This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Five noted musicians, four professional basketball players, three Mormon apostles, two governors and one convicted murderer are among the well-known Utahns, or people with Utah connections, who died this year.
The state lost a variety of other people who, in their own way, worked to make Utah a better place. Here is a list, in alphabetical order. Click on the links to learn more about each person. Click on the photo gallery for a slide show.
Bryce Astle • The 19-year-old Brighton High School graduate was training for a spot on the U.S. Olympic ski team. Astle and another hopeful, 20-year-old Ronnie Berlack of Franconia, N.H., died Jan. 5 in an avalanche in the Austrian Alps.
Fred Ball • So much a champion of Salt Lake City that he was often called "Mr. Utah," Ball used his position on the Salt Lake Chamber to pave the way for the coming of the Utah Jazz, the 2002 Winter Olympics and improve the city's airport. Ball died Aug. 25 at age 82.
Norm Bangerter • Utah's 13th governor guided the state through a sinking economy while successfully pushing a tax increase for education. Bangerter, who served from 1985 through 1993, died April 14 after suffering a stroke. Bangerter was 83.
Susan Barrell • Barrell worked at Ballet West for 15 years and was its executive director from 1991 to 1998. Barrell died Aug. 11. She was 67.
Dick Bass • The co-founder of Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort died July 26 in Texas of pulmonary fibrosis. Bass was 85.
Anna Campbell Bliss • An architect and artist whose works, combining color and movement, graced the state Capitol, Salt Lake City International Airport and the University of Utah. Bliss died Oct. 12 at her home in Salt Lake City. Bliss was 90.
Luther Burden • One of the University of Utah's all-time leading scorers on the basketball court, "Ticky," as he was known, went on to play in the NBA and ABA. Burden died Oct. 29 in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was 62.
Clayton Butler • An outdoor adventurer, Butler died Jan. 15 from a fall while paragliding in Hawaii, less than a year after his wife, Amber Bellows, died while BASE jumping in Zion National Park. Butler was 30.
Billy Casper • The golfer won the Masters and the U.S. Open, and his 51 tour victories rank seventh in PGA Tour history. Casper died Feb. 7 at his home in Springville from a heart condition. He was 83.
Jo Ann Robinson Freed Chavré • The longtime Utah arts advocate, feminist and writer, died May 8 from lymphoma. Chavré was 83.
Kaye Coleman • The co-founder of the University of Utah's Women's Resource Center, who was an advocate for equal rights and treatment for women, died July 3 in Salt Lake City. Coleman was 83.
Camille Cook • Cook was a soprano who sang with the Utah Opera and other troupes. She also defended her husband, former Congressman Merrill Cook, from political attacks. Cook died Jan. 15 of complications from Alzheimer's disease. She was 68.
Kiko Cornejo • A fixture in Utah's Latino immigrant community through radio and television programs and work for police forces where he advocated following the law, Cornejo died Dec. 25 at his home in Woods Cross of complications from throat cancer. He was 63.
Deedee Corradini • The first woman to be mayor of Salt Lake City, a post she held from 1992 to 2000, died March 1 from lung cancer. Corradini was 70.
John Preston Creer • A former Salt Lake County commissioner who unsuccessfully pursued the Democratic nomination for governor in 1976, died Jan. 30 in Salt Lake City. Creer was 81.
Emmett Davis • Nicknamed "Cyclone" for a spiral maneuver he invented in a fighter plane, Davis was one of the first U.S. pilots in the air during the Pearl Harbor attack and remained in the air through the Korean War. Davis died Nov. 3 at Intermountain Medical Center. He was 96.
Arlette Day • For 53 years, Day oversaw Day Murray Music. She also was involved in Murray's chamber of commerce, arts council and lobbied for senior centers and other civic improvements in Murray. Day died from cancer Feb. 17. She was 98.
Louise Degn • Degn was the only woman in Utah working on camera when she began as a reporter at KSL in 1969. She went on to an award-winning journalism career. Degn died May 8 from bone cancer. She was 68.
Steven Diamond • After 39 years as a Salt Lake City police officer, "Duffy," as he was called, became the department's historian and worked to erect memorials to city police officers killed in the line of duty. Diamond died Oct. 25 after suffering from a variety of ailments. He was 74.
Tom Dublinski • The first University of Utah quarterback drafted into the NFL, Dublinski played on the Detroit Lions championship teams in 1952 and 1953. Dublinski died from cancer on Nov. 26. He was 85.
Stein Eriksen • After winning gold and silver slalom medals for Norway in the 1952 Winter Olympics, Eriksen immigrated to the United States and became the patriarch of Utah skiing. Eriksen died Dec. 27 at his home in Park City. He was 88.
