Huge Marriages Search Engine!
Ex-deputy Kent gained citizens’ respect
Thomas Kent, a veteran Pima County sheriff’s deputy, died of an apparent heart attack Tuesday, authorities said. He was 52.
Paramedics treated Mr. Kent in his Avra Valley home and airlifted him to University Medical Center, where he died at 9:45 p.m., said Deputy James Ogden of the Sheriff’s Department.
Sgt. Brad Foust, a sheriff’s spokesman, said Mr. Kent had heart problems. Cause of death had not been officially determined yesterday.
Mr. Kent served with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department from June 1974 until December 1980, after which time he was self-employed.
He served in the Pinal County Sheriff’s Department for one year before returning to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in April 1989.
Mr. Kent received several letters of appreciation from citizens who wrote to the Sheriff’s Department over the years, Foust said.
Foust said the department recognized Mr. Kent for his work and kept the laudatory letters in his file.
Mr. Kent patrolled the Catalina foothills and Rincon areas, before being assigned as a security guard at the Pima County Juvenile Court Center, Foust said.
”We’re very sorry to lose one of our deputies,” Foust said. ”It’s unfortunate. He was in his early 50s, and we feel deeply for his family.”
Mr. Kent, originally from Florence, is survived by his wife, Lisa Marie Kent, and their sons Dax Damien, 22, and Beau Elliot, 11.
(Dated Oct 02, 1997)
=======
UA engineering ex-dean Gallagher, 69
Richard H. Gallagher, a former dean of the University of Arizona’s College of Engineering and Mines, died Tuesday of cancer. He was 69.
Mr. Gallagher, who held the position from 1978 to 1984, also developed the fundamental element method, a mathematic technique used in the computer simulation of engineering behavior in the design of ships, aircraft and buildings.
He was the chairman of the structural engineering department at Cornell University from 1967 to 1978. He was the provost of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in New York from 1984 through 1988, and served as the president of Clarkston University in Potsdam, N.Y., from 1988 until his retirement to Tucson in 1995.
His wife, Therese Gallagher, said he was equally important in industry as he was in academia, where he was a popular professor.
”His students loved him,” she said. ”He was very selfless and giving with them.”
Among Mr. Gallagher’s honors are medals from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the International Association of Computational Mechanics. He also founded the bimonthly International Journal of Numerical Methods 27 years ago, for which he served as editor until his death.
Born Nov. 17, 1927, in New York City, Mr. Gallagher grew up there. He briefly served in the Army Air Corps and in the Navy at the end of World War II.
He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from New York University, and his doctorate from the State University of New York in Buffalo in 1967.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Gallagher is survived by his daughter, Mary Lee Rodin; sons Richard S. Gallagher, William J. Gallagher, Dennis M. Gallagher, and John B. Gallagher; and several grandchildren.
A funeral Mass was to be held today at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 8650 N. Shannon Road, at 10:30 a.m.
(Dated Oct 03, 1997)
=======
Arizona Opera’s Henry Holt dies of cancer
• The outstanding operatic conductor was associated with AOC for two decades.
Henry Holt, principal conductor and director of education with Arizona Opera Company, has died after a six-year battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Mr. Holt, 63, died Saturday at the University of Virginia Medical Center, said Glynn Ross, general director of AOC, who broke the news to friends here.
”I just told the chorus as they were rehearsing for ‘Romeo and Juliette,’ ” Ross said Saturday. ”They’re devastated. It really knocked them back. It’s a blow for all of us. He was a great musician and a wonderful human being.”
Mr. Holt, artistic director of AOC’s 1996 ”Ring” cycle, was born in Vienna in 1934. His family fled the Nazi occupation, eventually settling in Los Angeles, where he grew up.
His teachers included his conductor uncles – Herbert Zipper and Henry Holt – as well as such acclaimed composers, conductors and instrumentalists as Erich Leinsdorf, William Steinberg, Robert Craft, Igor Stravinsky, Miklos Rosza, Arthur Rubenstein, Gregor Piatigorsky and Franz Waxman.
Mr. Holt started his career in Los Angeles. He co-founded the American Opera Company, which he conducted for two years before taking the post of kappelmeister in Koblenz, Germany.
He went on to become music director at Portland Opera before Ross enlisted him in 1966 to work with Seattle Opera, where he spent the next 17 years as music director.
In 1983, Mr. Holt moved to Los Angeles, where he became music director, then general director with Los Angeles Opera Theater.
