The Memorial Wall

Jane was an artist. She graduated from Art College in 1968 and was awarded a travel scholarship to study temple art in India. We met as students and were married in 1969 after her return from her travels. She originally taught in special education schools before moving to teach Art, but after 10 years she gave up teaching altogether and became a freelance artist, craft maker, machine knitter and silk painter. We moved into in our current home in 1975 as it provided her with the studio space she needed after she went freelance. She was known to her many friends as Flossie.

Flossie continued to paint, draw and make collages for the next 40 years, but as well as this she learnt machine knitting and produced a huge variety of knitted pieces bearing the label ‘Designed and Made by Flossie’. She loved sourcing good wool - hand dyed, hand spun, as well as different specialist wools. She sold her work at the Country Market and at a variety of craft events and craft shops in the area. No two pieces were the same except that is for the soft, fine lambswool lace shawls, which always sold well. She also learnt the skills of silk painting and produced for sale many hand painted scarves and other items. She really enjoyed singing in a local choir and was also a member of an art class for many years.

Flossie was a remarkable and fiercely independent woman and thinker. She would never follow convention for the sake of it and always determined her own course. In her art and in her life, she was independently minded. She was strong and adventurous. Her paintings and collages were drawn almost entirely from her imagination and were made to meet her own creative needs. They were a most important part of who she was and how she saw the world. She never exhibited them.

The diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease came about ten years ago. We were both helped enormously not only by Parkinson’s UK but also by the specialist PD nurses, whom we saw regularly. We were also members of a great local PD support group. Eventually the disease, and the associated dementia robbed her of her motivation, her enthusiasm, her energy and her courage. She lost her ability to write, and most importantly lost her drawing and painting skills. She also lost her love of reading, even her beloved Jane Austen. 

It was a huge privilege to have been married to Flossie for over 50 years. She was kind, caring and very loving. We had lots of laughs and lots of fun. Don

Eleanor Weinstock, a former Palm Beach resident who served 14 years as a representative and then a senator in the Florida legislature, died Saturday, August 19, 2023, from Parkinson's disease.

She was 94 years old.

Born January 25, 1929, in New York, Eleanor Frank would go on on to graduate from Skidmore College with a bachelor's degree in art.

She was in Hollywood, Florida, on a short vacation from her New York job as a textile designer when she met Sander "Sandy" Weinstock. The couple married and, after a honeymoon in Africa, settled in New Rochelle, New York.

But not for long. Just a year later, Sandy bought what was then the Ambassador Hotel and moved his family to Palm Beach's north end.

While her husband was busy developing condominiums in the south end ― including Sloan's Curve ― Mrs. Weinstock continued her art while raising three children and becoming more active in civic issues, eventually serving as president of Florida's League of Women Voters.

In her early years in Palm Beach, Florida was still strictly segregated, with public water fountains labeled "Black" and "White."

"I remember taking my daughter to the water fountain in Winn-Dixie," she said in an interview with the Palm Beach Post "and, of course, I took her to the black one."

It was the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment that propelled her into politics when, incensed by the bill's resounding defeat in the Florida legislature, she vowed to unseat her district's anti-ERA representative.

She did exactly that and went on to serve 14 years as a representative and then a senator, championing education and social justice initiatives.

She and her husband were avid bridge players, both eventually attaining Life Master ranking. At the time of his death in 2008, they had been married for 56 years.

Mrs. Weinstock continued to paint until shortly before her death.

She is survived by her children Jane, Charles ("Chuck") and Ann; and her grandchildren Alexander and Caroline.

The Location, Location, Location star’s father Richard, known to friends and family as David, 89, and mother Anne, 82, who were both farmers, died in Lower Garrington Farm in Littlebourne near Canterbury, Kent, in August.

Spencer, 53, paid tribute to his “amazing parents” in a post on Instagram on August 20th , where he revealed the couple had been going out for lunch at the time of their death.

He also said that his mother had Parkinson’s and his father had been diagnosed with dementia. 

The star went on to say that “[a]lthough desperately sad and shocked beyond all belief – all families are clear that if there can ever be such a thing as having a “good end” – this was it.”

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.”