The following is a list of deaths in October 2009.
Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:
Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.
October 2009
1 Otar Chiladze, 76, Georgian writer, heart failure.Interpressnews André-Philippe Futa, 66, Congolese politician, Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade (since 2002). Gunnar Haarberg, 92, Norwegian television presenter. Syed Kamal, 72, Pakistani actor. Lou Moro, 91, Canadian soccer player and coach. V. M. Muddiah, 80, Indian cricketer, stroke. Bhandit Rittakol, 58, Thai film director, producer and screenwriter, heart failure. Cintio Vitier, 88, Cuban poet.
2 Alain Bernheim, 86, French-born American film producer, complications from dialysis. Marek Edelman, 86, Polish political and social activist, cardiologist, last surviving leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Jack Evans, 80, Australian politician, Senator (1983–1984), co-founder of the Australian Democrats, cancer. Nat Finkelstein, 76, American photographer and photojournalist. Jørgen Jensen, 65, Danish Olympic runner.Jørgen Jensen John "Mr. Magic" Rivas, 53, American radio personality, heart attack. Saleh Meki, 61, Eritrean cabinet minister and politician, heart attack. Peg Mullen, 92, American author, subject of film Friendly Fire.Obituary: Peg Mullen Desmond Plummer, Baron Plummer of St. Marylebone, 95, British politician, leader of Greater London Council (1967–1973). Rolf Rüssmann, 58, German football manager, prostate cancer. Herman D. Stein, 92, American professor (Case Western Reserve University). Harvey Veniot, 93, Canadian MLA for Pictou West (1956–1974), Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (1961–1968). Shaun Wylie, 96, British mathematician and World War II codebreaker.
3 Aleksandre Basilaia, 67, Georgian composer.InterpressNews Vladimir Beekman, 80, Estonian writer and translator. Fernando Caldeiro, 51, Argentine-born American astronaut, brain cancer. Fatimah el-Sharif, 98, Libyan Queen of Libya (1951–1969), widow of King Idris I. Myrtle K. Hilo, 80, Hawaiian taxicab driver and radio personality. Will Inman, 86, American poet, Parkinson's disease. Robert Kirby, 61, British folk rock arranger. Ernie Lopez, 64, American boxer, complications from dementia. Reinhard Mohn, 88, German entrepreneur and publisher, founder of Bertelsmann Foundation. Michel Nédélec, 69, French Olympic cyclist. Vasile Louis Puscas, 94, American Bishop of St George's in Canton in the Romanian Catholic Church. Frank Zoppetti, 93, American football player (Pittsburgh Steelers).
4 Frederick E. Bakutis, 96, American naval officer and flying ace. Koichi Haraguchi, 68, Japanese chief of staff, Imperial House of Japan, heart attack. Veikko Huovinen, 82, Finnish writer. Fred Kaan, 80, Dutch-born British clergyman and hymn writer. Gerhard Kaufhold, 80, German footballer. Grace Keagy, 87, American actress, ovarian cancer. Ernő Kolczonay, 56, Hungarian Olympic silver medal-winning fencer (1980, 1992). *James Lin Xili, 91, Chinese underground first Bishop of Wenzhou (since 1992), Alzheimer's disease. Shōichi Nakagawa, 56, Japanese politician, Minister of Finance (2008–2009). Nikiforos of Didymoteicho, 78, Greek bishop of Didymoteicho. Günther Rall, 91, German Luftwaffe flying ace during World War II, heart attack. Mercedes Sosa, 74, Argentinian folk singer, liver failure. Bronisław Żurakowski, 98, Polish aerospace engineer.
5 Armando Acosta Cordero, 88, Cuban guerrilla. Tommy Capel, 87, English footballer (Nottingham Forest). Leon Clarke, 76, American football player (Los Angeles Rams), pancreatitis.Passings: Leon Clarke James Duesenberry, 91, American economist. Ron Finley, 76, American football coach (Campbellsville Tigers).CU Coach Ron Finley Dies at 76 Israel Gelfand, 96, Russian mathematician.Israel Gelfand dies at 96; Russian mathematician Gino Giugni, 82, Italian minister of labor and social security (1993–1994).Gino Giugni Giselher Klebe, 84, German composer. David Lake, 66, American winemaker. Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, 87, British classical scholar. Brian Powell, 35, American baseball player, suicide by gunshot. René Sommer, 58, Swiss inventor, co-inventor of the computer mouse. Johnny Williams, 77, English rugby union player.