His Tucson connection extends to the mid-1970s when he conducted ”Madama Butterfly” during the tenure of founding director Jim Sullivan. He was a frequent conductor during Ross’ term as general director.
Mr. Holt is survived by his wife, Rebecca Ravenshaw-Holt of Warrington, Va.; her two children, Kitran and Devin Colwell; his sister, Lucy Horwitz of Boston; a niece, Celia Pool of Los Angeles; and a nephew, Gavin Perry of St. Louis.
Services in Virginia are pending.
Contributions in Mr. Holt’s name can be made to the Utah Festival Opera Dansante Arts Project (contact Susan Ames, P.O. Box 3489, Logan, Utah; 801-750-0300); or the Core Knowledge Foundation (contact Professor E.D. Hirsch Jr., 2012-B Morton Drive, Charlottesville, Va. 22903; 804-977-7550).
(Dated Oct 07, 1997)
=======
Gun enthusiast Donald ‘Big Bore’ Jeter, at 61
”They call me ‘Big Bore’ Jeter: I like my vehicles with big engines, my guns in large caliber – and when I talk about either one, I’m a big bore.”
That was the self-effacing humor of Donald C. Jeter, a driving force behind the Pima Pistol Club for nearly 20 years. Mr. Jeter, 61, died Monday of a heart attack.
He was also the first national longrange metallic handgun silhouette shooting champion when the sport was introduced in 1975.
Mr. Jeter was born Sept. 2, 1936, in Oklahoma City, Okla.
He served as a Green Beret in the U.S. Army Special Forces. Despite serving in the elite military program in the 1960s, he was never sent to South Vietnam, his family said.
After leaving the service, Mr. Jeter moved to Tucson in 1969, the year the Pima Pistol Club purchased property near the community of Catalina north of Tucson.
When Mr. Jeter won the national championship, ”everybody wanted to know who that long, skinny kid from Oklahoma was,” said Dave Twigg, president of the Pima Pistol Club.
The competition, which involved hitting metal targets at ranges of 50, 100, 150 and 200 meters, was held at Three Points. It drew nearly 200 participants from around the country, Twigg said.
Mr. Jeter was instrumental in establishing International Practical Shooting Competition in the Tucson area, Twigg added.
Mr. Jeter, who served a term as vice president of the club but more often utilized his low-key style as a behind-the-scenes force, worked as a plumbing contractor in Tucson until he suffered a heart attack in 1991.
”Since then he’s pretty much been retired,” said his wife, Shirley.
”He was a very fine person, and he was always honest and fair. Some friends would tell him, ‘Don, you’re hard to like.’ He’d say, ‘That’s OK, I don’t want any weak friends,’ ” she said.
Mr. Jeter worked the past few years as a partner with Twigg to provide training for concealed weapons permits holders.
A memorial service was held this morning at Abbey Funeral Chapel, 3435 N. First Ave. Mr. Jeter’s cremated remains will be buried at National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix.
Survivors include his wife, Shirley; five sons, Cole A. Jeter of Tracy, Calif.; Mark Jeter of Glendora, Calif.; Scott Jeter of Sacramento, Calif.; Bruce Hughes of Oklahoma City; and Blake Hughes of Tucson; his mother, Eva Jean Jeter of Oklahoma City; and 10 grandchildren.
(Dated Oct 10, 1997)
=======
Tucson touched by music, life
So maybe you didn’t know John Denver wanted to fly in a space shuttle. Or that he studied architecture in college.
But you can probably fill in the rest of these lines: ”Almost heaven, West Virginia . . .” and ”Sunshine on my shoulders . . .”
”I don’t think the music industry will see (Denver’s death) as a loss,” said KWFM deejay Alan Michaels, ”but to the people who remembered his music, it will be a great loss.”
Denver, who died Sunday at age 53, lived in Tucson from 1949-57 while his father was stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. For a couple of years, Denver belonged to the Tucson Boys Chorus, but never toured with it.
However, his first song either may have been written here or inspired by hikes in the Catalinas and Rincons. On America Online in 1995, Denver said he wrote his first song at age 13.
”It was called ‘Lazy Little Stream,”’ Denver said. ”From the beginning, nature was a part of my self-expression.”
Though not as active recently in the recording industry as in his heyday, Denver was still a soughtafter celebrity. This despite DUI arrests in 1993 and ’94 that cost him hosting duties at the Tucson Conquistadores’ annual celebrity golf match.
Michaels last spoke to Denver about a year ago about hosting the CIGNA HealthCare Celebrity Classic 1996 tennis tournament. Also being considered was singeractor Rick Springfield.
