The following is a list of notable deaths in October 2007.
Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence: Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.
October 2007
1 Bernard Delaire, 108, French Naval veteran of World War I, one of the last six identified. Bruce Hay, 57, British rugby player for Britain and Scotland, brain tumour. Ronnie Hazlehurst, 79, British theme song composer (Are You Being Served?) and jazz musician, stroke. Israel Kugler, 90, American labor leader and professor, pneumonia. Harry Lee, 75, American politician, Sheriff of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, leukemia. Chris Mainwaring, 41, Australian footballer (West Coast Eagles), television and radio sports journalist. Peggy Maley, 84, American actress.Peggy Maley (1923–2007) James A. Martin, 105, American Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, world's oldest Jesuit, pneumonia. Al Oerter, 71, American athlete and Olympic gold medallist in discus (1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968), heart failure. Tetsuo Okamoto, 75, Brazilian swimmer and Brazil's first Olympic swimming medallist (1952), respiratory failure. Pedro Saúl Pérez, 54, Dominican advocate for the rights of Dominican immigrants in Puerto Rico, heart attack. Ned Sherrin, 76, British broadcaster and theatre producer, throat cancer. Ralph W. Sturges, 88, American Mohegan tribal chief. Henry Wells, 92, American expert on Latin American politics, professor and author, complications from Alzheimer's disease.
2 Frederick Bayer, 85, American emeritus curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, heart failure. Tex Coulter, 82, American National and Canadian Football League player. Gianni Danzi, 67, Italian Archbishop of the Territorial Prelature of Loreto. Elfi von Dassanowsky, 83, Austrian opera singer, actress and film producer. Christopher Derrick, 86, British writer. Šime Đodan, 79, Croatian parliamentarian, defence minister (1991). Gary Franklin, 79, American film critic, KABC-TV (Los Angeles). Richard Goldwater, 71, American president of Archie Comics, creator of Josie and the Pussycats, cancer. George Grizzard, 79, American actor, lung cancer. Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, 94, Greek former Princess of Greece, last surviving great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Dan Keating, 105, Irish republican activist, last surviving veteran of the Irish War of Independence. J. Edward Lundy, 92, American automobile executive (Ford Motor Co.). Tawn Mastrey, 53, American radio disc jockey (KNAC), hepatitis C. James Michaels, 86, American editor of Forbes (1961–1999), pneumonia. *José Antonio Ríos Granados, 48, Mexican politician, mayor of Tultitlán (2000–2003), air crash. Willi Rössler, 83, German Olympic fencer. Alec Spalding, 84, British scout leader.
3
John Buxton, 73, New Zealand rugby union player. Violet Kazue de Cristoforo, 90, American poet, held in Japanese-American internment camps during WWII, stroke. Kenneth R. Harding, 93, American Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives (1972–1980), pneumonia. Wyn Harness, 47, British journalist. Herbert Muschamp, 59, American architecture critic for The New York Times, lung cancer. Pablo Palazuelo, 90, Spanish artist. Tony Ryan, 71, Irish entrepreneur and joint founder of Ryanair, after long illness. Rogelio Salmona, 78, Colombian architect, Alvar Aalto Medal and Prince Claus Award winner, cancer. Sir Richard Trant, 79, British Army general. Giuseppe Valdengo, 93, Italian operatic baritone. M. N. Vijayan, 77, Indian academic, writer and journalist, heart attack.
4
Bob Burdick, 70, American NASCAR driver. Chen Chi-li, 64, Chinese-born Taiwanese gangster, killer of dissident journalist Henry Liu, pancreatic cancer. Antonie Iorgovan, 59, Romanian politician, main author of the Constitution of Romania, heart attack. Kim Min-woo, 21, South Korean ice dancer, traffic collision. Don Nottebart, 71, American Major League Baseball player, stroke.
