The Memorial Wall

Following a 16-year roller-coaster journey through various bouts of cancer and Parkinson's disease, Christopher Miller, 69yo, died on April 19, 2024 with his husband William "Bill" Stanley at his side. We are bereft at the loss of this wonderful man.

Christopher was born In Kalamazoo, MI where he maintained lifelong friendships, but made Louisville his home. He was a talented, intelligent, creative soul whose love for art and nature was instilled by his parents at a young age. At 17, he got his first job working with people with disabilities. He would continue to be inspired by the disability community and support their causes throughout his life. When in his late 30s, he adopted an eight-year-old boy, being one of the first single men in Kentucky to do so. His son Gary would give him a beautiful granddaughter, Amaree, who was the light of his life.

While Christopher spent much of his career as a successful fundraiser for nonprofits with a focus on the arts and humanities, he will be remembered by his friends and family as a gifted watercolor artist, poet, and pianist; a magnificent cook; and a consummate host who opened his home to all. He enjoyed spending time with Bill on beautiful Lake Michigan and traveling internationally. He fell in love with Portugal while working on an archeological dig there and returned often, making new friends each time. He was also a tornado magnet, narrowly escaping three.

Ever thoughtful, Christopher loved hosting gatherings where good food, wine, conversation, and laughter were shared in abundance. His eclectic mix of friends and family remember fondly his Thanksgiving and Christmas parties, which often included his piano rendition of “Diamonds and Rust.” He made us laugh, knew how to wear a good hat, and beat us mercilessly at Spelling Bee. He will be missed fiercely and always for his wit, generosity, integrity, and deep friendship. We will continue to feel his soul, hear his laughter, and walk in many memories that will sustain us.

In addition to his husband Bill, Christopher is survived by his grandchildren Amaree Skye Miller and Brayden Speed; sisters Pamela Pardue Stevens and Nancy MacKenzie; niece and nephews Ray Pardue, Chamisa MacKenzie, Dave Jurgens, and Gerry MacKenzie; and great nephew, David MacKenzie, as well as by his many friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Clark and Jan Miller, and his son, Gary Miller.

Jimmy James, whose ballad Come To Me Softly won him fans in Jamaica and the United Kingdom, died in London yesterday at age 84.

His family told the Jamaica Observer that James passed away at Northwick Park Hospital. They said James had Parkinson’s disease and a heart condition which caused him to retire from performing.

Born in Brown’s Town, St Ann, James moved to Kingston in the late 1950s and got involved in music, recording songs for producers including Lindon Pottinger (husband of Sonia) and Clement Dodd.

Pottinger produced the original version of Come To Me Softly, a soul ballad that remained James’ signature song. He was lead singer of The Vagabonds, a band led by bassist Colston Chen and included Phil Chen (later Rod Stewart’s bass player), Colston’s cousin.

James and the band moved to the UK in 1964 at the height of The British Invasion, led by bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Later that decade, as he and The Vagabonds established themselves, they performed on a number of shows with a young American guitarist named Jimi Hendrix.

In the 1970s, James had two solid pop hits with I’ll Go Where Your Music Takes Me (covered with great success by Tina Charles) and Now is The Time.

In 2010, Jimmy James was honoured by Tribute To The Greats, an organisation operated by Kingsley Goodison, for his contribution to Jamaican music.

He is survived by his wife Paula, five sons, two daughters, grandchildren, two sisters, nieces and nephews.

Former Walsall boss Frank Sibley has died at the age of 76.

Sibley, who began his career as a player with Queens Park Rangers, went on to manage the Rs for a season.

After leaving Loftus Road he had a brief stint a manager at the Saddlers.

He later returned to QPR as caretaker manager and as part of the coaching staff under Gerry Francis in the 1990s.

Sibley was diagnosed with Parkinson's back in 2004 - and QPR confirmed his death with a statement on their website on Monday morning.

Actor Kanakalatha, known for playing supporting characters in films and television serials, passed away here on Monday. She was 63. The actor had been suffering from dementia and Parkinson’s disease over the past couple of years. Born in Oachira in Kollam district, her acting career, spanning over 300 films in Malayalam and Tamil and several popular television serials, began in her younger days with drama performances. With a childhood marked by poverty, the stage was one of the sources of income for her family.

Filmmaker P.A. Backer, who watched one of her performances, cast her in the lead role in his film Unarthupaattu. Though the film unfortunately did not get a theatrical release, filmmaker Lenin Rajendran, who was one of its producers, cast her in his film Chillu (1982), which became Kanakalatha’s debut film.

Though she got more roles in films, she continued to perform on stage too with various troupes, including the Kalidasa Kalakendram.

