Obituaries: Mormon leader, tennis Hall-of-Famer, TV syndicator, bridge builder

SALT LAKE CITY – Mormon leader L. Tom Perry, a member of the faith’s highest governing body, has died from cancer. He was 92.

Perry died Saturday surrounded by his family at his Salt Lake City home, church spokesman Eric Hawkins said in a statement.

Perry was diagnosed with cancer in late April after being hospitalized with breathing trouble. He began receiving radiation treatment and briefly returned to work as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a group modeled after Jesus Christ’s apostles that serves under the church president and his two counselors.

On May 29, church officials announced the cancer had spread aggressively, reaching Perry’s lungs.

Perry was the oldest member of the church’s top 15 leaders and was the quorum’s second-most senior member. He wrote a book in the mid-1990s titled “Living with Enthusiasm.”

Perry spoke regularly at church conferences and was one of four leaders to meet with President Barack Obama during his recent Utah trip.

Perry was born Aug. 5, 1922, in the northern Utah city of Logan. After a Mormon mission, he served in the Marine Corps and went to Japan after World War II. He earned a degree in finance from Utah State University and went on to be a vice president and treasurer in retail businesses in Idaho, California, New York and Massachusetts before being chosen for the quorum in 1974.

Perry dealt with hardship during his midlife years: His first wife, with whom he had three children, died in 1974, and their daughter died in 1983. Perry remarried in 1976.

As a church leader, Perry became known for his affability and optimism and for being unpretentious, said Matthew Bowman, a history professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He asked that people call him Tom rather than “Elder Perry,” Bowman said.

Doris Hart, tennis Hall-of-Famer

MIAMI – Tennis great Doris Hart, who won each Grand Slam tournament at least once, and once won three Wimbledon titles in a single day, has died.

Hart died Friday at home at the age of 89, the International Tennis Hall of Fame confirmed to The Associated Press, citing close personal friends of Hart’s.

Hart was known for her smarts, crisp groundstrokes and drop shot mastery. She won titles in 1954-55 at the U.S. Championships, which later became the U.S. Open.

She won the French Open twice and Wimbledon and the Australian Open once each. She also totaled 29 major doubles titles and ranked No. 1 in the world in 1951.

That year, Hart had her finest tournament at Wimbledon, when she won three titles. She defeated friend Shirley Fry in singles before they joined forces to win women’s doubles. She then teamed with Frank Sedgman to win mixed doubles.

All three matches were on the same day because of rain delays.

“That I think is unique in itself,” said 86-year-old friend Jacqueline Mulloy, who met Hart 12 years ago through husband and former tennis player Gardnar Mulloy. “I think she should be remembered as a unique and wonderful player. She had plenty of guts.”

Hart was in the world Top 10 for a decade starting in 1946. She retired in 1955 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1969.

Michael King, TV syndicator

LOS ANGELES – Michael King, half of the hard-charging brothers whose King World Productions distributed television sensations such as “Wheel of Fortune,” “Jeopardy!” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” has died.

King, 67, died Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles from complications arising from pneumonia, according to his brother-in-law, Jon Felson.

When King and his older brother Roger inherited the television syndication company from their father, who died in 1972, the business was foundering.

The company claimed one product – distribution rights to “The Little Rascals” – and Michael King, working out of the kitchen of his uncle’s New Jersey home, managed to gross $150 per week by peddling Spanky and Alfalfa to TV stations.

The company struck gold in 1983 when it paid $50,000 to Merv Griffin for the rights to “Wheel of Fortune.” The brothers traveled the country, lining up a roster of top markets to air the glitzy game show starring Vanna White and Pat Sajak, and “Wheel of Fortune” swiftly became the highest-rated syndicated program in history. Griffin awarded the pair the distribution rights to a revival of “Jeopardy,” and profits soared. King World Productions went public two years later.

The Kings’ stature only rose higher after they successfully launched a talk show in 1986 hosted by a former Baltimore news anchor: Oprah Winfrey.

Michael Gordon King was born in New Jersey on March 8, 1948, one of six children of Charles King and his wife, Lucille.

Charles King, who founded King World Productions in 1964, freely discussed transactions at the dinner table, imbuing confidence and shrewdness into his brood. “We went over every deal,” King told the Los Angeles Times in 1985. “I remember specifically telling my dad that I didn’t think some of the deals were so good at (age) 14, and he told me to go outside and rake the leaves.”

Gus Villalta, last Golden Gate Bridge worker

SAN FRANCISCO – A 98-year-old man who died Tuesday was likely the last living person who worked on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Gus Villalta died at a hospital in San Jose just one day before the 78th anniversary of the bridge’s opening, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

His son, Los Banos, California, Mayor Michael Villalta, called his father a humble man.

The Italian-born Villalta landed a job as an electrician’s assistant after graduating in the midst of the Great Depression. He was paid 75 cents an hour to pass wire to more experienced workers on the south tower.

He served in the army in World War II and then settled in Los Banos, where he became well-known.

Villalta had a ham radio station, ran Gus’ Radio and Television repair shop until he was 88 years old and stopped to talk to friends on his daily afternoon walk through town.