The Memorial Wall

Ken Orchard, an influential figure in radio, has died at 85 due to heart disease and Parkinson's. 

The 85-year-old Ken Orchard, a radio giant in California's Victor Valley, died on August 17 2023 in Hemet, CA, after battling heart disease and Parkinson’s in his later years.

Orchard enjoyed a long life with many successes, twists and turns, and a broadcast career that spanned six decades. He never worked a day in his life because he loved radio as much as he loved his family, his daughter said. 

The Daily Press reports KVVQ took the High Desert by storm as the Victorville-based station flooded nearly every home, office, school bus, and car with waves of popular music by singers such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Prince and Billy Joel.

Born in Blunt, South Dakota, Orchard married his high school sweetheart, Millie, at age 19 in 1957 in Van Nuys. They spent their honeymoon traveling to Crescent City for his first job in radio.

After radio jobs in Georgia and Tennessee, the Orchards headed back to Los Angeles, where Orchard took an engineering job with RKO General-owned KHJ radio and television in 1959. He spent 21 years at KHJ while also becoming a real estate broker. His dream was to build, own and operate a radio station through money made in real estate investments.

Orchard applied for a construction permit to build his first FM station in Victorville. Once approved by the FCC, he left his KHJ job and sold his rental properties to fund construction and equipment. KVVQ 103.1 FM went on the air in August 1980. The call letters stood for Victor Valley Q-munities. 

The radio station dominated the airways.  KVVQ, “will play hit after hit,” said Ken, who explained that his family’s faith in God would prevent the station from playing songs with “double entendres” or “innuendoes.”

Ken’s second station, KLLY 95.3 FM, was built in Bakersfield. It went on the air in January 1985. He called it “Kelly 95” after his daughter. He sold the Bakersfield station in the late 80s to build KVVQ AM 910. 

Orchard used the radio station’s platform to help the campaign for Hesperia's cityhood. After several years of hearings and testimony, environmental impact reports and fees, KVVQ-AM went on the air on Feburary 1, 1990.  Ken later acquired KIQQ AM 1310 in Barstow. Two more translators were built to boost the AM and FM signals up Interstate 15 and north of Barstow.

In 1991, local radio stations began experiencing financial difficulties when George Air Force Base was shuttered. By 1997, most of the advertising dollars had vanished and stations began closing.  Financial issues eventually forced the closure of KVVQ in 1997.

In 1999, Ken began a consulting firm, Orchard Media Services, with his daughter.  The company provided radio and TV stations with much-needed assistance with FCC compliance. Ken visited thousands of broadcast stations all over the country, conducting “mock" FCC inspections and offering services to help them maintain their license to broadcast, Kelly said.

He created KLLY in Bakersfield and later founded Victor Valley, CA's first 24/7 FM station, KVVQ, airing a CHR format in 1980 after leaving an engineering role at KHJ in Los Angeles. His dedication to faith prevented the station from playing questionable content. Orchard's legacy, which spanned six decades, includes aiding stations through Orchard Media Services and being an unwavering family man.

Survived by wife Millie, his four children, 11 grandchildren, and over 14 great-grandchildren, Orchard's impact extended beyond his empire in the High Desert.

Veteran singer, Prince Bola Agbana, also known as Prince B, died at the aged of 77.

The singer died on Wednesday, August 16th, 2023 at his residence in Ijanikin, Lagos State, after a protracted illness.

The singer’s first son, Sunmisola Agbana, confirmed his death. According to his son, the singer was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2015, he battled with the illness for four years and became bedridden in 2019.

Sunmisola revealed that after being diagnosed, he had a series of treatments but his condition continued to deteriorate, which led to his eventual death on Wednesday.

“It is with profound gratitude to the will of God that we announce the passing of the legendary musician, Prince Bolarinwa Agbana, aka Prince B, on Wednesday, August 16, 2023.

