The following is a list of notable deaths in May 2008.
Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence: Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.
May 2008
1 Aden Ayro, Somalian politician and Al-Shabaab member, airstrike.http://www.france24.com/en/20080501-eight-killed-air-strike-somalia-islamists-residents Paulo Amaral, 84, Brazilian football player (Flamengo) and coach (Juventus). SM Nasimuddin SM Amin, 54, Malaysian entrepreneur and founder of Naza, lung cancer. Bernard Archard, 91, British actor (Krull, Doctor Who, Emmerdale). Buzzie Bavasi, 93, American baseball executive (Dodgers, Angels, Padres). Mary Berry, 90, British musicologist and nun. Philipp von Boeselager, 90, German World War II anti-Hitler conspirator. Nirmala Deshpande, 78, Indian peace activist, after brief illness. Elaine Dundy, 86, American writer and actress. Jim Hager, 61, American country music singer and television actor (Hee Haw), heart attack. Mark Kendall, 49, British footballer (Spurs, Newport, Wolves). Sir Anthony Mamo, 99, Maltese politician, first president of the Republic of Malta. Alberto Estima de Oliveira, 74, Portuguese poet. Deborah Jeane Palfrey, 52, American escort agency proprietor, suicide by hanging. Marcel Van Der Auwera, 84, Belgian fencer. J. J. Voskuil, 81, Dutch novelist.
2 Josephine Apieu Jenaro Aken, 53, South Sudanese civil servant, plane crash. Robert Brachtenbach, 77, American jurist, Washington State Supreme Court justice (1972–1994), throat cancer. Carole Dekeijser, 48, Belgian painter, lung cancer. Dominic Dim Deng, 58, Sudanese politician, defence minister for Southern Sudan, plane crash. Bob Isaac, 80, American politician, mayor of Colorado Springs, Colorado (1979–1997), pneumonia. Sergio Lauricella, 86, Italian Olympic bronze medal-winning (1948) composer. Mildred Loving, 68, American civil rights pioneer, challenged Virginia interracial marriage law (Loving v. Virginia). Ilyas Malayev, 72, Uzbekistani musician and poet, pancreatic cancer. Beverlee McKinsey, 72, American actress (Another World, Guiding Light, Bronco Billy), complications from kidney transplant. Izold Pustõlnik, 70, Ukrainian-born Estonian astronomer. Daniel Sekhoto, 37, South African football player. Marion Simmons, 59, British judge, cancer. Mike Titcomb, 75, British rugby union referee, kidney failure. Frank Y. Whiteley Jr., 93, American thoroughbred racehorse trainer (Ruffian). Justin Yak, Sudanese politician, minister for cabinet affairs for Southern Sudan (2006–2007), plane crash.
3 Charles Caccia, 78, Canadian politician, environmentalist, Liberal MP for Davenport (1968–2004), complications of stroke. Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, 82, Spanish prime minister (1981–1982), natural causes. Eight Belles, 3, American racehorse, 2008 Kentucky Derby 2nd-place finisher, euthanized. Martin Finnegan, 28, Irish motorbike racer, race crash. Fay Gale, 75, Australian cultural geographer. Lynne Cooper Harvey, 92, American radio producer, Radio Hall of Fame member, wife of Paul Harvey, leukemia. Ted Key, 95, American cartoonist (Hazel), bladder cancer and stroke. Hanon Reznikov, 57, American playwright. Morgan Sparks, 91, American engineer, inventor of the first practical bipolar junction transistor. *Ngũgĩ wa Mirii, 57, Kenyan playwright, car accident.
4 Roger Aeschlimann, 84, Swiss cyclist. John Altieri, 38, American actor (Jersey Boys), pneumonia. Fred Baur, 89, American chemist, inventor of the Pringles can. Alvin Colt, 92, American Tony Award-winning costume designer (On the Town, Guys and Dolls, Pipe Dream, Li'l Abner). John Greenwood, 57, British businessman and catering executive, motor neurone disease. Fred Haines, 72, American screenwriter and film director, lung cancer. Richard Holme, Baron Holme of Cheltenham, 71, British Liberal Democrat politician, cancer. Kishan Maharaj, 84, Indian musician, leading exponent of the Benares gharana tabla, stroke. Colin Murdoch, 79, New Zealand inventor of the disposable hypodermic syringe and the tranquilizer gun, cancer.
