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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In passing

The Spokesman-Review

J.J. ‘Jake’ Pickle, former U.S. legislator

AUSTIN, Texas – Retired U.S. Rep. J.J. “Jake” Pickle, who helped pass major Social Security reform in the 1980s and was a senior Democrat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee during three decades in Congress, died Saturday. He was 91.

He was elected in 1963 to the House seat Lyndon B. Johnson once held. As head of the Social Security Subcommittee, he helped pass Social Security reform in 1983 that raised the age for full benefits from 65 to 67.

Robert Maquire Jr., dubbed ‘Irish Moses’

LOS ANGELES – Robert F. Maguire Jr., dubbed “Irish Moses” by an Israeli prime minister for heading an airlift that flew 40,000 Jews to Israel, has died. He was 94.

Maguire died June 10, his son said.

Maguire, a Portland, Ore., native, was working for Alaska Airlines in 1948 when the company agreed to fly Jewish refugees from Yemen to the newly established Jewish state.

Ronald Winans, gospel quartet singer

DETROIT – Ronald Winans, a member of The Winans quartet, died Friday of heart complications, his family said. He was 48.

Winans and his brothers were discovered by gospel singer Andrae Crouch. They released their first album in 1981. The group was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2001.

Isabelle Lennon Miller, mom of Lennon Sisters

BRANSON, Mo. – Isabelle “Sis” Lennon Miller, mother of the Lennon Sisters who starred on Lawrence Welk’s popular TV show in the 1950s, died May 1. She was 85.

Her death from congestive heart failure was announced Tuesday by a publicist for the family.

The Lennon Sisters made their national debut with Welk in 1955.

Miller was the mother of 12, including a daughter who died previously. Three of her sons and a daughter-in-law are also entertainers in Branson, and a son-in-law and grandsons perform as a rock band.

Jaime Mendoza-Nava, ‘Mouse Club’ composer

LOS ANGELES – Jaime Mendoza-Nava, a Bolivian native who composed music for “The Mickey Mouse Club” and many movies, died May 31 of complications from diabetes. He was 79.

Mendoza-Nava died at a hospital in Woodland Hills, media reported. Born in La Paz, Bolivia, Mendoza- Nava was a child prodigy who by age 11 had composed, performed and organized a children’s orchestra.

Suzanna Flon, French theater actress

PARIS – Suzanne Flon, an award-winning French film and theater actress who worked with Orson Welles and John Huston, died Wednesday of a stomach illness, reports said. She was 87.

Flon received two Cesar awards, France’s version of the Oscars, and two Moliere awards for performance in the theater. Flon, known more for her supporting roles, appeared in “Moulin Rouge,” a drama directed by Huston in 1952, and in Welles’ 1955 thriller “Mr. Arkadin.”

Richard Eberhart, Pulitzer-winning poet

HANOVER, N.H. – Richard Eberhart, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet admired for mentoring aspiring writers, died Thursday at his home after a short illness, Dartmouth College said. He was 101.

Eberhart wrote more than a dozen books of poetry and verse. He received nearly every major book award a poet can win, including the Pulitzer, which he received in 1966 for his “Selected Poems, 1930-1965.”

Carlo Maria Giulini, symphony conductor

ROME – Carlo Maria Giulini, a conductor who considered himself a servant of the great composers, has died at age 91.

Giulini died Tuesday in northern Italy, his son said. Giulini was music director of the Los Angeles Philhar- monic, from 1978 until 1985. He also conducted at Milan’s La Scala, the Chicago Symphony and the Vienna Symphony. Giulini led the 1944 concert in Rome that celebrated the city’s liberation by Allied forces.

In 1951, Giulini took over as principal conductor at Milan’s La Scala opera house.