The following is a list of notable deaths in December 2002.
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.
December 2002
1 Abu Abraham, 78, Indian cartoonist, journalist, and author. Edward L. Beach, Jr., 84, American highly decorated United States Navy submarine officer and author (Run Silent, Run Deep). Omar Blebel, 80, Argentine Olympic wrestler (1948, 1952). Cassius Chapin Cutler, 87, American communications engineer. Carlos Delgado, 53, Ecuadorian footballer. Harry Dick, 80, Canadian ice hockey player (Chicago Black Hawks). William Geimer, 65, American lawyer, founder of the Jamestown Foundation.William Geimer Obituary Edo Marion, 92, Slovenian Olympic fencer (1936). John L. McLucas, 82, American politician and U.S. Secretary of the Air Force. Dave McNally, 60, American baseball player (Baltimore Orioles, Montreal Expos), lung cancer. José Chávez Morado, 93, Mexican artist. Boris Schapiro, 93, British international bridge player. Sára Szenteleki-Ligetkuti, 57, Hungarian Olympic middle-distance runner (1972).
2 Elizabeth B. Andrews, 91, American politician (U.S. Representative for Alabama's 3rd congressional district). Barney Berlinger, 94, American Olympic decathlon athlete (1928). Frank Bradley, 84, American baseball player. Achille Castiglioni, 84, Italian industrial designer. Aileen Fisher, 96, American children's writer (The Coffee-Pot Face, Runny Days, Sunny Days). Ivan Illich, 76, Austrian Roman Catholic priest, theologian, and social critic, brain cancer. Boris Ivanov, 82, Soviet and Russian film and theater actor. György Marx, 75, Hungarian physicist, astrophysicist, and science historian. Jim Mitchell, 56, Irish politician, cancer. Arno Peters, 86, German historian and filmmaker. Billy Reynolds, 71, American football player (Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders). Vjenceslav Richter, 85, Croatian architect. Edgar Scherick, 78, American television executive and producer. Mehmet Emin Toprak, 28, Turkish film actor, traffic collision. Ben Wade, 80, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates) and scout. Mal Waldron, 77, American jazz pianist and composer (Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane). Fay Gillis Wells, 94, American pioneer aviator.
3 Adrienne Adams, 96, American children's writer and illustrator. Hariharananda Giri, 95, Indian yogi and guru. Pierre Guillaume, 77, French Navy officer, cancer. Walt Jurkiewicz, 83, American football player (Detroit Lions). Klaus Löwitsch, 66, German actor, pancreatic cancer. Emanuel Papper, 87, American anesthesiologist.EMANUEL M. PAPPER, M.D., Ph.D. Rusty Payne, 80, American baseball player. Glenn Quinn, 32, Irish actor (Roseanne, Angel), heroin overdose. Jug Thesenga, 88, American baseball player (Washington Senators).
4 Charles Pierce Davey, 77, American welterweight boxer, complications from paralysis. Noémia de Sousa, 76, Mozambican poet. Robert Mallet, 87, French writer and academic. Hemmo Silvennoinen, 70, Finnish Olympic ski jumper (1956). Ivo Vesely, 76, Australian ice hockey player (1956). Kacie Woody, 13, American murder victim.
5 Roone Arledge, 71, American television producer and executive (Monday Night Football, Nightline), prostate cancer. Bob Berg, 51, American jazz saxophonist, traffic collision. Prosper Boulanger, 84, Canadian politician and a member of Parliament (House of Commons representing Mercier, Quebec). Geoff Coombes, 83, American soccer player. George Karstens, 78, American football player (Detroit Lions). Ne Win, 91, Burmese politician and dictator. Arvell Shaw, 79, American jazz double-bassist. Einar Skinnarland, 84, Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II. Ann Welch, 85, British glider pilot (gliding, hang gliding, paragliding, microlight flying).