“Prince B, as he was fondly called, was a beloved figure in the music industry, whose timeless melodies touched the hearts of millions around the world.

“He succumbed to complications related to Parkinson’s disease, an ailment he had valiantly battled for several years. He approached this challenging journey with the same grace, resilience, and unwavering spirit that characterized his music. His courage in the face of adversity served as an inspiration to all who had the privilege of knowing him.

“We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the doctors, caregivers, family members and well-wishers, who supported Prince Bolarinwa during his battle with ill health.

“We request privacy during this difficult time as we grieve the loss of our beloved father, husband, and friend.

“As we mourn his loss, we celebrate the enduring impact of his music and the indelible mark he has left on our hearts.

“Details regarding burial arrangements will be announced in due course,” he stated.

Born on September 23, 1946, Prince B embarked on his musical journey at a young age with the Moon Rakers Band in the early 70s.

He is an early and respected exponent of funk, a catalyst in the retrofit of drums into juju as a modern genre. He is recognised as the founder, leader, drummer and principal vocalist of the SJOB Movement.

Prince B eventually achieved international acclaim for his popular hit song, “Mother Africa” with his Jambos Express Band. His soulful compositions will forever be etched in the annals of Nigerian music history.

Prince B used his music artistry to entertain and also to advocate causes close to his heart. He was an ardent advocate of peace, love & prosperity for the African continent.

Mohammed Habib, the football maestro of the 1970s, who left an indelible mark by scoring against Pele's New York Cosmos while donning the Mohun Bagan jersey, passed away on August 15, 2023, at the age of 74. A notable figure in Indian football history, Habib's brilliance caught the attention of Pele himself, elevating his game to legendary heights.

Habib battled dementia and Parkinson's syndrome for the past few years and breathed his last in his hometown of Hyderabad, leaving behind his wife and three daughters.

A bronze medalist in the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok under the captaincy of fellow Hyderabadi Syed Nayeemuddin and manager PK Banerjee, Habib has represented the big three of Kolkata Maidan — Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, and Mohammedan Sporting in his heydays, dominating the Mecca of Indian

Following a successful career that saw him gain legendary status and earn the tag of the country’s first "true professional" footballer for his refusal to accept numerous job offers that came his way owing to his on-field heroics, Habib took to coaching at the Tata Football Academy (TFA). Later, he also acted as chief coach of the Indian Football Association academy in Haldia.

At a time when the clubs would pay meager sums to their best players, he was unruffled and remained a professional in true sense throughout his career, for he considered playing football as his real and only profession. 

One of the highlights of Habib’s career was when he played for Mohun Bagan against the visiting Cosmos Club, which also featured the legendary Pele in 1977 in a friendly on a rain-soaked Eden Gardens.

Up against a visiting team that had a star-studded lineup with big names like Pele, Carlos Alberto, Georgio Chinaglia, and others in its ranks, Mohun Bagan held their own in a creditable 2-2 draw with midfield mainstay Habib being one of the scorers. In one of his biggest acknowledgments, Habib was singled out by Pele after the match with one of the world’s greatest players praising his game.

Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame football player Gary Barnes passed away at his home at the Clemson Downs neighborhood in Clemson, S.C. on August 15th 2023, after a long battle against Parkinson’s disease. He was 83.

Born on Sept. 13, 1939, in Fairfax, Ala., Barnes played high school football and basketball at Valley High School and then spent a year at Gordon Military Academy in Georgia before matriculating to Clemson in 1958.

Barnes was a starting receiver and running back for Frank Howard’s Clemson Tigers between 1959-61, as freshmen were not eligible during his era. In 1959, he started all 11 games and had nine receptions for 214 yards and three scores as a sophomore.

Clemson won the ACC Championship in 1959 and finished the season ranked 11th in the AP Poll. The Tigers finished the season with a 23-7 victory over seventh-ranked TCU in the Bluebonnet Bowl, the highest-ranked team Frank Howard defeated in his 30 years at Clemson. Barnes had a key play in that victory, a 68-yard scoring pass from Harvey White, the longest touchdown reception by a Clemson player in a bowl game until 2018.