Naomi Farr • An internationally-renowned soprano who was a vocal teacher in Utah, Farr died April 4 at her home in Sandy. She was 96.
Gene and Jay Fullmer • Like their older brother Don, who died in 2012, Gene and Jay Fullmer were boxers and boxing trainers. Gene Fullmer won the middleweight championship in 1957 and 1959. Jay Fullmer was a fighter, too, who went on to train, referee and run the Fullmer Brothers Boxing gym in South Jordan. Jay Fullmer died April 22 from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He was 78. Gene Fullmer died April 28 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease and a bacterial infection. He was 83.
Harry Gibbons • A physician who was Salt Lake County's health director for 22 years and pushed for a countywide ordinance to ban smoking in public buildings, Gibbons died Nov. 3. He was 85.
Ed Gryska • Gryska founded Salt Lake Acting Company and gave approval for the original "Saturday's Voyeur." Gryska died from a heart attack Jan. 15 in Chicago. He was 72.
Don Hague • As a curator and first paid employee of the Utah Museum of Natural History, Hague spent half a century helping the museum grow its collections and its standing among naturalists. Hague died Nov. 11 at age 88.
Francis John Hart • A Brit who performed in the Royal Ballet, Hart was artistic director of Ballet West from 1986-1997 and helped brand it as the dance company of the American West. Hart died Feb. 8 in Salt Lake City. He was 93.
Dee Holladay • A river guide who was the patriarch of Holiday River Expeditions and a co-founder and member of the River Runners Hall of Fame, Holladay died June 21. He was 78.
Randy Horiuchi • The longtime Salt Lake County councilman and Democratic activist died Nov. 19 of complications from a stroke he suffered in 2012. Horiuchi was 61.
Tommy Hudspeth • Hudspeth coached BYU's football team from 1964 through 1971 and recruited the team's first black player. He also coached in Canada and the NFL. Hudspeth died June 23 in Oklahoma of complications from cancer. He was 83.
Bo Huff • From his East Carbon workshop, Huff was internationally known custom car designer. Huff died Aug. 4 of cancer. He was 72.
Rod Hundley • "Hot Rod" Hundley had successful college and pro basketball careers before becoming the radio voice of the New Orleans and then Utah Jazz, spending 35 seasons with the franchise. Hundley died March 27 in Phoenix after suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He was 80.
Sam Jackenthal • The freestyle skier from Park City suffered a severe head injury Sept. 8 in a crash at Perisher Ski Resort in Australia, where he was training. Jackenthal died Oct. 1. He was 16.
Tim Kelly • For 31 years as a Tribune photographer, Kelly captured the West through a lens, including photographs of the 1983 Salt Lake City floods and the Teton Dam disaster. Kelly died Jan. 6 of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 68.
Terence Kern • Kern was Ballet West's music director and principal conductor from 1988 to 2012. Kern died May 1. Kern was 77.
Marion Kesler • A cook's helper who assisted in the defense of the USS Hulbert when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Kesler died April 10 at his home in Taylorsville. Kesler was 95.
Richard Kramer • The longtime golf pro at Bonneville Golf Course, and for whom Salt Lake City's amateur tournament is named, died Oct. 9. Kramer was 96.
Grey Larkin • The mayor of St. George from 1978 to 1982 and a business owner who worked to improve transportation in southwestern Utah, Larkin died in a car accident on March 18. Larkin was 77.
Peter Lassig • As lead gardener at Temple Square for three decades, Lassig was responsible for the square's 165,000 plants and the floral arrangements they comprised. Lassig died Oct. 25 at age 77.
Becky Lockhart • The first woman speaker of the Utah House of Representatives died Jan. 17 at her Provo home from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Lockhart was 46.
Jan Leonard • An engineer who moved skiers by contributing to the design of more than 250 chairlifts and gondolas, Leonard died Aug. 26 after surgery to replace a heart valve. Leonard was 69.
Bill Loya • The owner of Salt Lake City clothing stores that brought New York City fashion to Utah, Loya died of cancer Sept. 1. He was 69.
Moses Malone • Before his legendary NBA career, Malone skipped college to play in 1974 with the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association. Malone died Sept. 13 in Norfolk, Va. He was 60.
Geno Morgan • The boys basketball coach at Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, where his teams won three state titles, died July 2 in Chicago. Morgan was 49.
Elly Muth • For decades, Muth was a volunteer working in Republican campaigns, political-action committees and in the state party organization, as well as on a number of civic and charitable organizations. Muth died Aug. 22 of complications from cancer. She was 78.