6 Jerzy Adamski, 65, Polish featherweight boxer and Olympian (1960). Clarence Beers, 83, American baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals). Philip Berrigan, 79, American priest and political activist, kidney cancer. Antonino Caponnetto, 82, Italian Antimafia magistrate. William Henry Gleysteen, 76, American diplomat and ambassador, leukemia. Keld Karise, 85, Danish Olympic rower (1936). Gerhard Löwenthal, 79, German journalist, human rights activist and author. Kevin McLaverty, 66, Irish Olympic sailor (1972). Ortunho, 67, Brazilian footballer.
7 R. Orin Cornett, 89, American physicist, university professor and inventor of Cued Speech. John R. Dellenback, 84, American politician (U.S. Representative for Oregon's 4th congressional district), viral pneumonia. Gunnar Helén, 84, Swedish liberal politician. Barbara Howard, 76, Canadian painter, wood engraver, and bookbinder, pulmonary embolism. Ján Jendek, 71, Slovak ice hockey player and Olympian (1956). Cal Lepore, 83, American gridiron football referee. Ray Monaco, 84, American football player (Washington Redskins, Cleveland Rams). Paddy Tunney, 81, Irish traditional artist.
8 Giorgio Favaro, 58, Italian cyclist. Bobby Joe Hill, 59, American basketball player, heart attack. Melvin Lax, 80, American physics professor, cancer. Anil Moonesinghe, 75, Sri Lankan revolutionary politician and trade unionist. Eric Prentice, 76, Canadian ice hockey player (Toronto Maple Leafs). Charles Rosen, 85, American computer scientist. Dorothy Walker, 73, Irish art critic and historian.
9 Alister Atkinson, 77, New Zealans rugby footballer. Shigeru Chiba, 83, Japanese baseball player and manager. Joly Garbi, 90, Greek actress. Mary Hansen, 36, Australian guitarist and singer, traffic collision. Ian Hornak, 58, American draughtsman, painter and printmaker, aortic aneurysm. To Huu, 82, Vietnamese poet and politician. Johnny Lazor, 90, American baseball player (Boston Red Sox). Stan Rice, 60, American painter, educator, poet, husband of author Anne Rice, cancer. Theodore Shackley, 75, American CIA officer known as "the Blond Ghost", cancer.
10 Les Costello, 74, Canadian ice hockey player (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Catholic priest.Les Costello, Sports-Reference / Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-04-03. Kurt Heintel, 78, Austrian film and television actor. Earl Henry, 85, American baseball player (Cleveland Indians). Átila Iório, 81, Brazilian actor, pulmonary emphysema. Mike Kosman, 85, American basketball player (Cincinnati Reds). Andres Küng, 57, Swedish journalist, writer, and politician. Steve Llewellyn, 78, Welsh rugby player. Ian MacNaughton, 76, Scottish director of most episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Hady Pfeiffer, 96, Austrian Olympic alpine skier (1936). Julie Schmitt, 89, German gymnast and Olympic champion (1936). Homer Spragins, 82, American baseball player (Philadelphia Phillies). Peter Tanner, 88, British film editor.
11 Domocao Alonto, 88, Filipino lawyer, author, and Islamic figure. Luis Ciges, 81, Spanish film actor, heart attack. Dolly Dawn, 86, American big band vocalist and recording star of the 1930s and 1940s. Muzaffer Demirhan, 70, Turkish Olympic alpine skier (1948, 1956, 1960, 1964). Bob Loane, 88, American baseball player (Washington Senators, Boston Bees). Arthur Metcalfe, 64, British racing cyclist, cancer. Nanabhoy Palkhivala, 82, Indian jurist, economist and civil rights leader. Marvin Breckinridge Patterson, 97, American photojournalist, cinematographer, and philanthropist. Zbigniew Radziwonowicz, 72, Polish Olympic javelin thrower (1952, 1960). Kay Rose, 80, American Oscar-winning sound editor, organ dysfunction. Lou Stein, 80, American jazz pianist.