Barnes finished his Clemson career with 39 receptions for 719 yards and six touchdowns. His 18.4 yards per reception ranks fourth best in Clemson history. He ranked in the top 10 in the ACC in total receiving yards all three years he played for the Tigers.

After his senior season, Barnes was a third-round draft choice, the 41st pick of the 1962 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. He spent his rookie season with Vince Lombardi’s Packers as a reserve wide receiver and earned an NFL World Championship ring when the Packers beat the New York Giants in the NFL Championship Game.

Barnes was traded to the Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys for the 1963 season and he played in 12 games with three starts. He played 13 games of the 1964 campaign with the Chicago Bears and head coach George Halas, marking the third legendary NFL coach for whom he played in his first three years in the league.

Barnes was the first player signed by the expansion Atlanta Falcons in 1965, the year before the franchise began playing games. Fittingly, Barnes then scored the first touchdown in Falcons history in their first game against the Los Angeles Rams. The score came on a 53-yard pass from Falcons quarterback Randy Johnson, the longest reception of Barnes’ professional career.

Barnes played the 1966 and 1967 seasons with the Falcons. His best game as a pro came on Nov. 17, 1963, when he had six catches for 97 yards in a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. He finished his professional career with 41 receptions for 583 yards and two touchdowns.

Following his playing career, Barnes worked for Chevron then in the textile industry. In 1986, he became a municipal judge in Clemson, a position he held for 30 years.

Barnes was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame in 2002 and into the state of South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.

“On a personal level, he was just a delightful individual — very, very competent, but also very humble and modest, despite the fact that he was a very revered figure in the Legislature by all parties,” remembered U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt.

In remembering Bill Russell, a longtime resident of Calais and chief of Vermont’s Legislative Counsel, friends and colleagues time after time used the same word to describe his demeanor: steady.

At work under the golden dome, Russell earned a reputation as a trusted confidante and unbiased legal sounding board for state lawmakers, ultimately building an office from the ground up that would continue after his retirement.

Outside the Statehouse, he was a loyal friend and family member, and an active member of his tiny village of Maple Corner — reliably available for the village on Town Meeting Day, or if a neighbor simply needed a ride to work. On stage playing in various bands throughout the years, Russell was often the player keeping a steady beat on bass. And in his final years, Russell was determined in his fight against Parkinson’s disease — a battle that he fought “right ‘til the end,” his daughter Kate Russell told VTDigger on Tuesday.

Russell died on August 15 in Sante Fe, New Mexico, where he had been living for more than three years with his wife, Maureen Russell, in a house Kate fixed up for her parents next door to her own. He was 80 years old, and had been battling Parkinson’s since 2013.

In the late 1960s and early ‘70s, Russell — a graduate of Georgetown Law — was living and working as a congressional staffer in Washington, D.C., where he met his to-be-wife Maureen on Capitol Hill. As Kate tells the story, her parents married in 1967 and had their first daughter, Sarah, in 1970 — and that’s when Russell began to crave “a little more sanity and security” outside of the beltway.

Luckily for a Hill staffer soured on D.C., the early 1970s ushered in a new era of government philosophy and structure. Embittered by Richard Nixon’s tumultuous presidency, the American public’s trust in the federal government was at an all-time low. Its dissatisfaction became palpable at the ballot box. By 1974, Vermonters elected their first-ever Democratic U.S. senator, the reformist “Watergate baby” Patrick Leahy.

It was around this time that efforts to bolster government accountability and professionalization ramped up. Take, for example, the formation of the Congressional Budget Office in 1974, a nonpartisan staff that oversees the budgetary process on Capitol Hill. Across the country, similar efforts manifested, signaling a shift in political power back to state legislatures. With that shift came the need for professional staff in Statehouse halls.