When Doordarshan began telecasting television serials in the 1980s, she was one of the earliest to make the shift to television with a lead role in Oru Poo Viriyunnu. Soon, Kanakalatha became a familiar face in these thirteen episode-serials, at a time when these were the staple diet in almost every other household in Kerala in the pre-cable television era.

She later became a part of several popular mega serials in the private television channels that mushroomed in the 1990s.

In films, she continued to do supporting character roles, most often as the sister or mother of the principal characters. Some of her notable films include Kireedam, Kauravar, Harikrishnans, Bandhukkal Sathrukkal, Chenkol, Spadikam, Aadyathe Kanmani and Oru Yathramozhi.

Though she acted in a few films in the 2010s, she slowly faded out of cinema and television in recent years due to illnesses. Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian condoled her passing.

Dave Hewitt founded the White Rose Armoury around 34 years ago, working at the Clocktower in Hollingwood up until June 2023. He played bass in numerous bands including Traitors Gate, Wytchfynde and Stormwatch.

His son Ben commented on social media: “He was my absolute HERO!! He had so much time for us all and inspired so many people both through his amazing skill of his work and his music. He was loved so much.”

Dave, who lived in Newbold, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s four years ago. He was admitted to Chesterfield Royal Hospital on Thursday, May 2 with pneumonia and suffered respiratory arrest. From his hospital bed and with his wife Bec cuddling him, Dave watched a livestream of his son’s band Nothings Forgotten play a gig in aid of Parkinson’s on Friday at Real Time Live.

His last word to Bec was that he loved her ‘immeasurably’. Dave died on Monday – the day before his 68th birthday.

Bec said: “He was my soul mate. He loved his son Ben very, very much, and his stepson Jake and his two grandchildren, Sophie and Ava Mae.”Dave was a true gentleman and an absolute pleasure to be around. Generous and a highly skilled and intelligent man.

“I’m so proud of the things he did. He was a workaholic who loved doing his hobby as his job – it was his passion. He was Leeds Armoury’s main armourer and spent every Easter there for the yearly joust mending and helping the knights with their armour. He has a suit of armour in the Agincourt museum, he was especially proud of that.”

Royal Armouries in Leeds posted on X: “It's with great sadness that we learnt of the passing of Master Armourer to the Royal Armouries, Dave Hewitt. Dave, a long-time friend and partner of the museum replenished, repaired and created new world-class armours for us for over 25 years.”

Dave founded the War of the Roses Federation, a group for re-enactors focusing on the 1455-1487 medieval period, which is still in existence.

Bec said: "He would buy the Royal British Legion small wooden crosses and put them on every soldier’s grave at St John's Road church, Brimington and Heath. Later he would do this with his mate Mark Weston.

“He travelled every year with four other mates to Belgium and France to look at battlefields and stay for a few days learning about WW1.

"He was an avid motorcyclist and loved nothing more than going out on distance trips with his nephews Mark and Steven and his brother Richard.”

On social media Jonathan Jones commented: “When it comes to charisma, wit, presence, passion, a lust for life and yes, skill with both hammer and sword, there is no finer example can be offered than Dave.”

Mark Griffin posted on Dave’s page: “Knew you for nearly 40 years, see your wonderful work every day as I walk through the shelves of armour.”

Derbyshire born and bred, Dave had an eclectic taste in music ranging from Kate Bush, to Clannad, Rammstein to Harry Styles. He played bass in a number of bands including Das Raaven, Axis and Warrior down the years and supported rock icons Saxon, Budgie and Wishbone Ash.

KIrk Wells posted: “R.I.P. to a true rock legend, friend and gentleman, it was a pleasure to have rocked with you, rest easy god of thunder.”

Danny Bower wrote: “He will be missed by so many people, such a big loss to the music scene.”

David (Dai ) Davies, passed away surrounded by his family on Monday, May 6, aged 74 years.

David was the Community Policeman in Norton for 30 years and was often seen cycling around his beat.

Later on David worked for Beecham's Pharmacy delivering prescriptions to people at home.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2014.

A few years later he joined the Dancing With Parkinson's group at Kirkham Henry Performing Arts Centre in Malton.

Angela Kirkham, who runs the classes said: "Dave loved the music and enjoyed the comradery of the group. His sense of humour often came to the fore.

"We will fondly remember Dave for his sense of humour and initially questioning the reasoning behind some of the movements. Sending love to you and the family."

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Ellen Carol Hawkins (Marshall), beloved wife of Victor Cameron Hawkins and loving mother of Jennifer (Colin) and Lesley (Mark) and grandmother to Cameron, Gillian, Callum, and Fiona. She was a loving wife and partner, a caring mother, entertaining grandmother, courageous explorer, nurse, accomplished writer, avid hiker, Scottish country dance teacher, and a leader in all her community activities.