Ray Nagel • After a playing career in professional football, Nagel was the University of Utah's coach from 1958 to 1965 and led the Utes to a signature win in the 1964 Liberty Bowl. Nagel died Jan. 15 in San Antonio at age 87.
Flora Ogan • A longtime editor and editorial writer at the Standard-Examiner in Ogden, Ogan died Jan. 16 in Roy. She was 86.
Boyd K. Packer • An apostle for 45 years who became synonymous with conservative Mormonism, Packer died July 3 at his home in Salt Lake City. He was 90.
L. Tom Perry • A Mormon apostle for 41 years, Perry was the oldest apostle when he died May 30 at age 92 from thyroid cancer.
Peter Prier • Prier opened the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City in 1972. His instruments were played by musicians all over the world. Prier died June 14 of complications of Guillain-Barré syndrome. He was 73.
Anton Jesse Rasmussen • The art teacher known for his large mural of Delicate Arch hanging at Salt Lake City International Airport died Feb. 6 of complications from cancer treatments. Rasmussen was 72.
Richard Richards • The big player in Utah politics was among the first to endorse Ronald Reagan for president — a move that helped him rise to chairman of the National Republican Committee in 1981 and 1982. Richards died Jan. 30 at age 82.
Robin Riggs • The former adviser to Gov. Mike Leavitt went on to help craft the Utah Compact — a statement of principles that have been incorporated into Utah's policies toward immigrants. Riggs died Oct. 27 from heart failure while recovering from back surgery. He was 62.
Richard G. Scott • A nuclear engineer who served as a Mormon apostle for his last 27 years, Scott died Sept. 22. He was 86.
Joel B. Shapiro • The owner of Shapiro Luggage & Gifts and a figure in Utah's Jewish community died Feb. 6. Shapiro was 92.
Joseph Silverstein • A revered violinist who was the music director of the Utah Symphony for 15 years, Silverstein died Nov. 21 in Springfield, Mass., from a heart attack. He was 83.
Trevor Southey • A painter who celebrated the human form, Southey was perhaps the first major Mormon figure to come out as gay. Southey died Oct. 20 in a hospice in Salt Lake City. He was 75.
Karla Staheli • A guardian ad litem who became a juvenile court judge in southwest Utah, Staheli died Aug. 14 in St. George from causes associated with early-onset and accelerated dementia. She was 61.
Walter Steed • For 25 years, Steed was the justice court judge in Hildale. He also had three wives, and in 2006 the Utah Supreme Court forced him to resign. Steed likely died Aug. 22 — his 70th birthday — when he drove a semi truck off a cliff near Hurricane. The wreck and his remains were discovered five days later.
Susan Tixier • A former lawyer and executive at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the founder of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Tixier died Oct. 8. She was 73.
Jackson Vroman • After playing high school and college basketball in Utah, Vroman played two seasons in the NBA and then had a career in foreign leagues. Vroman accidentally drowned June 29 in a pool at his Los Angeles-area home. He was 34.
Olene Walker • Walker was Utah's only woman governor, taking office in 2003 and serving 14 months to finish the term of Mike Leavitt. Walker died Nov. 28 at age 85.
John Weis • The University of Utah pathology professor was an advocate for the outdoors and volunteered with Reel Recovery, which helps cancer patients fly fish. Weis died Dec. 11 from glioblastoma. He was 60.
Bob Wells • As a vice president at Deer Valley, a former city councilman, president of the town's chamber of commerce and in other roles, Wells helped make Park City a premier ski town. Wells died March 22 from cancer. He was 72.
David Wilde • A Republican attorney who was first elected to the Salt Lake County Council in 2000 and was re-elected twice, Wilde died Sept. 11 of cancer. He was 59.
Eugene Woodland • Known as "Captain Nemo," Woodland was convicted of a 1990 murder, but questions regarding his sanity spurred the Legislature to change how such defendants are prosecuted in Utah. Woodland died Jan. 8 at a care center in South Ogden. He was 85.
Roland Wright • A World War II pilot who dubbed his P-51 the "Mormon Mustang," Wright went on to be a brigadier general in the Utah Air National Guard and the namesake of its Salt Lake City base. Wright died Oct. 19 in Salt Lake City. He was 96.
Lynn Yeates • Yeates was found dead Jan. 6, one day after being sworn into his third term as the Box Elder County sheriff. The cause was a heart attack. He was 68. —
Others who have died in recent years
To see a list of notable Utah deaths from 2014, go to: https://shar.es/1GNyor