In came Russell, who arrived in Vermont, his young family in tow, in 1971. When Russell accepted his role as the chief counsel for the Vermont Legislature, the small state’s Office of Legislative Council, as it was then known, was entirely new, and consisted of just one staffer: himself.

Stephen Klein, the former director of Vermont’s Chief Fiscal Office, was a longtime colleague and friend of Russell’s. He said Russell was a consensus builder at a time when cooperation was in short supply in politics. In other words, he was “perfect” for the new job.

“His style was always very, very cooperative. He was always that person who tried to work with people to get them all to buy in — almost to a fault,” Klein quipped.

Arguably, Russell’s greatest political test in Montpelier came early in his career. A few short years into the gig in 1976, Russell was tasked with making the Legislature’s case in Vermont’s first-ever impeachment of a public official, Washington County Sheriff Mike Mayo. The predicament was unprecedented in the state, Russell recalled to Vermont Public decades after the fact. 

“He was just such a natural sweetheart,” said Geof Hewitt, Russell’s longtime friend and neighbor. “He was the ultimate kind, gentle friend. He was just there.” Photo courtesy of the Russell family.

“There was no precedent,” Russell said in a 2018 interview. “We had to decide how the Legislature would function. But we did have a model: the one for Nixon!”

The following years brought the usual waves of chaos that ebb and flow in every state capital. Throughout it all, longtime lawmaker and former House Speaker Gaye Symington recalled Russell as a calm, grounded presence in the Statehouse. “I never saw him flustered,” she told VTDigger this week.

“The Statehouse can be such a whirlwind, and he never got caught up in that,” Symington said.

Symington’s years at the speaker’s dais (2005-09) were Russell’s final years helming the legislative counsel before he retired, and those are the years she worked most closely with Russell. The office of House Speaker is “very much a whirlwind of an office,” she said, and Russell was someone with whom she could “think out loud.”

“He had seen a lot and could put things in context,” she said. 

But never, according to Symington, did Russell cross into the territory of bringing a partisan slant to his legislative work.

“He also had a really clear appreciation for the role of a citizen legislature, and he was just always respectful of that role,” she said.

Russell’s commitment to nonpartisanship was a principle he instilled in the Office of Legislative Counsel, U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., told VTDigger this week. Welch worked closely with Russell during his years in the Vermont Legislature, particularly as Senate President Pro Tempore, preceding his election to Congress in 2006.

“I strongly believe that that tradition of nonpartisan staff, professional staff, has been very beneficial to the functioning of the Vermont Legislature, to the benefit of Vermonters,” Welch said. “He’s one of two people that I think played a major role in creating that culture of trust that is absolutely essential for Republicans and Democrats and independents to have confidence that they’re being treated fairly and equally.”

Asked who was the second person he credited with building a lasting legacy of nonpartisanship in the Legislature’s professional staff, Welch said it was Klein. Initially a one-person office, the Office of Legislative Counsel steadily expanded over the years, with Russell hiring and training staffers along the way. Now, more than two dozen employees staff the office, according to the Legislature’s website.

“He was very practical and very fair, and I saw the benefit of that steadiness and professionalism, both in his work and the kind of staff that he hired and trained,” Welch said. “On a personal level, he was just a delightful individual — very, very competent, but also very humble and modest, despite the fact that he was a very revered figure in the Legislature by all parties. He’s a special person and made a special contribution to our state.”

Russell’s work in Montpelier brought him into contact with the National Conference of State Legislatures, a national organization in which he eventually landed the role of chair, which took him all around the world for various government and diplomatic work. He also was a professor of constitutional law and legislation at Vermont Law School.

Vermont’s Office of Legislative Counsel is by and large an understated one, evading bold headlines or attention-grabbing moves. Its staffers are unelected. But the office’s responsibilities are monumental, Symington said. It is, after all, often staffers’ written words that eventually become the letter of the law.