6 Jimmy Bates, 99, Australian football player, oldest living Australian Football League player.Past player profiles: Bates, Jimmy E. Pamela Blake, 94, American actress, natural causes. Douglas Campbell, 87, Scottish-born Canadian actor, complications of diabetes and heart disease. Raymond Federman, 81, French-born American writer and academic, cancer. Aengus Finucane, 77, Irish priest, chief executive of Concern Worldwide (1981–1997). Pyarelal Khandelwal, 84, Indian politician, cancer. Ruth L. Kirschstein, 82, American pathologist."Pathologist Helped Ensure Vaccines' Safety", October 17, 2009, Washington Post Werner Maihofer, 90, German Minister of the Interior (1974–1978). Donna Mae Mims, 82, American race driver, first female SCCA champion, stroke.Donna Mae Mims, first female SCCA winner and Cannonball Run vet, dead at 82 Ramanna Rai, 79, Indian politician. Gilberto Zaldívar, 75, American founder of the Repertorio Español, complications of dementia with Lewy bodies.
7 Ben Ali, 82, American restaurateur (Ben's Chili Bowl), heart failure. Bikram Keshari Deo, 58, Indian politician, cardiac arrest. Irving Penn, 92, American fashion photographer (Vogue). Shelby Singleton, 77, American record producer and record label owner (Sun Records), brain cancer. Helen Watts, 81, British contralto. Pedro E. Zadunaisky, 91, Argentinian astronomer and mathematician.
8 Gordon Boyd, 86, British-born Australian television personality. James Delgrosso, 66, American politician, mayor of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (2003–2004), leukemia.Bethlehem loses longtime leader, James Delgrosso Gerald Ferguson, 72, American-born Canadian artist.Conceptual artist Gerald Ferguson dies Juan Carlos Mareco, 83, Uruguayan actor. Alex McCrae, 89, Scottish football player (Middlesbrough) and manager (Falkirk). Torsten Reißmann, 53, German Olympic judoka. Jean Sage, 68, French racing driver, former sporting director of the Renault F1 team. Michael Angelo Saltarelli, 77, American Roman Catholic Bishop of Wilmington (1995–2008), bone cancer. Abu Talib, 70, American blues musician, cancer.Abu Talib, 70, bluesman who recorded as Freddy Robinson Sir Sydney Walling, 102, Antiguan cricketer.
9 Arne Bakker, 79, Norwegian football and bandy player. Francis Baldacchino, 73, Maltese-born Bishop of Malindi, Kenya. Raymond A. Brown, 94, American lawyer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Aldo Buzzi, 99, Italian author and architect. Arturo "Zambo" Cavero, 68, Peruvian folk singer, complications from sepsis. Jacques Chessex, 75, Swiss author, first non-French recipient of the Prix Goncourt, heart attack. Anne Friedberg, 57, American professor (USC School of Cinematic Arts), colorectal cancer Vyacheslav Ivankov, 69, Russian crime figure, gunshot wounds. Stuart M. Kaminsky, 75, American mystery writer, hepatitis. Barry Letts, 84, British television actor, director and producer (Doctor Who). John Daido Loori, 78, American Zen Buddhist monk, lung cancer. Hermann Raich, 75, Austrian Roman Catholic Bishop of Wabag (1982–2008). Louis Sanmarco, 97, French administrator, governor (1954–1957) and High Commissioner (1957–1958) of Ubangi-Shari. Richard Sonnenfeldt, 86, German-born American interpreter at the Nuremberg Trials, complications from a stroke. Dré Steemans, 55, Belgian television and radio host, cardiac arrest. Horst Szymaniak, 75, German footballer. Rusty Wier, 65, American country music singer-songwriter, cancer.
