The Memorial Wall

Muhammad Ali, the three-time world heavyweight boxing champion who helped define his turbulent times as the most charismatic and controversial sports figure of the 20th century, died on Friday, June 3, 2016, in a Phoenix-area hospital. He was 74.

His death was confirmed by Bob Gunnell, a family spokesman. The cause was septic shock, a family spokeswoman said.

Ali, who lived near Phoenix, had had Parkinson’s disease for more than 30 years. He was admitted to the hospital on Monday with what Mr. Gunnell said was a respiratory problem.

Ali was the most thrilling if not the best heavyweight ever, carrying into the ring a physically lyrical, unorthodox boxing style that fused speed, agility and power more seamlessly than that of any fighter before him.

But he was more than the sum of his athletic gifts. An agile mind, a buoyant personality, a brash self-confidence and an evolving set of personal convictions fostered a magnetism that the ring alone could not contain. He entertained as much with his mouth as with his fists, narrating his life with a patter of inventive doggerel. (“Me! Wheeeeee!”)

Ali was as polarizing a superstar as the sports world has ever produced — both admired and vilified in the 1960s and ’70s for his religious, political and social stances. His refusal to be drafted during the Vietnam War, his rejection of racial integration at the height of the civil rights movement, his conversion from Christianity to Islam and the changing of his “slave” name, Cassius Clay, to one bestowed by the separatist black sect he joined, the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, were perceived as serious threats by the conservative establishment and noble acts of defiance by the liberal opposition.

Loved or hated, he remained for 50 years one of the most recognizable people on the planet.

In later life Ali became something of a secular saint, a legend in soft focus. He was respected for having sacrificed more than three years of his boxing prime and untold millions of dollars for his antiwar principles after being banished from the ring; he was extolled for his un-self-conscious gallantry in the face of incurable illness, and he was beloved for his accommodating sweetness in public.

In 1996, he was trembling and nearly mute as he lit the Olympic caldron in Atlanta.

That passive image was far removed from the exuberant, talkative, vainglorious 22-year-old who bounded out of Louisville, Ky., and onto the world stage in 1964 with an upset victory over Sonny Liston to become the world champion. The press called him the Louisville Lip. He called himself the Greatest.

Ali also proved to be a shape-shifter — a public figure who kept reinventing his persona.

As a bubbly teenage gold medalist at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, he parroted America’s Cold War line, lecturing a Soviet reporter about the superiority of the United States. But he became a critic of his country and a government target in 1966 with his declaration “I ain’t got nothing against them Vietcong.”

“He lived a lot of lives for a lot of people,” said the comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory. “He was able to tell white folks for us to go to hell.”

But Ali had his hypocrisies, or at least inconsistencies. How could he consider himself a “race man” yet mock the skin color, hair and features of other African-Americans, most notably Joe Frazier, his rival and opponent in three classic matches? Ali called him “the gorilla,” and long afterward Frazier continued to express hurt and bitterness.

If there was a supertitle to Ali’s operatic life, it was this: “I don’t have to be who you want me to be; I’m free to be who I want.” He made that statement the morning after he won his first heavyweight title. It informed every aspect of his life, including the way he boxed.

The traditionalist fight crowd was appalled by his style; he kept his hands too low, the critics said, and instead of allowing punches to “slip” past his head by bobbing and weaving, he leaned back from them.

Eventually his approach prevailed. Over 21 years, he won 56 fights and lost five. His Ali Shuffle may have been pure showboating, but the “rope-a-dope” — in which he rested on the ring’s ropes and let an opponent punch himself out — was the stratagem that won the Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman in 1974, the fight in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in which he regained his t His personal life was paradoxical. Ali belonged to a sect that emphasized strong families, a subject on which he lectured, yet he had dalliances as casual as autograph sessions. A brief first marriage to Sonji Roi ended in divorce after she refused to dress and behave as a proper Nation wife. (She died in 2005.) While married to Belinda Boyd, his second wife, Ali traveled openly with Veronica Porche, whom he later married. That marriage, too, ended in divorce.

Ali was politically and socially idiosyncratic as well. After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the television interviewer David Frost asked him if he considered Al Qaeda and the Taliban evil. He replied that terrorism was wrong but that he had to “dodge questions like that” because “I have people who love me.” He said he had “businesses around the country” and an image to consider.

As a spokesman for the Muhammad Ali Center, a museum dedicated to “respect, hope and understanding,” which opened in his hometown, Louisville, in 2005, he was known to interrupt a fund-raising meeting with an ethnic joke. In one he said: “If a black man, a Mexican and a Puerto Rican are sitting in the back of a car, who’s driving? Give up? The po-lice.”

But Ali had generated so much good will by then that there was little he could say or do that would change the public’s perception of him.