“At the end of a session … the last week or two can feel like, ‘How is this ever going to come together?’ You leave and you just think, ‘Phew, we did it,’” Symington said. “And then (Russell) is sitting there with his staff … coming in and saying, ‘OK, what happened? Where are the studies that we need to make happen? What happens next? How do we translate the work of the legislative session … into whatever comes next?”

Russell carried his steady nature outside of Statehouse walls. In Calais, he was a constant presence: moderating Town Meeting Day, chairing the school board, regularly singing in the Old West Church Christmas Choir, organizing a volleyball league that played together for more than a decade, his various bands playing in local gigs.

One of his volleyball teammates and bandmates was Geof Hewitt, who lived near Russell. The two met in the late 1970s, when Hewitt’s family moved to Maple Corner. The Russells welcomed them to the neighborhood with a pie.

As a neighbor, bandmate, teammate and friend, Hewitt could rely on Russell, he recalled to VTDigger. When Hewitt was unable to drive for a period of time, Russell would go out of his way to drive him to and from work every day.

“To him, that was nothing,” Hewitt said. “There was no pretense. He was just a very, very giving and sweet human being.”

“He was just such a natural sweetheart,” Hewitt said. “He was the ultimate kind, gentle friend. He was just there.”

James Alan Dorskind of Oakland passed away on August 12, 2023 after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease. Jim, son of Albert and Sue Dorskind, was born and raised in Los Angeles. In high school, despite never appearing in a game, Jim earned a varsity letter in football in the early days of personal computing by creating programs that mapped out the team's plays.

He went on to Cornell University where he was the coxswain for the crew team and then earned his law degree from the UC Berkeley School of Law. In 1983, he married his beloved Mary Rumsey Dorskind, and in 1998 Jim and Mary welcomed their son Paul, who was the light of their lives.
Jim started his law career at Morrison & Foerster and went on to Friedman, Ross & Dorskind. His proudest professional achievement was his work in the administration of President Bill Clinton, first as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Correspondence and then as General Counsel for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and finally as General Counsel at the Department of Commerce. He also was active in numerous philanthropic activities, including being Chair of the Board of Trustees of St. Paul's School in Oakland.
Jim was predeceased by his wife Mary and by his parents. He is survived by his son Paul and his sister DeeDee Dorskind. He is also survived by brother-in-laws and their wives, Schuyler and Wilma Rumsey, Peter Rumsey and Anna Edmondson, and John Rumsey and Lisa Bransten and by his niece and nephews Julien, Sean, Hanna and George Rumsey and Jeremy and Justin Levey and Justin's wife Ashlee.

Actress Apple Hong has disclosed that her father died at the age of 76.

“Although I should be mentally prepared after seeing dad’s Parkinson’s disease getting worse over the years, I didn’t expect that July 22 would be the last time I saw him,” the Malaysia-born actress wrote on social media.

“There were missed opportunities, moments of helplessness and regrets, but Dad can now rest in peace. May I be able to meet my dad again in heaven someday.”

She ended the post with: “The dad I love 08.12.1946 - 11.08.2023.”

Dr. Pareed K. Mohamed, beloved husband, father, grandfather, physician, and friend, passed away with family and friends by his side in Oakland, California on August 8, 2023. Known as "Dr. Mo," "Pareed," and "Kochu," he grew up with nine brothers and sisters in Erattupetta, a small village in Kerala, India. Kochu graduated from Trivandrum Medical College, where he met his wife, Dr. Hezla Mohamed.