5 Sam Aubrey, 85, American basketball player and coach (Oklahoma State Cowboys). Thomas Boggs, 63, American drummer (Box Tops), owner of Huey's Restaurants. Hugh Bradner, 92, American scientist credited with inventing the wetsuit, complications of pneumonia. *Pak Kyongni, 82, South Korean novelist, lung cancer. Irv Robbins, 90, American businessman, co-founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain. Zvonko Sabolović, 84, Yugoslav Olympic sprinter. Alma Hogan Snell, 85, American Crow tribal nation historian, herbalist, granddaughter of Pretty Shield. Jerry Wallace, 79, American country music singer, heart failure. Witold Woyda, 68, Polish fencer, double gold medallist at the 1972 Summer Olympics, lung cancer.
6 John Jay Iselin, 74, American public television innovator, descendant of John Jay, pneumonia. Franz Jackson, 95, American saxophonist. Harvey Karman, 84, American psychologist and women's reproductive health advocate, inventor of the Karman cannula, stroke. William Earl Lynd, 53, American convicted murderer, executed by lethal injection. Ray Michie, Baroness Michie of Gallanach, 74, British Liberal Democrat politician, cancer. D.C. Minner, 73, American blues musician. John Reames, 65, British football manager and administrator, cancer. Mark Saunders, 32, British barrister, shot by police.
7 William Douglas Allen, 94, British physicist and electrical engineer. John Earle, 64, Irish saxophonist. Neeraj Grover, 26, Indian television executive and producer (Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?), beaten. Rachel Hoffman, 23, American police informant, murdered. Clifford L. Jones, 80, American politician, Pennsylvania Republican Party chairman, prostate cancer. Donald Montrose, 84, American Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Stockton (1986–1999). Thijs Wöltgens, 64, Dutch politician, mayor of Kerkrade (1994–2000), senator (1995–2005). Gernot Zippe, 90, Austrian engineer.
8 Al Bandari bint Abdulaziz Al Saud, 80, Saudi sister of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Eddy Arnold, 89, American country music singer. Willem Brakman, 85, Dutch author. Ian Brodie, 72, British foreign correspondent (The Daily Telegraph). Jose Feria, 91, Filipino supreme court justice (1986–1987). Yasuharu Furuta, 93, Japanese Olympic hurdler. Murray Jarvik, 84, American academic and co-inventor of the nicotine patch, heart failure. Larry Levine, 80, American Grammy-winning audio engineer (Wall of Sound), emphysema. Luigi Malerba, 81, Italian writer. *Édgar Eusebio Millán Gómez, 41, Mexican federal police anti-drug coordinator, shot. François Sterchele, 26, Belgian footballer (Belgium, Club Brugge), car accident.
9 James Atkinson, 92, British physicist. Firoz Dastur, 89, Indian Hindustani classical musician (Kirana Gharana), anaemia. Jack Gibson, 79, Australian rugby league player and coach, selected as "Coach of the Century". Judy Grable, 72, American female professional wrestler. Shmuel Katz, 93, Israeli writer, historian and journalist. Arthur Kroeger, 76, Canadian civil servant (1958–1992), academic and chancellor of Carleton University (1993–2002). Baptiste Manzini, 87, American football player. Nuala O'Faolain, 68, Irish journalist and author, lung cancer. Mamadou N'Diaye, 68, Senegalese Olympic sprinter. Ronald Parise, 56, American astronaut, brain tumor. Esteban Robles Espinosa, Mexican police commander, shot. Pascal Sevran, 62, French television presenter and producer, lyricist and writer, lung cancer. Sinan Sofuoğlu, 25, Turkish motorcycle racer, training crash. Artur da Távola, 72, Brazilian journalist, writer and politician, heart disease.