“We forgive Muhammad Ali his excesses,” an Ali biographer, Dave Kindred, wrote, “because we see in him the child in us, and if he is foolish or cruel, if he is arrogant, if he is outrageously in love with his reflection, we forgive him because we no more can condemn him than condemn a rainbow for dissolving into the dark. Rainbows are born of thunderstorms, and Muhammad Ali is both.”

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. was born in Louisville on Jan. 17, 1942, into a family of strivers that included teachers, musicians, and craftsmen. Some of them traced their ancestry to Henry Clay, the 19th-century representative, senator and secretary of state, and his cousin Cassius Marcellus Clay, a noted abolitionist.

Ali’s mother, Odessa, was a cook and a house cleaner, his father a sign painter and a church muralist who blamed discrimination for his failure to become a recognized artist. Violent and often drunk, Clay Sr. filled the heads of Cassius and his younger brother, Rudolph (later Rahman Ali), with the teachings of the 20th-century black separatist Marcus Garvey and a refrain that would become Ali’s — “I am the greatest.”

Beyond his father’s teachings, Ali traced his racial and political identity to the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a black 14-year-old from Chicago who was believed to have flirted with a white woman on a visit to Mississippi. Clay was about the same age as Till, and the photographs of the brutalized dead youth haunted him, he said.

Cassius started to box at 12, after his new $60 red Schwinn bicycle was stolen off a downtown street. He reported the theft to Joe Martin, a police officer who ran a boxing gym. When Cassius boasted what he would do to the thief when he caught him, Martin suggested that he first learn how to punch properly.

Cassius was quick, dedicated and gifted at publicizing a youth boxing show, “Tomorrow’s Champions,” on local television. He was soon its star.

For all his ambition and willingness to work hard, education — public and segregated — eluded him. The only subjects in which he received satisfactory grades were art and gym, his high school reported years later. Already an amateur boxing champion, he graduated 376th in a class of 391. He was never taught to read properly; years later he confided that he had never read a book, neither the ones on which he collaborated nor even the Quran, although he said he had reread certain passages dozens of times. He memorized his poems and speeches, laboriously printing them out over and over.

From the New York Times

JOHN HORUN, age 87. Beloved husband of Sue (nee Costa); loving father of Lois Antonius (Jack), Roseanne McCamey (of CA), Patti Busony (Ray) and Elaine Gaughan (Ken); cherished grandfather of Lisa, Robyn, Brian, Gary, Wendy, Tiffany, Bridgette, Ken, Adam and Ryan and great grandfather of 14; dear brother of Michael Horun, Rose Sasso, Anne Steech and the late Mary Hungate and Nick Horun. U.S. Army W.W. II Veteran. Mass of Christian Burial, Holy Family Church, (York Rd), Monday, June 26, 2006 at 10 a.m. Interment Holy Cross Cemetery.

Mary Elizabeth Ernst Chesapeake – Mary Elizabeth (nee Steinbrecher) Ernst died on May 21, 2016, at the age of 55 in her home after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. She was born on September 21, 1960 in San Diego, Cal. She was a beloved wife, mother, daughter, sister and loyal friend. A 20 year distinguished service Navy Veteran; she leaves behind a legacy of happiness, laughter, and determination to live her life on her terms. She had tremendous zest for life even as her body failed. Her optimistic attitude helped all those she met to remember the positive aspects of life such as throwing great parties, tasting delicious treats and shopping till you drop.

She is survived by her husband Robert T. Ernst of 24 years, sons Matthew C. Ernst and Kenneth F. Ernst, mother Margaret Steinbrecher, sister Eileen Steinbrecher Ryan, and brother Michael Steinbrecher.

Sue (Bolling Worsham) Horger died on May 13, 2016, at her home in Hermosa Beach, from complications of Parkinson's Disease. Sue loved her home in Hermosa Beach, where she lived for 40 years and was always active in the community. She was a Founder/Director of the Hermosa Beach Historical Society, and a Life Member.

She was a Girl Scout leader; a member of the HB Women's Club; the Friends of the Library; the Sister City Association; and a Youth Leader at St. Cross Episcopal Church, where she was a member for 41 years. She played tennis, golf, and beach volleyball, also being Co-director of the annual 22nd Street Volleyball Tournament.

Sue was born in Petersburg, Virginia, where she graduated from High School as Salutatorian (she claimed she missed Valedictorian because of a bad grade from the gym teacher who said she couldn't hit the ball at softball). She attended Mary Washington College, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and graduated from The Medical College of Virginia, with a degree in Medical Technology. After graduation, she stayed at MCV to teach Medical Technology. In her second year, she was selected "Favorite Teacher" in the Division.

