The Memorial Wall

One of Pittsburgh’s most transformational restaurant figures, Antonio “Toni” Pais passed away on July 7 from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 69.

Mr. Pais arrived in Pittsburgh in 1978. He took a job as maître d’ of La Normande, the boundary-pushing Oakland restaurant that set the standard for city dining at the time. It was the first step in a 45-year culinary journey in Pittsburgh for the chef and restaurateur born in Cascais, Portugal, in 1954.

Along the way, Mr. Pais ran the front of house of several storied establishments, opened and operated three restaurants and carried the mantle of upscale European dining across generations.

“He started his career as a professional waiter. It’s considered a trade in Europe, and he brought that professionalism here to Pittsburgh,” says Jean-Marc Chatellier, owner of Jean-Marc Chatellier's French Bakery in Millvale; the two worked together at La Normande and remained friends throughout the years, bonded by a love of food and soccer.

For the past two decades, the charismatic bon vivant of Baum Vivant did all of it while battling Parkinson’s disease.

Lover of food, life and soccer

Mr. Pais met Becky Friday in 1986 while playing racquetball.

“He wiped the sweat off my brow and asked if he could take me on a picnic. We had a beautiful time together under the big red tree in Mellon Park,” she says. Her surname would change a few years later when the two married.

Becky Pais recalls how the two of them grilled sardines at a 300-person party for their wedding, held at a friend’s home in Schenley Farms. As Mrs. Pais says, it was par for the course for the couple, who always had a great time throwing a party for people.

“We had a beautiful journey the whole way. We had such a lovely ride,” she says.

That ride featured uncommon intertwinement between personal and professional lives, with the couple opening and operating Baum Vivant and Cafe Zinho in Shadyside and Cafe Zao Downtown, all three playing a significant role in the preservation and growth of Pittsburgh’s restaurant culture.

“Toni was so happy to offer his brand of hospitality to people. He loved the restaurants. We had a fun, gorgeous time doing what we did,” Becky Pais says.

Mr. Pais worked long hours but still found time to celebrate his other passion: soccer. He participated in competitive recreational leagues, sometimes playing with Pittsburgh’s hospitality industry colleagues.

“We would work until whenever and stay up past midnight and then go play soccer the next morning,” says Abdel Khila, who initially met Pais on a soccer field.

The Morocco-born chef worked for Mr. Pais in 1998 as a chef at Baum Vivant and later ran the kitchen at Cafe Zinho prior to opening Kous Kous Cafe in Mt. Lebanon in 2009. 

When he wasn’t playing the sport, Mr. Pais watched professional matches, including those of S.L. Benfica, a top-tier team based in Lisbon.

‘No job too big or too small’

Becky and Toni Pais launched their first restaurant, Baum Vivant, in Shadyside in 1992, reclaiming space for a then-fading fine dining scene in Pittsburgh.

“We scrubbed the floors. We reupholstered the furniture,” says Mrs. Pais. “Toni was so proud and so humble, no job was too big or too small for him.”

In her first review of Baum Vivant in 1993, longtime Post-Gazette dining critic Woodene Merriman declared the lobster bisque the best she’d ever tasted and praised the beef Olympia, but she noted that the tables were packed tightly together.

Ms. Merriman returned five years later, giving the restaurant four stars, describing the food as “almost flawless” and announcing it as “one of the city’s best.”

Mr. Pais was among the few restaurateurs buying locally grown ingredients when industrial food processing reigned supreme. By purchasing produce from pioneering Pittsburgh-area farmers such as Darrell and Linda Frey’s permaculture-focused Three Sisters Farm in Sandy Lake and lamb from Keith Martin’s Elysian Fields in Waynesburg, Mr. Pais helped lay the framework for today’s farm-to-restaurant economy in Pittsburgh.

“If you were a farmer or a food seller and you had an ingredient you think is unique or unknown by most chefs because they wouldn’t know what to do with it, go see Toni. His eyes would twinkle right away,” says Mr. Khila.

The restaurant earned Mr. Pais numerous accolades, including Pittsburgh's first-ever James Beard Chef of the Year nomination in 2002 and an eight-year run as Pittsburgh Magazine’s Restaurant of the Year. 