5 John Atchison, 53, American federal prosecutor and alleged child sex offender, suicide by hanging. Alexandra Boulat, 45, French photojournalist, aneurysm. Walter Kempowski, 78, German author and archivist, intestinal cancer. Władysław Kopaliński, 99, Polish lexicographer. Vladimir Kuzin, 77, Russian 1956 Winter Olympics gold medalist, long illness. Steven Massarsky, 59, American attorney and businessman, complications related to cancer. Edwyn Owen, 71, American ice hockey player, gold medalist at the 1960 Winter Olympics, car fire. Matilde Salvador i Segarra, 89, Spanish composer, stroke. Justin Tuveri, 109, Italian-French World War I veteran. Laura Ulewicz,77 American poet.
6 Babasaheb Bhosale, 86, Indian politician, Chief Minister of Maharashtra (1982–1983). Robert W. Bussard, 79, American physicist, researcher of nuclear fusion, cancer. Jo Ann Davis, 57, American member of the US House of Representatives from Virginia since 2001, breast cancer. Nancy DeShone, 75, American baseball player (AAGPBL) Rodney Diak, 83, British stage and film actor, cancer. Phil Dodds, 56, American audio engineer, cancer. Bud Ekins, 77, American motorcycle racer and stunt performer (The Great Escape), natural causes. Terence Wilmot Hutchison, 95, British economist. Tom Murphy, 39, Irish Tony Award-winning actor of stage and screen (The Beauty Queen of Leenane), lymphatic cancer. Laza Ristovski, 51, Serbian keyboardist (Smak, Bijelo dugme), multiple sclerosis. George F. Senner Jr., 85, American member of the US House of Representatives from Arizona (1963–1967).
7
Norifumi Abe, 32, Japanese MotoGP racer, traffic accident. Stéphane Maurice Bongho-Nouarra, 70, Congolese Prime Minister (1992). Sir Alan Campbell, 88, British diplomat. Sisi Chen, 68, Chinese actress, pancreatic cancer. Paul Cullen, 98, Australian army general. Luciana Frassati Gawronska, 105, Polish-Italian writer and anti-Nazi activist, mother of Jas Gawronski. Herb Parker, 86, American educator and football coach. George E. Sangmeister, 76, American member of the US House of Representatives from Illinois (1989–1995), leukemia. Jiřina Steimarová, 91, Czech actress. Lilis Suryani, 59, Indonesian singer, uterine cancer. Joe Waggonner, 89, American member of the US House of Representatives from Louisiana (1961–1979).
8 Constantine Andreou, 90, Brazilian-born Greek-French painter and sculptor. Milan Đukić, 61, Serbian-Croatian politician, leader of the Serb People's Party. *John Henry, 32, American Hall of Fame thoroughbred racehorse, euthanized after kidney failure. Nicky James, 64, British pop singer (The Moody Blues), brain tumour. Zdzisław Peszkowski, 89, Polish Roman Catholic priest, advocate for the families of Katyn victims. *Salem Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, 69, Kuwaiti politician, member of the ruling family, after long illness. Francis Schewetta, 88, French Olympic silver medal-winning (1948) athlete. Jean-François Van Der Motte, 93, Belgian Olympic cyclist. Chick Zamick, 81, Canadian ice hockey player.
9
Enrico Banducci, 85, American nightclub impresario (North Beach, San Francisco). Carol Bruce, 87, American actress (WKRP in Cincinnati, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, American Gigolo), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Henk van Brussel, 72, Dutch footballer and football manager, heart attack. Fausto Correia, 55, Portuguese politician, heart attack. Belinda Dann, 107, Australian centenarian, longest-lived member of the Stolen Generation. Mary Louise Kolanko, 75, American baseball player (All-American Girls Professional Baseball League). Robert McGehee, 64, American Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Progress Energy Inc, stroke. Dudley Ryder, 7th Earl of Harrowby, 84, British aristocrat and banker. Kurt Schwaen, 98, German composer, natural causes. Bram Zeegers, 58, Dutch lawyer and key witness in the trial of Willem Holleeder.