She was married for 50 years to John Horger, also a very involved activist in Hermosa Beach. After marriage they moved to California, living in Palos Verdes before moving to Hermosa Beach in 1975. She has two wonderful daughters, Susan Lyle (and Mike) of Chevy Chase, MD, and Karen Sanders (and Barrett) of Queen Creek, AZ, who together gave her 7 wonderful grandchildren, whom she loved very much. They recently celebrated their Golden Anniversary with a party for 60 friends and relatives at their favorite neighborhood restaurant, The Bottle Inn.

She worked for 15 years as a Laboratory Manager at South Shores Medical in San Pedro, then was a Lab Manager at Cancer Care Associates in Torrance, from which she retired. She had a wealth of knowledge of everything medical, in fact, many friends including one doctor, used her as the go-to source when they wanted info about a problem! In her later years, she took up oil painting and stained glass; sold some of her paintings out of her house, had some on display in local restaurants on consignment, filled up her walls, and redid her front door with stained glass.

Arthur Pomper, age 85, of Buffalo Grove, IL, passed away Friday, April 29, 2016 in his home after a courageous battle with Parkinsons Disease. He was the beloved husband for 57 years of Colette, nee Leib; loving father of Bruce (Tammy) Pomper and Michelle (Jeffrey) Siegel; he was the wonderful grandfather of Ryan, Samantha, Jessie, Gavin, and Jayme; dear brother of the late Bernard Pomper, Maryan Feingold, and Shirley Isenberg; fond uncle of Dr. Ronald Feingold, Dr. Michael Feingold, and Lynn Feingold. Service Wednesday 2 PM in the chapel of Westlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum, 7801 W. Montrose Avenue, Norridge, IL 60706, where interment will follow. 

Jack Reich, age 90, a Holocaust survivor, beloved husband of Lydia, nee Rychner for 67 wonderful years; loving father of Jeanie (Don) Blum, Joe (Kim) Reich, Belle (Ron) Kolman, and Cindy (the late Lee) Masover; proud and loving "Poppy" of Adam, Ben, Nicole (Jeff), Carly, Zach, Samantha, and Alex; dearest brother of Lucy (the late Henry) Orbach, Mark (Sally) Reich and the late Esther Schlachcic, Robert (Sonia) Reich, Miriam Reich and Freidl Reich; special cousin of the late Jack (Lilly) Reich. Adored by countless nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Jack was a man who brought laughter and a dry wit to all of our lives.

The twinkle in his eyes was loved by all who knew him. 

There were no more miracles left. Ronald Solon Johnson, born on March 3, 1934 in Roanoke, VA, died on March 12, 2016 at home in Indian Wells, CA. He was predeceased by his parents William Otis and Hylda Maude (Sink) Johnson and his older brother, Walter Clifford Johnson. While attending Andrew Lewis High School, he was on the football and track teams and won the state championship as discus thrower.

Ron went on to graduate from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (now known as Virginia Tech) in 1958 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. In 1959, after completing Naval Officer Training School in Newport, RI, he was assigned to the USS Cassin Young DD-793 and rose to the rank of LTJG. After his ship was decommissioned in April 1960, Ron transferred to the Naval Base in Key West, FL as an instructor in Anti-Submarine Warfare. Ron was honorably discharged in 1962 and moved to Los Angeles with his wife, Valerie (Cavanagh) and their first-born child. From 1962 to 1973, he worked in sales for Shell Oil Co., Singer Co. and Computer Design Corp. In 1970, he earned his M.B.A. from University of Southern California.

He spent three years as a partner with Korn/Ferry, an international executive search firm. In 1976, he opened his own senior level recruiting firm in Brentwood, CA. He was well respected in his field and had a real talent for identifying and placing people. He was always athletic; enjoying marathon running, tennis, skiing and golf. Ron was a member of numerous clubs and also managed to get invited to every new restaurant opening on the Westside.

The only thing Ron loved more than working was travelling with his wife, Lynn Elizabeth Van Buskirk. Ron and Lynn met on a blind date and were married Valentine's Day 1994 on the Big Island, HI. They lived in Santa Monica until 2003 when they moved to Indian Wells. In their blessed 22 years of marriage, they travelled all over the world and in 2014 were acknowledged by the NPTC for visiting all 401 National Parks.

Ron is survived by his adoring and heartbroken wife, Lynn, and his three children of whom he was very proud: Ronald Solon Johnson II of Tucson, AZ; Lisa Curran Koenig (Derek) of Bethesda, MD and Thomas Cavanagh Johnson of Phoenix, AZ plus two wonderful grandchildren: William and Laine. In addition, he enjoyed his very large extended family, all of whom he loved very much.

