Johnny "Country" Mathis

NOT the Johnny Mathis of "Chances Are" fame...

Johnny "Country" Mathis (September 28, 1933 – September 27, 2011) was an American country singer and songwriter.

Mathis played on Louisiana Hayride from 1951 to 1960, as a solo artist and as a member of the hitmaking duo Jimmy & Johnny (with Jimmy Lee Fautheree). Mathis left the group to go solo in the middle of the 1950s, leaving Fautheree's brother Lynn to fill his shoes in the duo. Jimmy and Lynn nevertheless did not change the name Jimmy & Johnny; this would prove ideal for Mathis, who returned to the group from 1959 to 1961.

As a solo artist, he released several singles for D Records, Decca, United Artists, and Little Darlin. His final charting single was "Please Talk to My Heart," released in 1963. He also encountered significant success as a songwriter, penning songs for Johnny Paycheck, George Jones and Webb Pierce, among others.

Mathis suffered a stroke in February 1999, and was no longer able to perform. He died on September 27, 2011, one day prior to his 78th birthday.

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Richard Walker Mallary (February 21, 1929 – September 27, 2011) was a U.S. Representative from Vermont.

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James David Hill (born May 20, 1937-September 27 2011) was an American professional golfer. He was the brother of golfer Mike Hill.

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Wilson Greatbatch (September 6, 1919 – September 27, 2011) was an engineer and inventor who is most widely known as the inventor of the implantable cardiac pacemaker. He held more than 350 patents and was a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Lemelson–MIT Prize.

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Claude Roy Kirk, Jr. (January 7, 1926 – September 28, 2011) was the 36th Governor of the U.S. state of Florida (1967-1971). He was the first Republican Governor of Florida since Reconstruction.

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Heidi The Cross-Eyed Possum

Heidi was a Virginia Opossum housed at Germany's Leipzig Zoo. In December 2010, the two-and-a-half year old, cross-eyed animal made international headlines shortly after a photograph was published by Bild. Since then, Heidi has inspired a popular YouTube song, a future line of stuffed animals, and a Facebook page with over 290,000 followers.

The zoo's new tropical wildlife exhibit opened to the public in July 2011, and Heidi was exhibited alongside two other opossums – her sister Naira and a male named Teddy. International media has noted that Heidi was one of several animals either born or living in German zoos who have made headlines over the past few years; she followed in the footsteps of other German celebrity animals such as polar bears Knut and Flocke, as well as Paul the Octopus.

Heidi reportedly received an offer to appear at the 83rd Academy Awards on 27 February 2011 via video broadcast, but instead appeared on the late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! in a series of pre-taped vignettes, in which she predicted the winners of three Oscar categories. She missed one prediction, choosing the long-shot Oscar-nominated 127 Hours to win over the eventual Oscar-winning The King's Speech for Best Film. A Heidi stuffed animal was included in some gift bags available to Oscar guests.

Heidi was euthanised by the Zoo veterinary staff on 28 September 2011 after several weeks of struggle against an unspecified health condition.

Marvin "Marv" Tarplin (13 June 1941 – 30 September 2011) was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known as the guitarist for The Miracles during the 1950s through the early '70s, and is one of the group's original members.

Referred to as The Miracles' "secret weapon" ,Tarplin began his career accompanying a teenage Detroit, Michigan girl group known as The Primettes (later The Supremes). The Primettes sought an audition with Motown Records, and Tarplin played guitar as they performed for Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson. Robinson was impressed by Tarplin's guitar playing, and lured him away from the Primettes to join The Miracles. Tarplin joined The Miracles in 1958. In the 2006 Motown DVD release, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles: The Definitive Performances 1963-1987, Robinson and fellow Miracles Pete Moore and Bobby Rogers commented that Tarplin's unique guitar- playing style was reminiscent of the late Curtis Mayfield,and was actually the inspiration behind many of their greatest hits.

Whilst Tarplin remained with the Miracles for as long as Robinson was their lead singer, he is only present on the cover of three classic Miracles albums: Cookin' with The Miracles (1962), I'll Try Something New (1962), and The Fabulous Miracles (1963). He is mentioned, though not pictured, on the back cover of the group's very first album, Hi... We're The Miracles (1961), and listed as an original group member. As a songwriter, Tarplin helped co-compose many of the Miracles' hit singles, amongst them the million-selling Grammy Hall of Fame winner "The Tracks of My Tears" for which he received the ASCAP Award Of Merit (1965), "My Girl Has Gone" (1965), "I Like It Like That", (1964), "Going to a Go-Go" (1965), "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage" (1967), and Point It Out (196.

In addition, Tarplin co-wrote several Robinson produced hits by Marvin Gaye, including the Top 10 million selling hits, "Ain't That Peculiar" and "I'll Be Doggone". His guitar work is featured prominently on Gaye's Top 40 hit, "One More Heartache", which he also co-wrote,and another of Gaye's chart hits, 1965's "Take This Heart of Mine". He also played on The Four Tops 1970 Top 20 hit, Still Water (Love),co-written by fellow Miracle Smokey Robinson. He also appeared with the group on The Ed Sullivan Show, the 1964 motion picture The T.A.M.I. Show, THE 1965 CBS television special, Murray The K - It's What's Happening, Baby, and virtually all of the group's personal appearance concerts worldwide, including the legendary Motortown Revue shows in the early 1960s.