In 1974, embracing the opportunity provided by U.S. immigration policies that were newly welcoming foreign physicians, they emigrated to Detroit, Michigan, where their children were born. In 1980 they resettled in the sunnier climate of Covina, California, where they lived until they moved to Oakland in 2021. In Covina, Kochu built strong communities of friends and a thriving professional life. With his brother, Kochu set up a cardiology pr`actice in West Covina, where he became known both for his skills as a physician and his kind demeanor with patients and staff. He also thrived in leadership roles, serving as Chief of Cardiology at Inter-Community Medical Center in West Covina, and as Chief of Cardiology, Chief of Staff, and Chief of Internal Medicine at Queen of the Valley Hospital.

With several partners, Kochu revived a struggling hospital in West Covina and served as President of Doctors Hospital until 2013. Additionally, he served as a consultant for the California Medical Board, where he was involved with investigations pertaining to quality of care and malpractice issues. Kochu was deeply dedicated to his work and especially to his patients, so he suffered tremendous loss when he decided to close his practice and resign his Medical Board position after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Kochu was an avid, deep, and wide reader whose interests ranged across literature and from science to poetry to mythology.

He was eclectic in his studies of ethics, morality, religion, and philosophy. He loved card games and staying up late into the night chatting with his family and friends; he took great pleasure in sweets and a good whiskey. He was a car enthusiast who enjoyed both short drives and long road trips whenever possible. He was affectionate and adoring of the people he loved, from his family to friends to his dear patients. He will be remembered as a boisterous personality, someone who relished a friendly argument, an informed and deliberate thinker, an open and fertile mind.

He is survived by Hezla, his wife of fifty-one years; his daughter Sonya and her husband Andrew Glazer and their children Billy and Zia; and his daughter Saira and her husband Nels Bangerter and their children Faaris and Sigrid.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory 

Respected mathematician Dr. David Flannery, who was the father of acclaimed Cork singer-songwriter Mick, has died aged 71.

Dr. Flannery, a father of five, had helped found Munster Technological University's (MTU) (then Cork Institute of Technology’s) flagship engineering program and maths department, which he headed for some time.

He had suffered from Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurological condition that is similar to Parkinson's.

His wife, fellow academic Elaine, died aged 59 from metastatic cervical cancer in October 2014. Last year, Dr. Flannery settled a High Court action over the alleged misdiagnosis of her smear slide.

Dr. Áine Ní Shé said Dr. Flannery was a “fantastic mathematician and a fantastic teacher”. Dr. Ní Shé is MTU's Registrar and Vice President of Academic Affairs in the Cork campuses, and she took over as Head of the Department of Mathematics from Dr. Flannery in 2012.

Paying tribute, she said: “He was really honest. Integrity is a noun I associate with David. He had huge integrity and would always stand up for his principles. He was always trying to do the right thing.

“He was humble and was always quick to recognize other people’s work and identify talent. He was hugely generous with his knowledge, expertise, resources, and insights. He had an impact on thousands of students. It’s a sad day today.” 

Dr. Flannery joined the college in the 1970s and was instrumental in developing the college’s engineering program which proved key to building MTUs’ academic and professional reputation.

“MTU is now known as an engineering school of renown in Ireland," Dr Ní Shé said. “David was someone who left his mark on CIT/MTU. He was a fantastic mathematician, but also a fantastic pedagogue, and a fantastic teacher. 

"He was really dedicated to MTU producing top-quality candidates and he minded his students; he knew them by name. He was also key in driving the establishment of the mathematics department at CIT.

“He was Head of the Department from 2010 to 2012 and really put his stamp on it developing a good, sound curriculum. And he was a fantastic customer of the library, he was always looking for new knowledge.” 

Dr. Ní Shé said that his late wife Elaine was “a dearly loved colleague too”. She remembers them waiting for her in her new office with a vase of sunflowers when she took over from Mr. Flannery as head of the mathematics department. Mr. Flannery had thoroughly cleaned out his office for her and he had even put her name on the door, "with every fada correct" on her name.

“He called me one sunny May evening to say my office was ready and to come over. Elaine was there. They had a bunch of sunflowers in a vase on the table for me. I still have that vase. He had changed the name on the door to mine, with all the fadas perfect.