“He kept the mantle of high level European dining in Pittsburgh. Everything was professional at Baum Vivant,” says Mr. Chatellier, who worked with Toni Pais at La Normande in the 1980s.

Toni and Becky Pais expanded their reach in 1999 to open Cafe Zinho. The cozy yet boisterous BYOB on Spahr Street in Shadyside allowed Pais to offer a more casual take on Mediterranean cuisine. Though the space remained lively with a festive, coastal atmosphere throughout its run, it eventually became a destination for eaters looking for attentive, fine-dining standards as Pittsburgh’s restaurant culture (and restaurant culture in the United States) shifted toward a more informal dining experience.

In 2004, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust brought Toni and Becky Downtown to open Cafe Zao, a hip, Portuguese-inspired restaurant meant to be a cornerstone of the revamped Cultural District. The menu at the 3,000-square-foot restaurant featured dishes including caldo verde, a potato and kale soup popular in Northern Portugal, and chicken Maputo, a simmered peri-peri chicken dish named after the capital of Mozambique.

Life-changing surgery

Mr. Pais bounced between all three establishments until 2006, when he and Becky decided to close Baum Vivant, citing a massive construction project on Baum Boulevard.

He began showing symptoms of Parkinson’s disease a year prior to closing Baum Vivant. By 2011, the year he and Becky closed Cafe Zao, the disease had progressed to the point where it was affecting his ability to perform his vocation.

“He fought so hard during his illness,” she says. “He never complained. He just kept going even when it was too hard for him to do much of anything.”

Mr. Pais still went grocery shopping and cooked as much as he could for Cafe Zinho, but he was increasingly limited to participating from the sidelines.

“Cooking was his joy. To please people with food was his joy. It was a way to survive. That was it. He had Parkinson’s, doesn’t matter. He still wanted to cook. He was still there,” says Mr. Chantillier.

In 2012, Mr. Pais became one of the first Parkinson’s patients in Pittsburgh to be given deep brain stimulation surgery under general anesthesia. Until then, patients needed to remain awake throughout the process while doctors implanted electrodes in certain parts of the brain and ran wires to a pacemaker-like device in the chest. The implant allows for electrical impulses to stimulate dopamine production, significantly soothing the symptoms of Parkinson’s.

Mr. Pais at the time said he felt his strength coming back to him just moments after Dr. Mark Richardson, then co-director of functional neurosurgery at UPMC, completed the operation with the assistance of an MRI machine.

“I felt it [Parkinson’s] releasing me. I was in control again,” he told the Post-Gazette in 2013.

He returned to the kitchen at Cafe Zinho shortly after the surgery, which was deemed an overwhelming success. For the next 10 years, he continued to operate the restaurant with a team of chefs under his wing.

Always a mentor

Throughout his career, Pais mentored generations of Pittsburgh restaurant workers, both front- and back-of-house. He also served as an informal instructor at the now-closed Art Institute of Pittsburgh and Community College of Allegheny County’s Culinary Arts Program.

“Working with Toni was like getting a one-on-one, four-year education at the Culinary Institute of America, but free of charge. Toni’s knowledge of wine and cuisine were legendary,” writes Rob Cort, Mr. Pais’ primary dining room captain at La Normande, in a text message.

“Toni set me on the path I’m on today. I wouldn’t be in the industry in the way I am because of him,” says Tzveti Gintcheva, owner of De Pan Y Queso Bocadillos Bar in Marshall-Shadeland.

Ms. Gintcheva started working at Cafe Zinho shortly after she immigrated to Pittsburgh from her native Bulgaria. She later joined Mr. Pais Downtown as general manager of Cafe Zao, where he sponsored her for an H-1B visa.

“Pittsburgh enjoyed him as a culinary talent and work as a restaurateur, but at the same time he was so humble that you would never know how many lives he touched over the years. He was a force in the industry,” she says. “He stood up for immigrant workers, too.”

Mr. Pais also set an example of how to run both front- and back-of-house. Numerous former employees say he worked with a gentle touch that was uncommon in higher-end restaurants, where a hierarchical kitchen brigade system and the verbal abuse that often came with it were the norm.

“He was always so good to the cooks — so kind, so fun, so patient and mostly, so generous,” says Mary Spiro.