”We really wanted John Denver to host, and nothing against Rick Springfield, but Rick agreed to host it first,” Michaels said.
Michaels described Denver as a ”nice person, very humble.”
”Always, any time you needed something done, if he could squeeze it into his schedule, he’d do it.”
Michaels said Denver was ”very ecstatic, very happy about the possibility of doing the event. Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t there.”
Denver is also remembered as a staunch protector of the environment. Many of his hits – such as ”Rocky Mountain High” ”Calypso” and ”The Eagle and the Hawk” – were inspired by his love of the outdoors.
That activism and his support of the Democratic Party brought Denver back to Tucson often for fund-raisers.
”He was a strong environmentalist, a strong supporter of Democrats,” said Martin Bacal of the Democratic Party of Pima County.
Bacal, who once served as an aide to U.S. Rep. Morris K. Udall, described Denver as a ”charming, really nice guy.”
Bruce Wright, who worked on Udall’s re-election campaigns, remembered Denver as a ”really nice man, very genuine.”
”He was not pretentious. He was a regular person who was very committed to a number of causes.”
Earlier this year, Sony released ”All Aboard,” a compilation of classic train songs including a hidden track of an original song for Denver’s youngest daughter, Jesse Belle.
Until ”All Aboard,” his last studio album, ”Different Directions,” was made in 1991. Other recent albums either were recorded live (1995's ”Very Best of John Denver Live” and ”The Wildlife Concert”) or were anthologies (the 1997 five-CD set ”The John Denver Collection” or 1990's ”Earth Songs”).
The music industry may posthumously recognize the effect Denver’s songs had on popular culture, KWFM’s Michaels said.
”I think they’ll see what John Denver meant to the music of the ’70s and the early ’80s.”
Some of the memorable songs John Denver recorded
• Leaving on a Jet Plane
• Take Me Home, Country Roads
• Rocky Mountain High
• Sunshine on My Shoulders
• Goodbye Again
• Starwood in Aspen
• Mother Nature’s Son
• For Baby
• Grandma’s Feather Bed
• Thank God I’m a Country Boy
• Annie’s Song
• Fly Away
• Calypso
• Home on the Range (with the Muppets)
• Wild Montana Skies (with Emmylou Harris)
• Let Us Begin (What Are We Making Weapons For?)
Some prominent entertainers killed in air crashes
Aug. 15, 1935: Will Rogers, cowboy humorist and star of vaudeville and film, dies in plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska, with aviator Wiley Post.
Jan. 16, 1942: Carole Lombard, actress in such comedies as ”Nothing Sacred,” is killed in plane crash near Las Vegas while on a tour to sell war bonds. She was 33.
Dec. 15, 1944: A plane carrying Glenn Miller, trombonist and leader of a hugely popular dance band, known for such hits as ”Moonlight Serenade” and ”In the Mood,” disappears on flight from England to Paris while Miller was serving in the Army entertaining troops. He was 40.
Feb. 3, 1959: A plane carrying singers Buddy Holly, J.P. ”The Big Bopper” Richardson and Ritchie Valens crashes near Mason City, Iowa, en route to a show in Fargo, N.D. Holly, the pioneering rocker whose hits included ”Peggy Sue,” was 22. Richardson, whose big hit was ”Chantilly Lace,” was 29. Valens, famous for such songs as ”La Bamba” and ”Donna,” was 18.
March 5, 1963: Patsy Cline, whose country hits included ”Crazy” and ”She’s Got You,” dies in a plane crash near Camden, Tenn., at age 31. Also killed were Grand Ole Opry stars Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins and the pilot.
Dec. 10, 1967: Soul singer Otis Redding dies in a plane crash in Wisconsin along with members of his band, the Bar-Kays. He was 26. His greatest hit, the somber ballad ”Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay,” is released after his death.
May 30, 1971: Audie Murphy, World War II hero who became film actor in late ’40s, mostly in Westerns and war movies, is killed along with five others in crash in Carroll County, Va. He was 46.
Sept. 20, 1973: Jim Croce dies in a crash near Natchitoches, La., at age 30. He had put together a string of rock hits, such as the poignant ”Time in a Bottle” and the witty ”Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.”
Oct. 21, 1977: Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Stevie Gaines of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band, which carved a niche in the rock world with its image as hard-drinking, hellraising Southerners, are killed in a plane crash in McComb, Miss.
March 19, 1982: Randy Rhoads, 25, lead guitarist for heavy metal star Ozzy Osbourne, is killed when the plane in which he was flying buzzes Osbourne’s tour bus and crashes into a house in Leesburg, Fla.
