Final goodbye: Roll call of some who died in 2012

Marion Cunningham, 90. Home-cooking champion whose legacy can be found in the food-spattered pages of “Fannie Farmer” cookbooks in kitchens across America. July 11.

Donald J. Sobol, 87. Author of the popular “Encyclopedia Brown” series of children’s mysteries. July 11.

Dara Singh, 84. Bollywood action hero best known for his TV portrayal of the Hindu monkey god Hanuman. July 12.

Celeste Holm, 95. Versatile actress who soared to Broadway fame in “Oklahoma!” and won an Oscar for her portrayal of a lonely secretary in “Gentleman’s Agreement.” July 15.

Stephen R. Covey, 79. Author of “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and three other books that have all sold more than a million copies. July 16. Complications from a bicycle accident.

Jon Lord, 71. British rocker and keyboardist whose driving tones helped turn Deep Purple and Whitesnake into two of the most popular hard rock acts in a generation. July 16.

Kitty Wells, 92. Singer whose hits such as “Making Believe” and “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” made her the first female superstar of country music. July 16.

William Raspberry, 76. He became the second black columnist to win a Pulitzer Prize for his widely read syndicated commentaries in The Washington Post. July 17.

Forrest McCartney, 81. Retired Air Force lieutenant general and former director of Kennedy Space Center who was crucial in getting NASA’s shuttles flying again after the Challenger tragedy. July 17.

Rajesh Khanna, 69. His success as a romantic lead in scores of Indian movies made him Bollywood’s first superstar. July 18.

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, 102. He was revered by Jews worldwide as the top rabbinic authority of this generation for his scholarship and rulings on complex elements of Jewish law. July 18.

Oswaldo Paya, 60. Cuban activist who spent decades speaking out against the communist government of Fidel and Raul Castro and became one of the most powerful voices of dissent against their half-century rule. July 22. Car crash.

Sally Ride, 61. She blazed trails into orbit as the first American woman in space. July 23. Pancreatic cancer.

Sherman Hemsley, 74. Actor who made the irascible, bigoted George Jefferson of “The Jeffersons” one of TV’s most memorable characters and a symbol for urban upward mobility. July 24.

John Atta Mills, 68. He was elected president in the closest vote in Ghana’s history and then led the West African country amid newfound oil wealth. July 24.

Story Continues →

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.