12 Mykola Amosov, 89, Soviet/Ukrainian heart surgeon and inventor. Dee Brown, 94, American author and historian (Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee), heart failure. Nancy Caroline, 58, American EMS physician and writer (Emergency Care in the Streets), multiple myeloma. Brad Dexter, 85, American actor and film producer (Run Silent Run Deep, The Magnificent Seven, None but the Brave), pulmonary emphysema. Edward Harrison, 92, English cricketer.EDDIE HARRISON Kazuo Kasahara, 75, Japanese screenwriter. Víctor Latou, 89, Uruguayan Olympic basketball player (1936). Jabir Novruz, 69, Azerbaijani artist and poet. Orlando Villas-Bôas, 88, Brazilian explorer and anthropologist.
13 Carlos Agostí, 80, Spanish-Mexican film actor. Ronald Barnes, 61, Brazilian tennis player, cancer. Maria Björnson, 53, French theatre designer, two-time Tony Award winner for The Phantom of the Opera (Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design). Stella Brooks, 92, American jazz singer of the 1940s. Ronald Butt, 82, British journalist, political columnist and writer. Ksenia Kepping, 65, Russian linguist and tangutologist. Anthony Ler, 35, Singaporean graphic designer and convicted murderer, execution by hanging. Shirley O'Hara, 78, American actress, diabetes. Zal Yanovsky, 57, Canadian folk rock musician, lead guitarist and singer for The Lovin' Spoonful, heart attack. Lucien Zins, 80, French Olympic swimmer (1948, 1952).
14 Hank Arft, 80, American baseball player (St. Louis Browns). Ib Bengtsson, 75, Danish footballer. Jack Bradley, 86, English football player. Sidney Glazier, 86, American film producer. Ken Higgs, 72, Canadian football player. Ruth Kobart, 78, American performer, pancreatic cancer. Salman Raduyev, 35, Chechen separatist field commander, internal bleeding. Enrique Tarigo, 75, Uruguayan jurist and political figure, lung cancer. Frank Warren, 43, American gridiron football player (New Orleans Saints), heart attack. Ray Wietecha, 74, American gridiron football player (Michigan State, New York Giants) and coach.
15 T. Abdul Rahman, 68, Indian footballer and Olympian (1956). John Crosby, 76, American conductor, founded the Santa Fe Opera. Charles E. Fraser, 73, American real estate developer, transformed Hilton Head Island into a world-class resort. Vladimir Haensel, 88, American chemical engineer. Jan Mikołajczak, 95, Polish rower and Olympic medalist (1932). Dick Stuart, 70, American baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies), cancer.
16 Manuel E. Buadas, 77, Uruguayan air force general, Commander-in-Chief of the Uruguayan Air Force (1982–1985).Noticias Bill Hunter, 82, Canadian ice hockey player, general manager and coach, cancer. Rolston James, 26, Trinidadian footballer. Richard Johnson Putnam, 89, American district judge (United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana). Licínio Rangel, 66, Brazilian Roman Catholic bishop. Nighat Sultana, 67, Pakistani actress. Don Vesco, 63, American businessperson and motorcycle racer, prostate cancer.
17 Luis Castro, 81, Uruguayan footballer. Colin Clark, 70, British film director and writer (My Week with Marilyn). Muhammad Hamidullah, 94, Indian Hadith scholar and academic author. Aideu Handique, 87, Indian actress. James Hazeldine, 55, English actor and director, aortic dissection. Frederick Knott, 86, English playwright and screenwriter (Dial M for Murder). Hank Luisetti, 86, American basketball player and innovator. Aleksei Pogorelov, 83, Soviet mathematician. Paul Ramelet, 93, Swiss Olympic sailor (1964). Boris Tokarev, 75, Soviet sprinter and Olympic silver medalist (1952, 1956).
18 Saul Amarel, 74, American computer scientist and artificial intelligence pioneer. Earl Audet, 81, American professional football player (USC, Washington Redskins, Los Angeles Dons) and actor. Mahmoud Fayad, 77, Egyptian Olympic weightlifter (1948). Henry Gibson, 60, American percussionist. Lucy Grealy, 39, Irish-American poet and memoirist, drug overdose. Necip Hablemitoğlu, 48, Turkish historian and intellectual, shot. Ray Hnatyshyn, 68, Canadian politician and Governor General of Canada, pancreatitis. Bert Millichip, 88, British football player and administrator. Edward Norris, 91, American film actor.