Ellen was raised in New Liskeard, Ontario and after graduating from nursing college in St. Catherines, Ontario, she moved out to Vancouver as her father had said that he had never seen the Rocky Mountains, so she felt that she had to go. There she met a group of English nurses who encouraged her to visit Britain. A year later she set off on a Greyhound bus for Acapulco where she boarded an ocean liner to Southampton, England. After a period in London and Edinburgh, Ellen and her traveling companion Lil then decided to go to Ireland and set off for Glasgow to catch the boat only to find that there were no sailings that day. Her friend Lil remembered that she had a contact in Glasgow through which Ellen met her husband-to-be.

Victor and Ellen had an immediate deep love. Three months later they announced their engagement in December and married in March as he worked for an international company and was being sent to Portugal. This was the beginning of an international adventure living in Switzerland, Chile (where Jennifer was born), Scotland (where Lesley was born), Indonesia, the Philippines, Canada, Chile again, and the USA, after which Victor retired. They moved back to Santiago, Chile where they spent a further 15 years before returning to Canada.

Throughout their many postings Ellen travelled widely. Ellen had the ability to adapt to many different situations always with a smile and a positive attitude. In Bogor, Indonesia many of the basics of living were missing or restricted. She raised their two girls there. Jennifer was three years old and Lesley 18 months old when they arrived. Medical assistance was rudimentary, so Ellen had to rely on her nursing training and good judgement. Ellen set up a school in the spare bedroom and garden for Jennifer and some other expatriate children and taught them for two years. With encouragement from the management of the local Goodyear facility she organized the start-up of a larger school to accommodate the increasing number of expatriate families living in the town. She ran the school and taught during the first year. That school has now grown into a major educational establishment in Bogor.

Ellen impacted every community in which she lived by volunteering for numerous charities and church organizations and led Scottish country dancing groups. During her time in Chile, she formed and led a hiking group, became an accomplished writer, penning Djinxed, a memoir about the family’s adventures in Indonesia, and wrote several anthologies with the Santiago Writers, a writing group which she founded.

Every family experiences death at some point. It is for our family a great sadness as Ellen was the fulcrum of the family. That she died from Parkinson’s disease which slowly destroyed her mind is perhaps the most tragic aspect because she had a fine mind, full of curiosity, humour, and great imagination. She was determined and one of several “pushy Marshall women” in her extended family who was a leader in all her activities. She will be greatly missed, not only by the family, but by many friends across the world.

We thank the wonderful team at Bradford Valley Care Community for their compassionate and loving care during her residence there.

David Shapiro, a cerebral yet deeply personal poet aligned with the so-called New York School, whose highly lyrical work balanced copious literary allusions with dreamlike imagery and intimate reflections drawn from family life, died on Saturday in the Bronx. He was 77.

His wife, Lindsay Stamm Shapiro, said the cause of his death, in a hospice facility, was Parkinson’s disease.

Mr. Shapiro published 11 volumes of poetry during his six-decade career. His book “You Are The You: Writings and Interviews on Poetry, Art and the New York School” is scheduled to be published this fall. His 1971 collection, “A Man Holding an Acoustic Panel,” was nominated for a National Book Award.

He was also an art historian, producing monographs on Piet Mondrian, Jasper Johns, Jim Dine and other painters. And he maintained a career in academia that included decades as an art history professor at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. In the 1970s, he taught English and comparative literature at his alma mater, Columbia University.

It was there as an undergraduate that he first tasted fame, albeit unwittingly, during the landmark student uprising in the spring of 1968, which was sparked by outrage over the university’s ties to research for the Pentagon, its plans to build a gym on nearby public land and other issues.

Mr. Shapiro was just weeks from graduating when another student photographed him when the office of the university’s president, Grayson Kirk, in Low Library was occupied.

Shown seated in a high-backed chair behind the administrator’s paper-strewn desk, Mr. Shapiro captured the spirit of a moment, casually smoking one of Mr. Kirk’s cigars while wearing sunglasses and a defiant smirk.

The photograph ultimately ran in Life magazine and publications around the world. Although it became an enduring symbol of the student protests that roiled universities across the nation in the late 1960s, Mr. Shapiro preferred over the years to focus on his literary achievements, not his cameo as a campus rebel.

Mr. Shapiro was a nimble-minded, voluble and gregarious polymath who demonstrated, in both his life and his work, an almost gymnastic ability to bound between intellectual topics, the writer Lucy Sante, a friend and a former student of Mr. Shapiro’s at Columbia, said in an interview.