Dec. 31, 1985: Rick Nelson is among seven people who die in a New Year’s Eve plane crash near DeKalb, Texas. Nelson, 45, was first a TV star, the son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson; he achieved musical stardom in the late 1950s and early ’60s with ”I’m Walkin,”’ and ”Travelin’ Man.”
March 21, 1987: Entertainer Dean Martin’s son Dino Martin, who as member of ’60s pop group Dino, Desi and Billy had a hit called ”I’m a Fool,” killed in the crash of an Air National Guard jet in California’s San Bernardino Mountains. He was 35.
Aug. 27, 1990: Blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, 35, is killed when a helicopter crashes into a hill in East Troy, Wis., after departing from a concert. Vaughan, a Grammy winner, had a platinum album with his band, Double Trouble, in ”Couldn’t Stand the Weather,” released in 1984.
March 16, 1991: Seven members of singer Reba McEntire’s band are among 10 people killed in crash near San Diego.
Oct. 12, 1997: John Denver, one of the biggest recording stars of the 1970s with hits such as ”Take Me Home, Country Roads” and ”Annie’s Song,” dies in crash of his experimental plane off California coast.
(Dated Oct 21, 1997)
=======
Stilb was leading insurance man
Memorial services for longtime local business leader and insurance agent John R. ”Jack” Stilb, who died Friday at age 74, will be held Saturday.
Services are set for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Stilb family ranch at the end of Bear Canyon Road.
Mr. Stilb, a Wisconsin native, moved to Tucson after World War II and fell in love with the Southwestern lifestyle, said his son.
”After moving to Tucson, he met a lot of friends who owned ranches in the San Rafael Valley and Tucson area,” said Timothy J. Stilb. ”At one time he was partowner of a cattle company, in the very early years, and he continued to ride horses throughout his life.”
Mr. Stilb was founder of the John R. Stilb C.L.U. and Associates life insurance agency here.
He was a life member and consistent qualifier of the Million Dollar Round Table – a small percentage of the nation’s life insurance agents who sell more than $1 million in life insurance annually.
Mr. Stilb was born Jan. 10, 1923, in Milwaukee. He went to school there, attending Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin before his studies were interrupted by World War II.
He studied German at University of Illinois and Kenyon College during his military service, and later was assigned to an Army intelligence unit.
After the war, he came to Tucson and enrolled at the University of Arizona, earning a bachelor of arts degree in history with minors in German and political science.
In 1953, he married Elaine Miller, and the same year founded his insurance agency, becoming an associate general agent for National Life of Vermont.
Five years later, the company named him general agent for southern Arizona.
He earned the insurance industry’s annual National Quality Award for more than 35 years and was founder of the group now known as Greater Tucson Association of Life Underwriters.
Timothy Stilb said his father enjoyed tennis, horses and polo. He once was a player with the Pima County Polo Club.
Mr. Stilb also was a collector of Southwestern art.
He was a founder of Los Charros del Desiertos, a group that sponsors annual horseback rides of several days’ duration.
Active in civic groups, Mr. Stilb was a member of the UA President’s Club and established the John R. Stilb C.L.U. Scholarship Fund to assist academic achievers in the business major area.
He was a member of the UA Social and Behavioral Sciences advisory board and a past president of the Southern Arizona Estate Planning Council and National Life of Vermont General Agents Association.
He was a past president of the Old Pueblo Club and charter member and a past president of Tucson Racquet Club.
Mr. Stilb served as chairman of the Up With People Advancement Campaign, and was a former board member of Catalina Savings and Loan, Old Tucson Studios and the Pima County division of the American Cancer Society, the Tucson Festival Society and Mountain Oyster Club. He also was a member of Tucson Country Club and Kiwanis International.
The family suggests memorials be made to the Arizona Cancer Center, UA, c/o John R. Stilb Memorial Research Fund, 1515 N. Campbell Ave., P.O. Box 245013, Tucson, Ariz. 85724.
Survivors include his wife, Elaine; two sons, Michael A. and Timothy J. Stilb, both of Tucson; four daughters, Heidi S. Lewis of Laguna Niguel, Calif., Lisa S. Marrocco of Cincinnati, Christina F. Stilb of Tucson and Heather S. Fleck of Denver; a sister, Natalie Nuernberg of Green Valley; and eight grandchildren. A son, Kevin P. Stilb, preceded his father in death.
(Dated Oct 21, 1997)
=======
