Notable deaths: February 2009

Obituaries

Here are a selection of notable deaths from Georgia, the nation and the world for February 2009.

Millard Fuller: Jan. 3, 1935 - Feb. 3 --- Fuller, who at 29 walked away from his life as a successful businessman, devoted himself to the poor and eventually started Habitat for Humanity International, headquartered in Americus. Fuller is responsble for building more than 300,000 homes worldwide, In 1996, he was award the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He resigned from Habitat in 2005 after an unsubstantiated charge of harassment . He died in South Georgia after a short illness.

Socks: March 1989 - Feb. 20 --- Socks was the pet cat for President Bill Clinton's family during his presidency. He was adopted in 1991 after he jumped into Chelsea's arms while she was leaving the piano teacher's house in Little Rock, Ark. He eventually became second fiddle in the White House when the Clintons adopted a dog, Buddy, in 1997. It was not a successful blending, and he was left with Betty Currie, Clinton's secretary. Sock was put down after suffering cancer of the jaw.

Paul Harvey: Sept. 4, 1918 - Feb. 28 --- "Hello, Americans. I'm Paul Harvey. You know what the news is, in a minute, you're going to hear ... the rest of the story." Many remember Harvey's opening to radio broadcast. He broadcast each week and his listening audience was estimated, at its peak, at 24 million people each time. In 2005, he was awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom. Harvey died in a Phoenix hospital surrounded by family.

Estelle Bennett: July 22, 1941 - Feb. 11 --- A member of the famed 1960s trio The Ronettes, Estelle Bennett led a fairy-tale life. The group recorded with the infamous Phil Spector (who married her sister, Ronnie) and become instant stars. When they toured Britain in 1964, their opening act? The Rolling Stones. In her decades away from the public eye she struggled with anorexia and schizophrenia, and at times she had also been homeless. She passed away from colon cancer.

Jack Cover: April 6, 1920 - Feb. 7 --- Cover will forever be remembered as the inventor of the Taser gun. A former NASA researcher and physicist, he said his inspiration was a newspaper artcile about a man who had walked into an electrified fence and survived, though he was temporarily immobilized. By 1974, Cover had completed the device, which he named after his childhood hero Tom Swift. He had Alzheimer's disease and died of pneumonia at his home in California.

Molly Kool: Feb., 23, 1916 - Feb. 25 --- Kool was North America's first registered female sea captain and was known throughout her life as 'Captain Molly.' Born Myrtle Kool, she aborred the name and legally changed it to Molly in the 1940s. At 21, she joined the marine school in New Brunswick. She was the only woman there and graduated two years later. Over the years, she hauled cargo up and down the violent tides of the Bay of Fundy. Upon her death, her ashes were scattered on the bay.

Betty Jameson: May 9, 1919 - Feb. 7 --- Jameson was a Hall of Fame golfer and a founding member of the LPGA, the women's professional tour. She turned professional in 1945, signing a three-year deal with Spalding for $5,000 a year. At the time, she was earning $25 a week as a reporter for The San Antonio Light. Her career earnings were $91,470, a respectable sum for an era but eventually gave up golf due to carpal tunnel syndrome. She passed away on Boynton Beach, Fla.

James Whitmore: Oct. 1, 1921 - Feb. 6 --- Whitmore was the actor whose face you always recognized but never remembered the name. He appeared in 'Kiss Me Kate', 'Oklahoma!', 'Planet of the Apes,' 'The Shawshank Redemption' and many more movies. He won a Tony Award for 'Command Decision', and in 2000 won an Emmy for guest actor on 'The Practice'. An avid gardener, Whitmore also was the longtime commercial pitchman for Miracle-Gro products. He passed away from lung cancer.

Molly Bee: Aug. 18, 1939 - Feb. 7 --- Bee became an overnight country music star at 13 with her 1952 hit version of the novelty song 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,' She was also a regular on the 1952 TV show 'Hometown Jamboree,' a popular Southern California country-western television show. Her career began to fade by the late-1960s, and she later said that a period of drug abuse was one of the reasons. She died from complications from a stroke.

Willem Kolff: Feb. 14, 1911 - Feb. 11 --- Kolff was a brilliant Dutch physician who invited the first artifical kidney in a rural hospital during World War II. It has evolved into modern dialysis machines. After immigrating to the United States in 1950, he continued his groundbreaking work by developing the first artificial heart. It's still in use, albeit updated, as a bridge to heart transplantation. Kolff died three days short of his 98th birthday in a Philadelphia care center.

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Millard Fuller: Jan. 3, 1935 - Feb. 3 --- Fuller, who at 29 walked away from his life as a successful businessman, devoted himself to the poor and eventually started Habitat for Humanity International, headquartered in Americus. Fuller is responsble for building more than 300,000 homes worldwide, In 1996, he was award the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He resigned from Habitat in 2005 after an unsubstantiated charge of harassment . He died in South Georgia after a short illness.

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