Ms. Spiro, a line cook at La Normande from 1985-88, says she still recalls a paella he made for a staff meal nearly 40 years ago. “To this day, the memory of the seafood and the saffron and the beautiful color of the broth still make me smile,” she says.

A long legacy

Mr. Pais kept Cafe Zinho relevant during Pittsburgh’s mid-2010s restaurant revival, even as hipper joints opened (and later closed) throughout the city.

Three years ago, he had emergency hernia surgery, and doctors discovered rectal cancer. His chemotherapy port proved to interact poorly with the electrodes in his Parkinson’s treatment.

“Anytime he moved, he was electrocuted,” Mrs. Pais says.

Doctors had to remove the port and try to treat his cancer in other ways. Mr. Pais was in and out of medical treatment, facing a steep decline in his health.

The couple decided to close Cafe Zinho in February 2023.

“It was very tough for us to make this decision. But, with my health the way it is, I can’t operate the restaurant the way I want to,” Mr. Pais said at the time.

With his health failing, his step-son, Josh Masslon, organized a GoFundMe campaign that raised nearly $27,000 to send Pais to Portugal one final time. Mr. Massolon, an intensive care nurse, accompanied him for several weeks in October and November so that his step-father could say goodbye to family, friends and his native country.

“They had a wonderful trip. I’m so glad they had that opportunity,” says Mrs. Pais. “This dear, beautiful man had to suffer for way too long.”

Toni Pais is survived by his wife, two step-children, two sisters and a large extended family. 

Josue “Joe” Robles Jr., who served nearly three decades in the U.S. Army — rising to become a two-star general before assuming the top job at USAA — died Thursday, the company announced. He was 78.

Robles oversaw the largest period of growth in USAA’s history by opening eligibility to all who honorably served in the military and their family members. A focus on innovation during his tenure made the company an early mover in mobile banking technology, including the first to offer check deposits via mobile phone.

“With nearly three decades of service to the Army, which included multiple deployments and several distinguished honors, Joe knew what it meant to serve,” wrote USAA President and CEO Wayne Peacock in an email announcing his death to employees Thursday afternoon. “Joe’s experience as an enlisted soldier gave him unique insight into the needs of the military community and their families.”

The soft-spoken Robles was beloved by many employees for his low-key management style and gentle humor. He announced his retirement to a packed auditorium at USAA that now bears his name and will “stand as a reminder of his selfless service to our country and the impact he had on USAA and so many of us as individuals,” wrote Peacock.

“It’s not often that people loved their CEO, but people loved Joe,” said Eileen Collins, a retired NASA astronaut and Air Force colonel who served on USAA’s board of directors from 2008-2022.

No cause of death was given, but in 2019, Robles revealed that he had Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease with no cure. According to a story from the San Antonio Express-News at the time, Robles told a gathering at Warm Springs Rehabilitation Hospital of San Antonio that he hadn’t been diagnosed until after his retirement, but suspected he’d had the condition for several years.

He went public with his diagnosis to help others, he said at the time.

“Joe touched a lot of lives and had many accomplishments” former San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros said Friday. “He is so demonstrative of the American story,” from working with his father making bricks “to command of one of the most distinguished divisions of the United States Army as a general, then become the CEO of one of the most respected corporations in the United States. I doubt there’s another country on Earth where that could happen.”

Robles “was not only a great military man, organizing USAA, he also had a great love for the community,” said retired Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, who recalled that Robles’ predecessor came out against Wolff’s efforts to pass a bond that would fund improvements to the San Antonio River, the then-AT&T Center, amateur sports parks and the creation of what would become the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.

“And then when Robles came in, he supported it, put up $50,000 and and we passed all the four major issues,” Wolff said. “So I was very thankful that he came along.”

Mayor Ron Nirenberg posted on X Thursday that Robles “earned trust and reverence from those who knew him because he was a force for progress in all that he endeavored. From business to veteran affairs to education, he exemplified a life of selfless service, answering the call locally and nationally time and time again.”

After several overseas tours and a stint as commanding general of the 1st Infantry, also known as the “Big Red One,” Robles was ultimately promoted to major general and named budget director for the Army.

He began serving on USAA’s board of directors while on active duty, and began his career there in 1994 after retirement as special assistant to the chairman. Robles later became the banking and insurance giant’s chief financial officer and comptroller, then served as corporate treasurer and chief administration officer before becoming CEO in 2007. He retired in 2015.

