Final goodbye: Roll call of some who died in 2012

Manuel Fraga Iribarne, 89. Blunt-talking politician who founded Spain’s ruling conservative party and was the last surviving minister from Gen. Francisco Franco’s right-wing regime. Jan. 15.

Hulett C. Smith, 93. Former West Virginia governor who signed bills in the 1960s that abolished the state’s death penalty and implemented its first strip mining laws. Jan. 15.

Edward Derwinski, 85. He represented Chicago’s south side and adjoining suburbs in Congress for nearly a quarter-century before becoming the nation’s first secretary of veterans affairs. Jan 15.

Jimmy Castor, 71. Funk and soul saxophonist, singer and songwriter whose tune, “It’s Just Begun,” morphed into an anthem for generations of musical acts. Jan. 16.

Johnny Otis, 90. He wrote and recorded the R&B classic “Willie and the Hand Jive” and for decades evangelized black music to white audiences as a bandleader and radio host. Jan. 17.

Etta James, 73. Blues singer best known for her performance of the enduring classic “At Last.” Jan. 20. Complications from leukemia.

Jonathan “Jack” Idema, 55. Former Green Beret convicted of running a private jail in Afghanistan. Jan. 21. AIDS.

Roy J. Britten, 92. Pioneering molecular biologist who discovered the crucial fact that humans and animals have multiple copies of some DNA segments. Jan. 21.

Joe Paterno, 85. Longtime Penn State coach who won more games than anyone in major college football but was fired amid a child sex abuse scandal that scarred his reputation for winning with integrity. Jan. 22.

Theo Angelopoulos, 76. Award-winning Greek filmmaker known for his slow and dreamlike style as a director. Jan. 24. Killed in a road accident.

Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, 91. Heiress to a vast Gilded Age fortune built on tobacco and a member of the family that endowed Duke University. Jan. 25.

Robert Hegyes, 60. Actor best known for playing Jewish Puerto Rican student Juan Epstein on the 1970s TV show “Welcome Back Kotter.” Jan. 26.

Kevin H. White, 82. Former Boston mayor who led the city for 16 years including during racially turbulent times in the 1970s and was credited with putting it on a path to prosperity. Jan. 27.

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, 93. Past president of Italy who held the post during the sweeping corruption scandal of the early 1990s that reshaped the country’s political landscape. Jan. 29.

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, 88. Retired head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and an uncharged central figure in a child sex-abuse case that involves the alleged shuffling of predator priests to unwitting parishes. Jan. 31.

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