Art Neville, one of the legendary musical Neville Brothers, dies at 81
Art Neville, a member of a storied New Orleans musical family who performed with his siblings in The Neville Brothers band and founded the groundbreaking funk group The Meters, died Monday, July 22, 2019, at his home
Dr. Edith Irby Jones, first female president of the National Medical Association, dies at 91
Dr. Edith Irby Jones, one of the first African-American students to enroll at an all-white medical school in the South and later the first female president of the National Medical Association, has died.
Elijah ‘Pumpsie’ Green, first black player for the Boston Red Sox, dies at 85
Elijah “Pumpsie” Green, who became the first African-American player for the Boston Red Sox in 1959, died Wednesday, July 17, 2019, in El Cerrito, Calif.
Boxing champ ‘Sweet Pea’ Whitaker killed in Virginia Beach accident
Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker, a fourtime world champion boxer from Norfolk, died Sunday, July 14, 2019, after being struck by a car in Virginia Beach.
Jawad Abdu, co-founder of RVA League for Safer Streets, dies at 48
Jawad Abdu, co-founder of RVA League for Safer Streets, a basketball and mentorship program designed to help reduce crime and violence and elevate young men in Richmond’s public housing communities, died Friday, July 12, 2019, of a heart attack.
Phil Freelon, architect of the African-American history museum in D.C., dies at 66
Architect Phil Freelon, who designed buildings ranging from local libraries to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, died Tuesday, July 9, 2019, in Durham, N.C.
William F. Brown, co-creator of ‘The Wiz,’ dies at 91
William F. Brown, an author and illustrator who was best known for writing the book of the Tony Award-winning 1975 musical “The Wiz,” died Sunday, June 23, 2019, at a hospital in Norwalk, Conn. He was 91.
Sandra T. Mitchell, longtime city social worker, dies at 75
As a social worker for 27 years with Richmond Public Schools, Dr. Sandra Marie Tilly Mitchell counseled and worked with hundreds of students to help them overcome personal and family challenges that disrupted their lives and their education.
Brandon Robertson, artist, dies at 36
Tribute messages are posted on a side wall of Jade Multicultural Salon in Church Hill in remembrance of talented Richmond graphic designer and digital artist Brandon Robertson.
Martha Brown Wall, educator with the Va. Dept. of Corrections, dies at 54
Martha Augusta Brown Wall counseled and taught hundreds of Virginia prison inmates during her more than 30-year career with the Virginia Department of Corrections.
Dr. Patricia Bath, whose patents advanced cataract treatment, dies at 76
Dr. Patricia Bath, a pioneering ophthalmologist who became the first African-American female doctor to receive a medical patent after she invented a more precise treatment of cataracts, has died. She was 76.
Farewell to a friend
Greg Roland and other comrades of George Edward “Buster” Booth scatter his ashes May 29 in Byrd Park’s Swan Lake in a final farewell to a lifelong friend.
Benjamin J. Lambert IV, financial advisor and civic leader, dies at 52
Benjamin J. Lambert IV, a member the prominent Lambert family whose many members have long contributed to the civic, social and political fabric of the Richmond area, died Monday, June 3, 2019, at his residence in the Midlothian section of …
Legendary queen of Creole cuisine, Leah Chase, dies at 96
New Orleans chef and civil rights icon Leah Chase, who created New Orleans’ first white-tablecloth restaurant for black patrons, broke the city’s segregation laws by seating white and black customers together and introduced countless tourists to Southern Louisiana Creole cooking, …
Willie Lee Ford Jr., a founder of The Dramatics, dies at 68
Willie Lee Ford Jr., one of the founders of the soul group, The Dramatics, whose bass voice anchored their best known hits in the 1970s, died Tuesday, May 28, 2019. He was 68.