Robles was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico in 1946, the eldest of nine children whose parents acquired only fourth- and ninth-grade educations. His family moved to Ohio when Robles was young so his father could work in a steel mill, which he did for the next 35 years.

“I knew I wanted enough education so that I could have choices,” he said in a biography by Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, which honored Robles in 2011. “I worked in the mill one summer, and I learned very quickly what a hot, dirty, dangerous place it is. I wore an asbestos suit and shoveled slag. Hot doesn’t describe that job. It made me want to go to school and get a good education so that I wouldn’t have to work there. I have always admired my father for doing it for so many years.”

He enrolled in community college after high school and took a job at a NASA nuclear plant, with plans to become a doctor. But when he dropped his classes to part time, “Uncle Sam got to me,” he said in an interview with Hispanic Executive in 2014.

Robles entered the Army as an enlisted soldier, but was placed into a program that put non-college graduates into Officer Training School. He later earned an undergraduate degree in accounting from Kent State University and an MBA from Indiana State University.

Over his 28 year military career, Robles served in command and staff positions in Korea, Vietnam and Germany, as well as the Pentagon.

Robles deployed the 1st Calvary Division from what is now Fort Cavazos for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, according to the Express-News. For his service, Robles received the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster.

During his time at USAA and after his retirement, Robles was a civically active member of the community. He served on the boards of directors of the San Antonio branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System and the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital Foundation, San Antonio’s Early Childhood Education Municipal Development Corporation and the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County.

He served as chairman of P16Plus Council of Greater Bexar County Foundation, was tapped to be a member of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs MyVA Advisory Committee and the Advisory Board of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Latin American Law at the University of Texas. Robles served as co-chair of the Pre-K 4 SA initiative and on Gordon Hartman’s SOAR board, which oversees Morgan’s Wonderland.

Robles and his wife Patty had three children, Melissa, Andrew and Christopher.

Christopher, who has autism, “changed my life,” Robles said in the Horatio Alger biography. “He opened my eyes to people with special needs. He brings out the best in me and is the blessing of my life.”

In his email to employees Thursday, Peacock said Robles’ legacy “will continue to guide our great association as we strive to uphold the values he championed.”

Phil Hardberger, who served as mayor of San Antonio during Robles’ tenure as CEO, said Robles sat on an advisory committee of business leaders he used as a sounding board.

He called Robles one of the “most humble and personable generals I have ever met,” and said his story — “growing up poor and Hispanic, with a lot of odds against him” — is a story many San Antonians could understand and be proud of.

“I’m glad I knew him, and I’m glad he lived and worked in San Antonio.”

Sally Jane (Fitzsimons) Cox was born on July 21, 1937, in Mineral Point, Wisconsin and died on July 2, 2024, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, surrounded by family. She passed away peacefully after a long, well-fought battle with Parkinson’s disease. 

Sally was proud to have been a drum majorette and graduated from Hollandale High School in 1955. She obtained an Associate’s Degree in Education from the University of Wisconsin at Platteville. She met the love of her life, Richard Cox, at a local roller rink, and they were married more than 66 years ago on May 31, 1958. 

Sally taught in two different one room schoolhouses: Jonesdale, Wisconsin for one year and at Willow Creek School near Potosi, Wisconsin for one year, until she left to raise their five children and help on the farm. She eventually returned to be a special education teacher at Winskill Elementary in Lancaster, where she was devoted to all of her students for over 35 years. 

Sally was extraordinarily warm and passionately optimistic. She truly touched the lives of those around her. Countless former students and teachers fondly recall her authentic instruction and kind words. Sally loved to read, visit with friends and family, look through her photo albums, and was enthusiastic about traveling, as she vacationed in England, Scotland, Italy, Ireland, France, and Mexico. She was a fiercely devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Sally truly was a force to be reckoned with, and she will be sorely missed. After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, she bravely forged ahead and always made the best of the present moment. Willa Cather’s literary quote is particularly appropriate: “If there were no girls like them in the world, there would be no poetry.”