10 S. R. Bommai, 83, Indian politician. Ambrose De Paoli, 73, American-born Roman Catholic Archbishop, nuncio to Australia, leukemia. Ken Fry, 86, Australian politician, MP for Fraser (1974–1984). Francis García, 49, Mexican transvestite actress and designer, pulmonary thrombosis. Len Keogh, 76, Australian politician, MP for Bowman (1969–1975, 1983–1987). Norman Mashabane, 51, South African politician, former ambassador to Indonesia, car accident. Mehmed Uzun, 54, Turkish novelist, stomach cancer.
11 Sri Chinmoy, 76, Indian-born philosopher and guru, heart attack. Ignatius D'Cunha, 83, Indian Bishop Emeritus of Aurangabad. John H. Edwards, 79, British geneticist. Tex Hill, 92, American fighter pilot and flying ace, member of the Flying Tigers. Juca, 78, Portuguese footballer and coach (Sporting, national team). Rauni Mollberg, 78, Finnish film director, leukemia. Pat "Gravy" Patterson, 73, American baseball and football coach at Louisiana Tech, suicide by gunshot. Roy Rosenzweig, 57, American historian, lung cancer. Carlos Salgado, 67, Honduran journalist and comedian, shot. David Salmon, 95, American Athabascan tribal chief, cancer. Werner von Trapp, 91, Austrian-born musician and singer, member of the Trapp Family Singers who inspired The Sound of Music.
12 Paulo Autran, 85, Brazilian actor, lung cancer. Kim Beazley Sr., 90, Australian politician, former government minister. Lonny Chapman, 87, American actor (The Birds, Norma Rae, The Hunted), heart disease. Noel Coleman, 87, British actor. Ruby Hooper, 83, American first female major party candidate to run for Governor of North Carolina, 1993 North Carolina Mother of the Year. Kisho Kurokawa, 73, Japanese architect, heart failure. Judy Mazel, 63, American cookbook author (The Beverly Hills Diet), complications from peripheral vascular disease. Ranjit Singh Sarkaria, 91, Indian Supreme Court judge (1973–1981), head of the Sarkaria Commission. Soe Win, 59, Burmese Prime Minister (2004–2007), leukemia.
13
Vernon Bellecourt, 75, Native American activist, pneumonia. Andrée de Jongh, 90, Belgian Resistance member, organized the Comet Line POW escape network. Bob Denard, 78, French mercenary. Obaidul Huq, 95, Bangladeshi journalist and filmmaker. Alec Kessler, 40, American basketball player (Georgia Bulldogs, Miami Heat), heart attack. Kribensis, 23, Irish racehorse. Marion Michael, 66, German actress and singer, heart failure. James L. Oakes, 83, American federal judge. Jim Poston, 63, British diplomat, Governor of the Turks & Caicos Islands (2002–2005).
14 Salih Saif Aldin, 32, Iraqi correspondent for The Washington Post, shot. Big Moe, 33, American rapper, heart attack. Judy Crichton, 77, American television producer, leukemia. George Neil Jenkins, 92, British scientist. Philippe Malaud, 82, French diplomat and politician. André Maréchal, 90, French optics researcher. Raymond Pellegrin, 82, French actor. Frances Rich, 97, American actress and sculptor, heart attack. Shin Hyun-joon, 91, South Korean general.Hyun-joon Shin Slew o' Gold, 27, American thoroughbred racehorse and Hall of Fame inductee, euthanized. Pentti Snellman, 81, Finnish Olympic athlete. Sigrid Valdis, 72, American actress (Hogan's Heroes), lung cancer.
15 Jackie Little, 95, British footballer (Ipswich Town). Bobby Mauch, 86, American child actor and film editor. Bernard Scudder, 53, British poet and translator of Icelandic literature. Robert Shields, 89, American Protestant minister and diarist.Robert Shields, Wordy Diarist, Dies at 89 Vito Taccone, 67, Italian cyclist, heart attack. Lucius Theus, 85, American US Air Force major-general, Tuskegee Airman. Ernest Withers, 85, American photographer, stroke.
16 *Rosalio José Castillo Lara, 85, Venezuelan Roman Catholic cardinal. M. A. Hadi, 68, Bangladeshi academic, Vice Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, brain haemorrhage. Ignacy Jeż, 93, Polish Roman Catholic bishop.