Tarplin left the Miracles in 1973, shortly after Smokey Robinson and his wife Claudette left the group. His replacement in The Miracles was Donald Griffin, brother of Billy Griffin, Robinson's replacement in the group. He died 29th sept 2011

Robinson and Tarplin continued to collaborate as writers on Robinson's solo recordings, including the Top 10 hits "Cruisin'" (197 and "Being with You" (1981). Tarplin also continued to play guitar on record and in concert for Robinson, and, until 2008, continued to tour with Robinson. In 2007, Milwaukee, Wisconsin musician, Paul Cebar, paid homage to Tarplin with his song "Marv's Fluttering Guitar (For Marv Tarplin)" from the album Tomorrow Sound Now For Yes Music People.

Tarplin's phenomenal skills as a guitarist and songwriter were demonstrated on many hits of The Miracles, as well as many studio recordings and concert appearances. He served in The Miracles for well over a decade until joining Smokey Robinson after Smokey departed from The Miracles to pursue a solo career. Tarplin is also pictured on the cover of the 2009 Motown CD release, The Miracles-Depend On Me:The Early Albums (2009) .His guitar riffs at the intro of The Miracles' million-seller "The Tracks of My Tears" , are among the most famous in Pop music history.

Tarplin retired from touring in 2008

In 1987, Smokey Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. However, in a decision that has since sparked much scrutiny, debate, and controversy, Marv, and the other original members of The Miracles, Bobby Rogers, Ronnie White, Pete Moore and Claudette Robinson, were not. The Miracles met the qualifications, as did Robinson, they have not, to date, been inducted. Thus, the controversy of the nomination process and rules for induction.

Marv and his former wife, Sylvia, (who died in 2004), have a daughter named Talese.

Tarplin's death date was pronouced on September 30, 2011.

Tarplin, and the other Miracles (except Claudette), has been a multiple winner of The BMI award for Songwriting. (Reference: Ebony,Oct 1971,pg 169)
Tarplin, along with fellow Miracles Pete Moore and Smokey Robinson, is also Winner of "The Award Of Merit" from The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) for co- composing The Tracks Of My Tears.
British music magazine Mojo has chosen Tarplin as one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time
The original Miracles were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on March 20, 2009.

George Davis "Peter" Gent (August 23, 1942 – September 30, 2011) was a former Michigan State University basketball player and National Football League wide receiver turned novelist.

He was drafted in the 10th round by the NBA-Baltimore Bullets. On a lark, Gent went to the Dallas Cowboys training camp in the summer of 1964. He had heard they were paying $500 to players who attended the training camp.

Gent wound up making the team, where he was a receiver and tight end from 1964 to 1968. He was known for his soft hands and caught passes from quarterback Don Meredith, with whom he enjoyed a close friendship off the field.

He never played a down of college football, so the Cowboys started him at split end and in 1968 moved him to tight end.

In the Cowboys' 1965 season, Gent caught 16 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns. In 1966, he had 27 receptions for 474 yards (averaging 17.6 yard per catch). In 1967 and 1968, Gent had 25 receptions. In 1969, he was traded to the New York Giants, but never played there.

After leaving professional football, Gent wrote a semi-autobiographical novel titled North Dallas Forty. Many have hypothesized that the main characters of the book, a quarterback and a receiver, are based on Gent and Don Meredith. The novel, published in 1973, exposed the seamier side of American football. Often regarded as one of the finest sports novels ever written, the novel examines the NFL's hypocrisy regarding drug use—as heavy use of painkillers is recklessly encouraged to keep players on the field but personal use of marijuana and narcotics is frowned on. The book was made into a movie of the same name in 1979 starring Nick Nolte, Mac Davis, G.D. Spradlin, and Dayle Haddon. Gent wrote the screenplay for the film. He had epic creative battles with legendary producer Frank Yablans on the set of the film.

Gent made his home in Texas for many years, where he was friends with many of the great creative minds of the day, including Larry L. King, Billy Lee Brammer, Gary Cartwright, Bud Shrake, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Dan Jenkins. They called themselves the Mad Dogs.

Gent also examined the corruption deriving from the huge sums of money involved in modern professional sports in a sequel volume entitled North Dallas After 40, published in 1989, and in an unrelated football novel The Franchise, published in 1983.

Gent had two children, Holly Gent Palmo (b. 1963) and Carter Davis Gent (b. 1976). He resided in Bangor, Michigan at the time of his death on September 30, 2011 and was working on a novel.

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Roger George Kennedy (August 3, 1926 – September 30, 2011) was an American polymath whose multifaceted career included banking, television production, historical writing, and museum administration — the last as director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History — before the Clinton administration chose him to head the National Park Service in 1993. He was especially concerned about expanding the service's educational role and moved to enlarge its presence beyond the parks via the Internet. During his tenure the NPS restructured (Restructuring Plan) its field operations and sharply reduced its central office staffs as part of a government-wide effort to downsize the federal bureaucracy. Kennedy resigned at the end of President Clinton's first term in 1997.

He died of melanoma on September 30, 2011
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Michael "Mike" Heimerdinger (October 13, 1952 – September 30, 2011) was a football coach in the National Football League.

Heimerdinger was most recently the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, from 2000-2004 and again from 2008-2010. Prior, Heimerdinger was an assistant head coach for the Denver Broncos succeeding Gary Kubiak who took the head coaching position with the Houston Texans.

Heimerdinger died of cancer on September 30, 2011 in Mexico while receiving experimental cancer treatments.

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