10 Sir John Barraclough, 90, British air marshal. Leyla Gencer, 79, Turkish soprano opera singer, respiratory and cardiac failure. Paul Haeberlin, 84, French chef and restaurateur (L'Auberge de l'Ill). Jessica Jacobs, 17, Australian singer and actress (The Saddle Club), fell under train. Jimmy Mizen, 16, English schoolboy. *Liao Feng-teh, 57, Taiwanese incoming interior minister, heart attack. Eusebio Ríos, 73, Spanish international footballer and coach. Mario Schiano, 74, Italian jazz saxophonist, after long Illness. Peter Thurnham, 69, British MP for Bolton North East (1983–1997), pancreatic cancer.
11 Sir Austin Bide, 92, British chemist and industrialist. Markus Casey, 51, Irish archaeologist, plane crash. Sam Dauya, 70, Zimbabwean founder of Dynamos F.C. football team. Alema Leota, 80, American alleged organized crime leader, 1978 candidate for governor of Hawaii, injuries from car accident. Raymattja Marika, 49, Australian Yolngu scholar, linguist, educator and cultural advocate, heart attack. Bruno Neves, 26, Portuguese cyclist, crash during race. Dottie Rambo, 74, American gospel singer, bus crash. John Rutsey, 55, Canadian drummer (Rush), heart attack. Heather Stohler, 29, American model for Calvin Klein, fire. Dick Sutcliffe, 90, American animator, creator of Davey and Goliath, stroke. Jeff Torrington, 72, British novelist (Swing Hammer Swing), Parkinson's disease. Curtis Whitley, 39, American football player (San Diego Chargers, Carolina Panthers, Oakland Raiders).
12 Seton Airlie, 88, Scottish footballer. Penny Banner, 73, American professional wrestler, cancer. David Daniels, 74, American poet. Oakley Hall, 87, American novelist (Warlock), kidney disease and cancer. Robert Hundar, 73, Italian actor (The Seven from Texas, Sabata, Everything Happens to Me). Lidiya Masterkova, 81, Russian-born French painter. Natural Blitz, 7–8, Australian-bred stallion. Robert Rauschenberg, 82, American pop artist (Erased de Kooning Drawing), heart failure. Bruce Sayers, 80, British electrical engineer. Irena Sendler, 98, Polish humanitarian, saved 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.
13 Jill Adams, 77, British actress, cancer. Saad Al-Salim Al-Sabah, 78, Kuwaiti emir (2006). Dolores Alexander, 76, American feminist, writer, and reporter. Charles Gary Allison, 69–70, American screenwriter and film producer. Lucius D. Battle, 89, American ambassador to Egypt (1964–1967), Parkinson's disease. Bernardin Gantin, 86, Beninese cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. John Phillip Law, 70, American actor (Barbarella). Larry McKeon, 63, American politician, first openly gay member of the Illinois General Assembly, stroke. Colea Răutu, 95, Romanian actor, cirrhosis. Ron Stone, 72, American news anchor (KHOU, KPRC in Houston), prostate cancer. Costică Toma, 80, Romanian football goalkeeper (Romania, Steaua București). Maheswary Velautham, Sri Lankan lawyer and activist, shot. Roger Harold Metford Warner, 95, British antiques dealer.
14 Frith Banbury, 96, British stage director and actor, liver cancer. Dagmar Barnouw, 72, German cultural historian. Arthur Burks, 92, American mathematician and computer pioneer, Alzheimer's disease. Warren Cowan, 87, American publicist, cancer. Roger Ellis, 70, American football player, cancer. John Forbes-Robertson, 80, British actor. Derek Goodwin, 88, British ornithologist. Roy Heath, 81, Guyanese writer. Jay Morago, 90, American governor of the Gila River Indian Community (1954–1960), cancer. Tonderai Ndira, 33, Zimbabwean political dissident, murdered. Yuri Rytkheu, 78, Russian Chukchi language writer. Mário Schoemberger, 56, Brazilian film, television and stage actor, cancer. Richard David Vine, 82, American diplomat, ambassador to Switzerland (1979–1981).
15 Del Ankers, 91, American cinematographer and photographer (Muppets commercials). Henry Austin, 88, Indian diplomat and politician, ambassador to Portugal. Tommy Burns, 51, Scottish football player and manager (Celtic, Kilmarnock, Reading), melanoma. Tove Billington Bye, 79, Norwegian politician. Alexander Courage, 88, American television composer (Star Trek, The Waltons) and orchestrator (Jurassic Park).