Sally is survived by her devoted husband, Richard Cox; her daughter, Rebecca Koechell of Oshkosh; daughter Lisa Cox (Sean Murphy) of Oshkosh, son James (Margaret) Cox of West Salem, son Michael (Lindsay) Cox of Vincent, Iowa, son Ryan Cox of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, her sister, Patricia (Carl) Schneider of Hollandale, her sister/travel companion, Susan Palcek of Hazel Crest, Illinois, ten grandchildren, five great grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, and three very special friends: Pam Critchlow, Sue Krause, and Doug Koechell. 

Sally was preceded in death by her parents, Russell and Florence (Chappell) Fitzsimons, and brother, James “Jake” Fitzsimons. 

Michael H. Yerman, of Baltimore, Maryland, passed away on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2024, at the age of 84. He is survived by his beloved husband, Marc Hayes; his dear former wife, Janice (Bruce) Bolten; cherished sons, William "Billy" L. (Michele) Yerman, James "Jimmy" S. (Lanie) Yerman and Steven H. (Sara) Yerman; loving sister, Debra Oppenheim; adored grandchildren, Cara (Brad) Garfield, Savannah Yerman, Lila Yerman, PJ Yerman, Evan Yerman and Rendon Yerman; and his dear great-grandson, Jack Garfield. Michael was predeceased by his brother-in-law, Herb Schneider; and parents, Sophia and Philip Yerman.

Darrell L. Christian, a former managing editor and sports editor of The Associated Press known for a demanding demeanor and insistence on excellence during more than four decades with the news agency, died Monday. He was 75.

Christian died of Parkinson’s disease at Elegant Senior Living in Encino, California, according to his wife, Lissa Morrow Christian. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease around 2015, his wife said.

“Darrell was the finest story editor I ever saw, with an unerring instinct for the lead and shape of copy and zero tolerance for anything but the best,” said Mike Silverman, the AP’s managing editor from 2000 to 2007 and senior managing editor through 2009. ”I had the great good fortune to be his deputy for several years when he was managing editor and much of what I later brought to the job I owed to him.”

A no-nonsense editor known for directness and rigor, Christian modernized AP’s sports coverage during seven years in charge, emphasizing breaking news and in-depth reporting on such issues as the sports business, academics and high school safety standards. That coverage earned him a promotion to managing editor under William E. Ahearn, then the executive editor.

“Sports is just an extension of hard news with a slightly different flavor,” Christian told the National Press Club in 2007.

Born on Dec. 26, 1948, Christian was a native of Henderson, Kentucky. He began his newspaper career as a sports writer and sports editor at the Henderson Gleaner in 1964, worked two summers in the AP’s bureau at Charleston, West Virginia, and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky in 1969. After serving in the Navy from 1969-1972, Christian joined the AP in Indianapolis in 1972. He became news editor in 1975, moved to the Washington bureau in 1980 and became deputy sports editor in New York the following year.

Christian was promoted to sports editor in 1985, coordinating coverage of the 1988 and 1992 Winter and Summer Olympics and overseeing the addition of featurized approaches to game stories on all major sports events — something he brought to news stories as managing editor.

“When Jackie Robinson came along, sports began to develop a social consciousness,” Christian said at the National Press Club. “It really exploded in the 1970 and early ’80s with television coverage, which brought sports events into the living room and the proliferation of money in sports, the free agency where you suddenly created a whole generation of instant millionaires. And what happened between the lines was no longer enough. That created a public appetite for everything you could possibly want to know about these athletes.”

Called "DLC” throughout the AP, Christian was known for his sharp, concise critiques sent to reporters, left in mailboxes in blue envelopes in the pre-digital era. The “blue notes” were feared among the staff.

Christian said the top story he covered as sports editor was Ben Johnson testing positive for a banned steroid at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, which caused him to work for 48 consecutive hours. Among the major stories he oversaw as managing editor: the O.J. Simpson saga, whose coverage he led with aplomb.

“It was indeed the circus of the century and it was one wild ride to cover it on a day-in, day-out basis,” Christian said.

Christian replaced Martin C. Thompson as managing editor in 1992 and chaired the Pulitzer Prize investigative jury in 1995 and 1996.

“Darrell was an old-school competitive newsman who valued creative stories delivered quickly to readers,” said Kathleen Carroll, the AP's executive editor from 2002 to 2016. Those values infused every decision he made leading state, national and sports coverage: Make it interesting, write cleanly and get it out the door. His crusty exterior and droll sense of humor barely disguised his deep devotion to fast, accurate, interesting stories and the people who wrote them.”