When they left, they walked off down the corridor into that warm May sunlight together like love’s young dream.

“She was diagnosed a short time later.” 

Mrs. Flannery, a microbiologist from Blarney in Cork, died of cervical cancer in 2014. A High Court action was settled last October, but the HSE did not admit liability after Dr. Flannery sued over his wife’s care. He criticized the HSE for never apologizing to the family.

Pat Ahern, who has been a close friend and colleague of Dr. Flannery’s for 53 years, met studying math in UCC in 1970. Mr. Ahern said Dr. Flannery was “an extraordinary man” who "was out of pain now."

They later worked together at Cork Regional Technical College which became CIT, now MTU.

“I knew him as a friend, as a man, and as an educationalist. As an educationalist, he always thought the subject was hugely important but that the students were of paramount importance.

“When we started there, we felt like pioneers. We were doing things that had not been done before, writing a syllabus and teaching it.

“He was an inspiration to his students and other teachers. He developed courses that were tailored to the student’s needs in their fields, like in engineering, but he also gave them space to investigate the side roads, if they were interested.” 

'He was kind'

Dr. Flannery was not long retired when his wife died, Mr. Ahern said.

“Elaine’s loss was an enormous blow. I was worried about him; he was like a shadow of himself. But he knew he had to move on. 

“He was a brilliant chess player. He caused me to give up because he would always win. He loved playing cards and was so good he was almost at a professional level. He loved building stone walls. He loved hurling and would support Tipperary, where his family was rooted.

He was kind, gentle, and had the most extraordinary intelligence I ever came across.

“He was dedicated to his family, to Elaine, to his new wife Ann, and to his children.

“He managed to fit a lot into his life and was still fascinated by everything right up to the end.”

David LaFlamme, whose electric violin helped introduce a new sound to San Francisco’s music scene in the 1960s and shaped one of the hits that captured the era’s spirit, “White Bird,” a dreamy meditation on breaking free, died Aug. 6 at a health-care facility in Santa Rosa, Calif. He was 82.

Mr. LaFlamme’s died of health problems related to Parkinson’s disease, said his daughter, Kira LaFlamme.

Mr. LaFlamme and members of his band, It’s a Beautiful Day, sampled from the mix of folk, rock and psychedelia in San Francisco as they shared gigs and swapped ideas with groups such as the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. Mr. LaFlamme’s addition of the five-string electric violin — with driving crescendos and soulful adagio — brought flowing subtleties different than anything guitars or keyboards could match.

“White Bird” emerged as a collaboration with his then-wife and keyboardist, Linda Rudman, for the group’s debut album in 1969, “It’s a Beautiful Day” — a name taken from the joyful cry of a passing motorist one sunny afternoon. The song became the group’s signature work and part of the soundtrack of the 1960s from its opening harmony by Mr. LaFlamme and vocalist Pattie Santos:

White bird

In a golden cage

On a winter's day

In the rain

And then the song’s message as a refrain: “White bird must fly/Or she will die.”

Mr. LaFlamme, who also played guitar, described the song as a struggle between the pull of freedom and the compromises of conformity. “The white bird in a golden cage represents someone trying to break out of the constraints of the affluent middle class,” he later said.

The song’s setting — a dreary day as “leaves blow across the long black road” — was drawn from personal experience. Mr. LaFlamme and his wife were living in a Victorian house in Seattle during a series of performances in the winter of 1967-68, working on music in the attic with a Wurlitzer portable piano under a window. “We were looking out from the attic window over the street in front of this old house … It’s describing what I was seeing out the window,” Mr. LaFlamme wrote on his website.

At first, “White Bird” struggled to find an audience. It didn’t rise far on the charts and was a difficult fit for AM radio at the time because of its length, more than six minutes, and the novelty of Mr. LaFlamme’s violin solo in the middle. But FM stations, particularly the counterculture formats on college radio, embraced the song and the group as hippie troubadours, including other tracks from the album such as “Wasted Union Blues,” “Girl With No Eyes,” and the instrumental “Bombay Calling.”

