In Passing

Jeanette Trapani, quake survivor

San Francisco – Jeanette Scola Trapani, one of the oldest survivors of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, has died at age 107.

Dolores Legge told the San Francisco Chronicle that her mother had been suffering from pneumonia and passed away at her home in El Dorado Hills on Monday.

Trapani had clear memories of the disaster, even though she was only 4 years old at the time, Legge said.

“She vividly remembered the terrible smell of the smoke from the burning city and how she and her family had to live in a tent in the Presidio,” Legge said.

Ruth Lilly, philanthropist

Indianapolis – Ruth Lilly, a prolific philanthropist who was the last surviving great-grandchild of pharmaceutical magnate Eli Lilly, has died at age 94.

Over the course of her life, the Indianapolis native gave away much of her inheritance from the Eli Lilly & Co. fortune. Court documents showed in 2002 that Lilly had bequeathed nearly $500 million to charitable and arts-related groups.

That included an estimated $100 million to the influential literary magazine Poetry, which had rejected Lilly’s submissions for years. Lilly began writing poetry in the mid-1930s.

Deborah Howell, journalist

Washington – Former Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell, a veteran editor who helped lead two news organizations to three Pulitzer Prizes, has died. She was 68.

Howell suffered fatal injuries when she was struck by a car while vacationing in New Zealand, stepson Nick Coleman said Friday, speaking by phone from Minnesota.