After six years as managing editor, Christian was succeeded by Jonathan P. Wolman and became director of MegaSports, the AP’s multimedia sports service for newspaper and broadcast members and commercial online services and websites.

“Darrell combined old-school editing skill with a hunger to stay on top of the latest and innovation that would help keep AP competitive at the very beginning of the internet news age,” said Michael Giarrusso, AP’s deputy for newsgathering-global beats, who worked under Christian. “He was as comfortable editing the lead on a story as he was meeting with tech startups that wanted access to AP news or photos.”

Christian became business editor in 2000, and in 2003 was appointed to the newly created position of director of sports data, combining AP Digital’s MegaSports service with the AP’s newspaper sports agate service.

“Behind the gruff old-school newsman exterior was an editor who proved to be a mentor for the next generation of journalists," said Brian Orefice, a manager of the data division and now vice president of product at Stats Perform, the renamed digital company. “His professional credentials were unquestioned and his advice invaluable.”

Christian became editor at large in 2006, then created the AP’s Top Stories Desk in 2008 and managed it until his retirement in 2014, when he moved to California.

“Darrell never really stopped doing what he loved, which was to edit and illustrate,” AP golf writer Doug Ferguson said. “He put an emphasis on letting details do the work of adjectives. And he had this terrific ability of knowing what the story was and how to get there. He made us better.”

Christian had been living at home in Encino and still going to a gym and playing golf and softball before he entered Encino Hospital Medical Center on May 24. He was transferred to a rehabilitation facility a few weeks later and moved to the senior living facility on June 25.

Christian's first marriage ended in divorce. He met Lissa Morrow when he was supervising AP’s coverage at the 1984 Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida, where she was covering for a radio station. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a brother, Scott, and niece Erika Whitman.

Lance M. Bolonik, 82, died from Parkinson’s Disease on June 28, 2024, in Elmhurst, IL. Born August 25, 1941, in Chicago, IL, he was the son of Dr. Samuel and Sadie Bolonik. A second generation Chicagoan, Lance proudly served in the U.S. Navy from 1964 to 1969 as a Lieutenant, piloting E1B Tracers. He then embarked on a 30-year career as a sales representative with MONY. He later found joy in working as a substitute teacher at his alma mater, River Forest Middle School, until April 2024. Lance is survived by his wife, Janet Bolonik; daughters, Kera Bolonik (Meredith Clair) of Brooklyn, NY, and Shana Bolonik Cohen (Michael Cohen) of Broomfield, CO; grandsons, Theodore Bolonik, and Jack and Phineas Cohen; sister, Cheryl Hoffman of Greensboro, NC; and nephew, Shane Hoffman (Hanna Siegel) of Washington, D.C.

Richard “Kinky” Friedman — the provocative and flamboyant Texas satirist who mounted a spirited campaign for governor in 2006 — has died. He was 79.

Friedman died at his longtime home at Echo Hill Ranch in Medina, his friends Cleve Hattersley said in an interview and Kent Perkins said on social media. He had Parkinson’s disease, Hattersley said.

"He was a communicator. An unusual, but very pointed and poignant communicator," said Hattersley, his friend of roughly 50 years. "He could bring you to tears on stage. He could make you roll on the floor in laughter."

Friedman ran for governor as an independent against Republican incumbent Rick Perry in 2006. Despite a colorful campaign and heavy media attention, Friedman finished fourth in the race. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for agriculture commissioner in 2010 and in 2014.

Friedman was known for his outsized persona, pithy one-liners and signature look: curly hair poking out from beneath a black cowboy hat, cigar in hand.

“Kinky Friedman stepped on a rainbow at his beloved Echo Hill surrounded by family & friends,” a post from Friedman’s account on the social media site X said. “Kinkster endured tremendous pain & unthinkable loss in recent years but he never lost his fighting spirit and quick wit. Kinky will live on as his books are read and his songs are sung.”

Friedman was born in Chicago in 1944 to Russian Jewish parents. The family moved to Texas the year after Friedman was born and eventually settled in Medina. He graduated in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Friedman gained a reputation as a deliberate provocateur.