“White Bird” gradually was adopted as part of the 1960s musical canon, and Mr. LaFlamme was credited as an influence on violinists including bluesman Papa John Creach and his work with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna; Robby Steinhardt with the rock group Kansas, and Scarlet Rivera with Bob Dylan on songs such as “Hurricane,” released in 1976.

Over a career spanning more than five decades, Mr. LaFlamme showed no surprise that the violin found a niche alongside rock guitars and thumping bass lines.

“I think that the violin probably more than any other instruments closely mimics the voice and my first love was singing and the voice,” he said in a 1998 interview with music writer John Barthel, “and I think violin an extension, the closest extension of that.”

David LaFlamme was born on May 4, 1941, in New Britain, Conn., and spent much of his boyhood in Salt Lake City. His father worked in a copper mine, and his mother was a homemaker.

He received his first violin at 5 years old as a gift from an aunt and uncle, whose daughter lost interest in the instrument. “So I began fooling around with it on my own and taught myself to play ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,’” he recalled. His parents were impressed and arranged for a teacher, who introduced him to classical violinists and composition.

Mr. LaFlamme served in the Army in the early 1960s at Fort Ord, near Monterey, Calif., and was discharged after experiencing some hearing loss from test-firing weapons. He had spent time in San Francisco while on military leaves and headed back to the city in 1962 with a duffle bag — “mostly just Army clothes” — and a “few bucks in my pocket,” he told the music site Exposé in 2003.

He began jamming on guitar and violin in parks and clubs with musicians shaping the San Francisco sound: Jerry Garcia; Janis Joplin and Country Joe and the Fish. Mr. LaFlamme formed his first band, the Electric Chamber Orkustra, in 1966 and then was part of Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks.

In the summer of 1967 — what became known as the “Summer of Love” — Mr. LaFlamme and his wife put together It’s a Beautiful Day with vocalist Santos, guitarist Hal Wagenet, bassist Mitchell Holman and drummer Val Fuentes.

A major break came in October 1968 when singer and guitarist Stevie Winwood of the band Traffic came down with a throat condition and couldn’t perform in a joint gig with Cream at the Oakland Coliseum. The concert promoter, Bill Graham, contacted It’s a Beautiful Day as a fill-in. A record deal with Columbia soon followed.

The group released its second album, “Marrying Maiden,” in 1970, which included Garcia playing banjo on the song “Hoedown” and pedal steel guitar on “It Comes Right Down to You.”

The band broke up in 1973 after two more albums and tours that included once opening for the Who in Paris. It’s a Beautiful Day was booed and the crowd started chanting “Tommy” for the Who’s 1969 album, Mr. LaFlamme recalled.

“The funny thing was,” he told the Salt Lake Tribune in 1983, “I wanted to hear the Who just as much as they did.”

A legal battle over ownership of the band’s name forced Mr. LaFlamme to build new groups under different banners, including Edge City. He released a solo album in 1976, “White Bird,” with a new version of the title song, which peaked at No. 89 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Over the next two decades, he was part of more than 10 other albums as a solo artist or under It’s a Beautiful Day after wrangles over the name ended.

His marriages, first to Linda Rudman and then Sharon Wilson, ended in divorce. He married singer Linda Baker in 1982. Survivors include two daughters, Kira LaFlamme from his first marriage and Alisha LaFlamme from his second, and six grandchildren.

The creation of “White Bird” took about two hours, said Mr. LaFlamme’s first wife. She worked on the chords while he crafted the lyrics. They shared duties on the melody.

“The song kept evolving, but that was the birth of ‘White Bird,’” she told the music site Please Kill Me in 2020. “When we finished after two hours, David and I looked at each other, and we knew we had a beautiful song.”