CLEVELAND OBITUARIES

Northeast Ohio obits, death notices, life stories & tributes

Dr. Gilbert Louis Gross led the anesthesiology department at Deaconness Hospital. The South Euclid resident died March 8 at the Hospice of the Western Reserve at age 87. Gross was born in St. Louis and wanted to teach science. Then three years as an Army medic stateside inspired him to earn a medical degree at Harvard University and complete... Full story »

Joseph H. Santone was a Bay Village councilman and a leading auditor. Santone died Tuesday, March 9, at Towne Center in Avon Lake at age 84. He was raised in Altoona, Pa., and was about to ship to the Pacific Theater with the Marines when World War II ended. He joined the Insurance Co. of North America and was... Full story »

Charles M. Driggs led the Bratenahl school board and a law firm division. He also portrayed Professor Higgins, Chief Wahoo, President Reagan and more. Driggs died Tuesday, March 9, at home in Kirtland at age 86. The honored lawyer sang and acted with a rich baritone voice for the Geauga Lyric Theater and the Court of Nisi Prius. James... Full story »

Despite cerebral palsy, John Scott Polifko earned a black belt in karate, hang-glided off the coast of Venezuela and rappelled down six-story buildings 15 times with the ROTC. Polifko died Monday at his home in Parma Heights at age 41. The cause has not been determined yet. He said he took up some challenges to prove doubters wrong. From... Full story »

"Dave Watson is pure dynamite," The Plain Dealer gushed in 1977 about a future member of the Greater Cleveland Slo Pitch Softball Hall of Fame. At that point in the season, David Lewis Watson had more hits than outs, including nearly a home run per game. He often hit blasts out of the park. The Twinsburg resident died March... Full story »

Evert Brown Hurst helped make space flight smoother. He was a much-honored engineer at NASA Lewis Research Center and the nearby Analex Corp., reducing vibrations on missions to the moon, Saturn, Mars and more. Hurst died March 7 at Regency Hospital of Toledo at age 92. Born in Barbourville, Ky., he spent World War II in Michigan improving Sherman... Full story »

Harrison Manly Fuerst was a pioneer in asbestos litigation and country radio. Fuerst died Saturday, March 6, at Hillcrest Hospital at age 84. "He would buy underperforming stations, put in his troops and turn them around," the website of California's Modesto Radio Museum says about Fuerst. He graduated Glenville High School, the University of Michigan and Western Reserve School... Full story »

Julia "Honey" Zimmerman belonged to the Tamburitza Association of America Hall of Fame. Zimmerman also helped found and run Bearing and Transmission Supply, still in the family. She died Friday, March 5, at Akron City Hospital after four years of ovarian cancer. She was 71. "I loved her music, and I loved her," said Branka Djurin, owner of Parma's... Full story »

Coach Robert Noble McNea gave names to football plays that were easy to remember. "Sally," for one, was a zigzagging fake and reverse named for fan dancer Sally Rand. McNea, a top high school coach and a college assistant, died Saturday, March 6, at Lakewood Hospital, three days after falling at his nearby home. He was 87. Digger Dawson,... Full story »

Paul Olynyk once called himself ‘a belligerent pacifist.” But family and friends disagree. They say the pioneering protestor and environmentalist was gentle and upbeat. “He was an exceptionally optimistic person,” said Roger Binkley, a former colleague of Olynyk in the chemistry department at Cleveland State University. “He was always trying to improve things.” “I found him very patient and... Full story »

Accountant Stevan J. Habel was an award-winning leader of Ukrainian-Americans. Habel died Wednesday at Kemper House in Strongsville at age 93. He was born in Cleveland and spent about the last 38 years in Seven Hills. He also shared a farm in New London, Ohio. He served stateside in the U.S. Army during World War II and spent 44... Full story »

Rev. Harold Walter Ewing, a regional and national Methodist leader, often helped the faithful mourn. "Regard tears and grief as the normal byproduct of loving," he told The Plain Dealer in 1965. "Death does not change the reality of spiritual life and love." Ewing, former Methodist pastor in Willoughby and Bay Village, died Sunday at Copeland Oaks in Sebring,... Full story »

Despite being partly color-blind, Martin Louis Linsey was a leading artist. He exhibited and sold work widely and lectured for the Cleveland Museum of Art. Linsey died March 3 at home Los Lunas, N.M. at age 94. "He had an innate feel for what to pick out of a scene," said Jay Hoffman, a long-time artist and museum colleague.... Full story »

David R. Dugan was a leading nurseryman. Dugan died Monday at his long-time home at Judson Park after a long illness. He was 93. He was born in Cleveland but raised mostly on his family's Dugan Nurseries in Perry. He graduated Ohio State University with an agriculture degree, played varsity polo, worked for the Ohio Senate as a page... Full story »

Sherman Kempter Grinnell taught organizational behavior and helped start two organizations: Cleveland State University and a department that eventually became part of the Weatherhead School of Management. Grinnell died Jan. 28 at a niece's home in Monroe, Conn. He was 79. He was born in Olympia, Wash., and was raised in the Boston area. He earned bachelor's and master's... Full story »