At the same time, he gained the respect of musical titans like Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson.

In the late 1970s, Friedman was playing every Sunday night at the Lone Star Cafe in New York City, Hattersley remembered. Hattersley’s job became getting him on stage and keeping him there. Hattersley recounted the storied guests who came to see him, such as actor Robin Williams and John Belushi and other cast members of Saturday Night Live.

There was no one else in country music like him, Hattersley said. He recalled his friend as a “connection point” who introduced him to all sorts of people he never would have met. And his lyrics were “insane” — a reflection of the revolutionary times of the 1960s and 1970s in which they’d lived. Once, Friedman famously sprayed the New York Rangers hockey team and their wives with beer while wearing a long jersey, cowboy boots and no pants.

"The irreverence that he was able to get away with opened up more ideas,” Hattersley said. “Right now we're in kind of a time in society where word usage is being suppressed, and language is being codified almost to the point of hieroglyphics and so much is being left out. Kinky never left anything out.”

Later, Friedman turned to writing books, publishing novels that often featured a fictionalized version of himself, including “Elvis, Jesus and Coca-Cola” and “Armadillos and Old Lace.”

In politics, Friedman staked out unusual positions at the time for someone seeking statewide office in Texas, like legalization of marijuana and casino gambling. He supported same-sex marriage in 2006, long before the Supreme Court legalized it nationally, quipping, “I support gay marriage because I believe they have right to be just as miserable as the rest of us.”

Friedman also supported crackdowns on undocumented immigration, boosting pay for Texas teachers and ending the death penalty.

“Kinky Friedman was a larger than life Texas icon and will be remembered as one of the most interesting personalities in Texas politics," Perry said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. "Kinky’s run for governor in 2006 made an otherwise grueling campaign cycle actually fun. May he rest easy after a life lived to the fullest."

Friedman befriended former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. After he lost to Perry in 2006, Friedman backed the former governor in his failed 2012 presidential bid.

Ray St. Germain — the Métis country music great and TV/radio host who was dubbed "Winnipeg's Elvis" — has died. He was 83.

After living with Parkinson's disease for several years, St. Germain died on June 25 at Deer Lodge Centre, surrounded by family and friends, as per his wife Glory's announcement posted to Facebook. 

"I was blessed to have 50 years with my amazing husband Ray St. Germain," Glory wrote. "Together, we spent our lives filled with music, love, and laughter with our five children." St. Germain is survived by those children, as well as his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Born in Winnipeg in 1940, St. Germain began performing as a rockabilly and country musician as a teenager. He would go on to share the stage with the likes of Johnny Cash and Kenny Rogers, as well as being inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010. 

The musician was also inducted into the Aboriginal Order of Canada in 1985, the Order of the Sash — Saskatoon and Prince Albert in 1986, and the Manitoba Aboriginal Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2013, he was inducted into the Order of Manitoba — the province's highest honour — and in 2018, he was presented with an honorary diploma by RRC Polytech (formerly known as Red River College).

St. Germain performed as recently as three weeks ago, performing a rendition of the Elvis Presley song "It's Now or Never" from his wheelchair at an honourary street renaming, which saw St. Michael Road (the street the artist grew up on) in Winnipeg's St. Vital neighbourhood renamed Big Sky Country Way after Big Sky Country, the nationally syndicated Global Television Network TV show St. Germain hosted for 13 years.

That was just one of over 600 TV hosting gigs he held over the years, in addition to serving as program manager with NCI-FM Radio, where he hosted the Métis Hour X2 program on Saturday mornings for 23 years.

Tekla "Tina" York Daniel died peacefully at the age of eighty one on June 23, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee after living bravely with Parkinson's Disease for twenty six years. Born in San Antonio, Texas on November 22, 1942, to parents Colonel Edward "Ski" and Mary Elizabeth "M.E." York.

Tina's childhood as an Air Force brat was particularly nomadic. Among the places she lived were Washington D.C., Washington state, Alabama, Texas, and California, but she always described living in Copenhagen, Denmark as her favorite childhood memory. After graduating from Armijo High School in Fairfield, California, in 1960, Tina traveled across the country to attend Duke University, where she majored in history. Tina was unique among Duke alumni in that she didn't care about college basketball or reminding people that she went to Duke. Tina was an enthusiastic lifelong learner who adored NPR, The New Yorker, reading, and opera. She was an intrepid traveler, whether it was staying in a youth hostel in Portugal or traveling overnight by Greyhound bus to Mexico. She spent several summers at the Chautauqua Institution in New York, attending lectures, listening to the symphony, and spending time with her beloved grandchildren.

