These are a few of the prominent individuals we lost this year.
Rev. James Bevel, 72, prominent adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Morgan Carter, 58, Chicago community activist, television producer and newspaper publisher
William Shaw, 71, mayor of Dolton, Ill. and former Illinois state senator
Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was a folk singer, actress and human rights activist
Cirilo McSween, 82, aide to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a businessman, track star and civil rights leader
Miriam Makeba, 76, South African singer
Levi Stubbs, 72, lead singer of the Four Tops
Rudy Ray Moore, 81, comedian and actor, best known for his role, “Dolemite”
Dee Dee Warwick, 63, singer and younger sister of Dionne Warwick
Devontae Green, 16, Oak Park high school student and son of 15th District police officer killed in a motorcycle accident in Austin.
Studs Terkel, 96, legendary Chicago author, journalist and radio host/actor
Anna Langford, 90, Chicago’s first black female alderman (16th)
Norman Whitfield, 65, producer and songwriter with Motown Records
W.D. Muhammad, 74, Muslim leader and son of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad
Bernie Mac, 50, actor and comedian
Isaac Hayes, 65, musician, actor and Academy Award winner for Best Song, Shaft
Gene Upshaw, 63, NFL player and recent president of the player’s union
Pervis Jackson, 70, original member of R&B group The Spinners
Bo Diddley, 77, famed musician and blues singer
Tim Russert, 58, journalist and moderator of NBC’s Meet The Press
Mildred Loving, 68, arrested in 1958 along with husband, Richard Loving, who was white, in Virginia for marrying interracially. Their one-year sentence was suspended on condition they leave Virginia. The Lovings’ right to marry was upheld in court in 1967.
Ishma Stewart, 20, college student killed in drive-by shooting on the South Side
Judge R. Eugene Pincham, 82, Illinois Appellate judge and civil rights lawyer
Kadeidrah “Dee Dee” Marsh, 15, West Side shooting victim
Siedah Sivels, 21, Oak Park student who battled cancer
Rev. James Orange, 65, civil rights worker and advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
John H. Jackson, III, 80, maker of political campaign buttons; known as Chicago’s “Button Man”
John Stroger, 78, Cook County Board president
Eugene Sawyer, 73, former mayor of Chicago