Ron never let his health issues stop him from enjoying life. We wish to thank our team from Family Hospice Palm Springs for their amazing help in his final months. Donations to Parkinson's Resource Organization (a 501-c-3), 74-090 El Paseo, Palm Desert, CA 92260 in Ron's memory would be greatly appreciated.

The Columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery, VA will be his final resting place with a Celebration of Life to follow back East but it will be many months before a specific date is set.

Harry Wayne Williams 8/22/1930 - 3/2/2016

Wayne was born in Youngstown, Ohio, the son of the late David and Clarice (Stevens) Williams. He was raised in the Brownlee Woods area and attended Youngstown City Schools graduating from Woodrow Wilson H.S. in 1948. He majored in Engineering and graduated from Ohio University in 1958.

He worked in the Atomic Energy Facility in Waverly, OH and then for Bendix Aviation in Cleveland. Wayne owned, and operated Air Accessories Co. until his death. He moved to the Santa Ana/Tustin area of CA in the 70's and to La Quinta and Palm Desert in the 2000's. Wayne leaves his wife, Merry, and his four children, David, Mark, Dan and Rebecca. He also leaves 3 stepdaughters, Kristin, Margit and Megan.

He was a proud Grandfather of fifteen grandchildren and one great grandchild. He is survived by his brother, Alan (Llwanda) and his sister, Jeannette. And, of course, his faithful dog "BG".

The family wishes to thank Wayne's primary care physician, Dr. Gloria Engel for her great care and heartfelt support during this difficult time.

Maurice White, the founder and leader of the legendary R&B group Earth, Wind & Fire, has died at the age of 74. Maurice was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1992 but his condition deteriorated in recent months, reports TMZ.

Maurice White was the band's main songwriter and record producer and was co-lead singer along with Philip Bailey. White won a total of seven Grammys and was nominated for 21 Grammys in total. He is also a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger and bandleader. He was the founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. He was also the older brother of current Earth, Wind & Fire member Verdine White, and former member Fred White. He served as the band's main songwriter and record producer and was co-lead singer along with Philip Bailey. He won seven Grammys and was nominated for a total of twenty Grammys. White was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire, and was also inducted individually into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Also known by his nickname "Reese", he worked with several famous recording artists, including Deniece Williams, the Emotions, Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond. White was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in the late 1980s, which led him eventually to stop touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in 1994. He retained executive control of the band and remained active in the music business.

He was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1941. He moved to Chicago when he was a teenager and did session work as a drummer for Chess Records. He played on records by notable artists including Etta James and Buddy Guy. He eventually joined the Ramsey Lewis Trio as their drummer. He then moved to Los Angeles where he formed the band Earth, Wind & Fire.

Earth, Wind & Fire has sold over 100 million records. The many hit songs by the band include "September", "Shining Star", and "That's the Way of the World."

Earth, Wind & Fire tweeted this tribute: Our brother Maurice White passed peacefully in his sleep this morning. The light is he, shining on you and me.

Carl Henry Macklin II, 78, died peacefully in his sleep in Geneva, IL from complications related to Parkinson's Disease on February 4, 2016.

Carl, C.H. to friends and family, is survived by Patricia, his loving wife of 56 years, with whom he resided in Geneva, Illinois and "the Lakes" in Palm Desert, CA; his son Robert Lawrence, daughter-in-law Heather (Green) and grandchildren Dax (9) and Kate (8) of Batavia, Illinois; his sisters and their families: Birdie (Manny) Mendoza of Sacramento, California, Barbara (Bob) Ramsey of Coto de Caza, California, and Christine (Richard) Caldwell of Salt Lake City, UT; and many nieces and nephews who live across the globe. He is preceded in death by his parents, Carl and Pearl (Reyburn) Macklin.

C.H. was born on July 19,1937 in Salt Lake City, UT. His family moved to Southern California during WWII. He grew up eagerly joining his father on fishing trawlers at the early age of 10 years, and later playing football, as co-captain, for Jordan High School and Long Beach City College. He graduated from Cal State University, Long Beach, in 1965 with a degree in Marine Biology. He worked for five years as a sales representative and later as Los Angeles District Sales Manager with Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals, where he led his district to number one in the nation for two consecutive years. After earning his MBA from Pepperdine University, in 1983, he joined Syncor, a world-wide radioactive pharmaceuticals company, as Vice President of Marketing and Sales. After retirement, he and Pat lived in several places, including West Yellowstone, MT, Palm Desert, CA, Galena, IL and Geneva, IL, as they followed, alternately, the warm weather and the grandkids. He was a social, active man who loved the outdoors, especially sailing, fishing and golf. He also maintained a love of reading, especially science and history, throughout his life, as well as teaching and playing chess with his grandson, Dax and watching his granddaughter Kate play basketball, softball and soccer.

He will truly be missed and remain in our hearts forever.