As a fourth generation Texan who dearly loved the land and its people, Tina moved to Austin, Texas, in 1982 to raise her two daughters and be near her parents in San Antonio. In Austin, Tina found a vibrant community of friends, where she was known for her kindness and gentle spirit. She loved Austin when it was still a sleepy, quirky college town, saying it was the only city she knew of where you could go to the opera in jeans and no one would bat an eye. In short, she loved Austin when it was still weird. Tina delighted in sailing a Catalina 22 on Lake Travis and playing golf on the weekends. She worked as a physician recruiter and risk manager for Austin Regional Clinic for more than 20 years and she played an integral role in growing it from a small group of physicians to what is now one of the largest multi-specialty group practices in Central Texas. When she retired from ARC in 2007, two people were hired to fill her shoes. When living independently with Parkinson's proved to be too challenging to sustain, Tina moved to Nashville to be with family. Tina's family would like to thank Alive Hospice and the caregivers Saba, Emnet, and Eyoel at Saba Sunrise who lovingly cared for Tina in the final years of her life.

Tina is survived by her daughter Anne Daniel Vereen and son-in-law William Coachman Vereen of Nashville, TN, daughter Allison Daniel Hay of Austin, TX, and grandchildren Mary Kimball Vereen, Lillia Harper Vereen, Daniel Hay, Harper Hay, and Woods Hay. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Edward Joseph York Jr., her sister-in-law, Joanne Fyda York, and her beloved cousin, Bobbie Ann Harper Person.

Jon (no H) was born on January 18, 1940 in Utica NY. He and his family lived in Jamestown until 1948 when Jack moved the family to Lincoln NE. Jon went to Lincoln Public Schools and was on some of the first athletic teams for the newly opened Lincoln Southeast High School, lettering in football, swimming and golf.

Jon served three years with the Army. While stationed in Taiwan, he continued to work on his golf game. He arranged his shift as a Morse Code Intercept Operator so that there was time on the golf course.

Jon loved his work with Via Van Bloom. He developed many lasting family relationships with clients as he arranged their travel schedules. Jon was known for the Via Van Bloom scoreboard that was carried on the radio stations after football games. Jon loved building relationships with anyone he met. In fact, some referred to him as “Boom, Boom” or “No Socks” for his penchant for not wearing socks with shoes. Jon had a unique sense of fashion. He was always nattily dressed.

Jon had a love for travel, cars, and, oh, did we mention golf? He also loved the Nebraska Huskers. He helped many a team and athletic partners get to their destination for events. It was through his love for the Huskers that he met Joyanne. For 21 years they traveled to games, or sat in the stands to watch whichever sport was in season. The Husker connection even provided them with the venue for their marriage in 2003.

Jon brought three children with him to this union from his marriage to Ann Nordstrom. The parenting skills he and Ann shared became evident when Jon met Joyanne and the three welcomed her into the family.

As Jon’s Parkinson’s diseased progressed, Joyanne’s care was instrumental. She had a special way of reaching Jon that no one else did. They were fortunate to find The Harbor at Calvert and the specialized care The Harbor offered Jon in his final months.

Jon died on Sunday, June 23, 2024. Remember that Jon always had a smile. He was content. Parkinson’s took his voice but he still told stores, laughed and danced whenever possible. Live life, laugh, sing and dance Just like JVB. Jon was preceded in death by his parents, John (Jack) and Mary Frances Van Bloom, his sister Mary Elizabeth (Liz) Marshall and his brother-in- law Gene Budig.

Jon is survived by his loving wife, Joyanne, his children Amy, her family Ted, Charlie and Wesley Carlsen of Minneapolis MN, his son Brian and his family Amalia, Bastian, Poppy and Olive of Omaha, and his daughter Molly and her family Billy, Emmett and Lucy Duncan of Denver CO, his sister Gretchen Budig, and his brother-in-law Dick Marshall.