10 Luis Aguilé, 73, Argentine singer and songwriter, stomach cancer. Paul Bloom, 70, American lawyer, recovered $6 billion for the Department of Energy, pancreatic cancer. Sonny Bradshaw, 83, Jamaican jazz musician, stroke. Stephen Gately, 33, Irish pop singer (Boyzone), pulmonary edema. Larry Jansen, 89, American baseball player (New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds), heart failure and pneumonia. Joan Orenstein, 85, British-born Canadian actress.Stage great Joan Orenstein dies at 85 Lionel Pincus, 78, American businessman, founder of Warburg Pincus. Jack Rose, 92, British WWII fighter pilot and colonial administrator. Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, 66, American psychologist, breast cancer.
11 Joan Martí i Alanis, 80, Spanish archbishop, Bishop of Urgell and co-Prince of Andorra (1971–2003). Peter Callanan, 74, Irish politician, member of the Seanad (since 1997). Patrick Hannan, 68, British broadcaster, author and journalist. Gustav Kral, 26, Austrian footballer, car accident. Abigail McLellan, 40, Scottish artist, multiple sclerosis. Veronika Neugebauer, 40, German voice actress, colorectal cancer.Veronika Neugebauer ist Tot Alan Peters, 76, British furniture designer. Halit Refiğ, 75, Turkish film director, cholangiocarcinoma.
12 Samy Abu Zaid, 30, Egyptian footballer, car accident. Maurice Agis, 77, British sculptor. Dietrich von Bothmer, 90, German-born American art historian, curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Dietrich von Bothmer, Curator and Art Historian, Dies at 90 Alberto Castagnetti, 66, Italian Olympic swimmer, complications from cardiac surgery. Mildred Cohn, 96, American biochemist. Mikheil Kalatozishvili, 50, Russian film director, script writer and producer, heart attack. Donald Kaufman, 79, American toy car collector, heart attack. Brendan Mullen, 60, American punk impresario and club owner (The Masque), stroke. Stan Palk, 87, English footballer (Liverpool, Port Vale). Dickie Peterson, 63, American rock singer (Blue Cheer), liver cancer. Joe Rosen, 88, American Golden Age comic book letterer. Frank Vandenbroucke, 34, Belgian cyclist, pulmonary embolism.Frank Vandenbrouke Dead at 34 Ian Wallace, 90, British bass-baritone singer.
13 Stephen Barnett, 73, American legal scholar, opposed the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970, cardiac arrest. Cullen Bryant, 58, American football player (Los Angeles Rams), natural causes. Rodger Doxsey, 62, American physicist and astronomer, cancer.Rodger Doxsey, 62; helped extend Hubble telescope's life Richard Foster, 63, American member of the Alaska House of Representatives, heart and kidney disease. Eugene Maxwell Frank, 101, American bishop of The Methodist Church. Atle Jebsen, 73, Norwegian shipowner and businessman, traffic collision. William Wayne Justice, 89, American federal judge.William Wayne Justice, Judge Who Remade Texas, Dies at 89 *Lü Zhengcao, 104, Chinese general, last survivor of the original Shang Jiang. Winston Mankunku Ngozi, 66, South African saxophonist Al Martino, 82, American singer and actor (The Godfather), first person to top the UK Singles Chart. Daniel Melnick, 77, American studio executive, film producer and television producer, lung cancer. Paul Barbă Neagră, 80, Romanian film director and essayist. Roger Nixon, 88, American composer, complications from leukemia. Nan C. Robertson, 83, American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, heart disease. Orane Simpson, 26, Jamaican football player, stabbed. Richard T. Whitcomb, 88, American aeronautical engineer, pneumonia Werner Zandt, 81, German Olympic sprinter.
14 Lou Albano, 76, American professional wrestler and manager, actor (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!), heart attack. Wilf K. Backhaus, 62, Canadian role-playing game designer. Antônio do Carmo Cheuiche, 82, Brazilian Auxiliary Bishop of Santa Maria (1969–1971) and Porto Alegre (1971–2001). Fred Cress, 71, British-born Australian artist, Archibald Prize winner (1988), pancreatic cancer. Roy Lane, 74, British hillclimbing competitor, peritonitis. C. B. Muthamma, 85, Indian first female diplomat and ambassador. Willard Varnell Oliver, 88, American Navajo code talker.