of multiple myeloma.

S | Bill "the Beerman" Scott, 58, part of Seattle's sports history as a vendor who got the crowds pumped up at the Kingdome and at sports arenas in other cities, died of cardiac arrest March 25 in Seattle.

Floyd Standifer, 78, the granddaddy of Seattle jazz and a veteran of the city's heralded Jackson Street scene and the 1960 Quincy Jones Big Band, died Jan. 22 in Seattle of cancer and other complications.

Samuel Stephens, 48, a co-founder of Ezell's Famous Chicken who helped give birth to Seattle's hip-hop community, died Oct. 21 in Seattle.

Bernice Stern, 90, the first woman elected to the King County Council, died of pneumonia June 29 in Seattle.

Gloria Strauss, 11, the Federal Way girl who fought cancer for four years and prayed along with her family for a miracle, died of neuroblastoma Sept. 21 at Children's Hospital in Seattle. Her story of faith and prayer was chronicled during the year in The Seattle Times.

T | Jesse Tanner, 79, mayor of Renton from 1996 to 2003, during which time the city acquired some of its most prominent landmarks, died Feb. 6 in Renton. He had been in declining health from heart problems for about a year.

Larry Taylor, 57, a former Westin and Sheraton hotels executive, business owner and community fundraiser, died of prostate cancer Oct. 5 in Seattle. He had been featured in a local ad campaign urging men, especially African Americans, to talk to their doctor about prostate cancer.

U | Shigeko Uno, 92, a leader in Seattle's Chinatown International District and in the city's Japanese community, died Aug. 10 in Bellevue.