“David just thought about 15 times as fast as the average person, and he talked that fast as well,” Ms. Sante said. “Any conversation with David, in or out of the classroom, was a dense weave of references to art and literature and music and science, emitted directly from his subconscious, swerving this way and that and spinning out into epic digressions.”

A literary prodigy, Mr. Shapiro was already publishing poems in European and South African journals by the age of 10. At 14, he published a poem in The Antioch Review, his first in the United States. As a freshman at Columbia in 1965, he published his first poetry collection, “January.”

He was often categorized as part of what became known, starting in the 1950s, as the New York School — an experimental vanguard of visual artists, dancers and poets including John Ashbery, Frank O’Hara and Kenneth Koch, who was also a Columbia professor and mentored Mr. Shapiro as a student.

Mr. Shapiro was considered part of the second generation of the New York School, along with Ted Berrigan, Alice Notley, Ron Padgett and others.

“Although often described as a member of the New York School of poets, David Shapiro wrote poems that sound like no one else’s,” Mr. Padgett wrote in an email, “poems full of mystery, lyricism, and agile leaps of an eternally fresh spirit, with surprising humor in the music of his unearthly melancholy.”

It is snowing on the kindergarten
It is snowing on your eyelids
Love’s dice
Are manias and fights
Anacreon writes
You are standing on my eyelids

And your hair
Is in my hair
As Paul Eluard
Says elsewhere
And what do you say? I say

Stay stay
stay stay
streak intrinsicality

His work also drew from surrealism and the avant-garde; he employed dramatic shifts in level of diction, or even in subject, within a single poem, as well as taking a literary collage approach, which he discussed in a 1990 interview with Pataphysics magazine.

“I’ve transformed grammar and physics textbooks and played with their degraded diction,” he said. “I’ve taken Heidegger and changed all his words for being into snow.”

In his 1979 poem “A Song,” he added, he took snippets of the 1966 Percy Sledge song “When a Man Loves a Woman” and transformed them into “a disco cascade with elements of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.”

David Joel Shapiro was born on Jan. 2, 1947, in Newark, N.J., the third of four children of Dr. Irving Shapiro, a dermatologist, and Fraida (Chagy) Shapiro, a schoolteacher. He spent summers in Deal, a breezy seaside borough on the Jersey Shore near Asbury Park, which he later invoked in his lauded 1969 collection, “Poems From Deal.”

He left Weequahic High School in Newark after his junior year to enroll in Columbia in 1964, graduating in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in English and comparative literature. He later received a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge and a doctorate in English from Columbia.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his sisters, Judith Silverman, Naomi Shapiro and Debra Shapiro, and his son, Daniel Shapiro.

A product of a staunchly left-wing household, Mr. Shapiro at times wove themes of political liberation into his work.

His 1971 poem “The Funeral of Jan Palach” was written from the ghostly perspective of a Czech student who died three days after setting himself on fire in Prague in January 1969, in the turbulent protests against the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia the previous summer:

When I entered the first meditation
I escaped the gravity of the object, I experienced the emptiness,
And I have been dead a long time.

The poem was later inscribed on a haunting memorial to the martyred student in the city by the artist and architect John Hejduk.

But it was a very different political statement that brought Mr. Shapiro international attention: his occupation photo. Mr. Shapiro came to regret the shot, in part because it made him seem like a leader of the protests although he was only a participant.

The photograph also caused him plenty of other problems. “He was clubbed by police and suspended by Columbia — he almost didn’t graduate,” his wife said in an interview. “He had been given a five-year fellowship to Harvard, and that was rescinded. Even going through customs, he was on the F.B.I. lookout list.”

In a 2018 interview with the New Jersey newspaper The Record, Mr. Shapiro issued a mea culpa of sorts. “I’d like to apologize for the rudeness of my youth,” he said. “That’s not a picture. That’s a parody.”

Hundreds of people gathered for a special service to celebrate the life of a much-loved Greenock priest who was devoted to his parishioners both at home and in his adopted country of Chile.

Tributes have flooded in for Father Neil Sharp, who grew up in Greenock's east end, following his death last week after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

Bishop John Keenan led a moving Requiem Mass in St Ninian's Gourock, delivering a beautiful homily that spoke to all those who loved Father Neil.

Attendees were joined by priests as well as family, friends and those who remembered him from his time at St Mungo's and St Patrick's in Greenock.

His beloved brother Father Jim Sharp and hundreds more joined the mass via a livestream in Arica in Chile, where the Greenock man passed away at the age of 78.

Father Neil travelled with his brother to serve in Chile 45 years ago, during the military dictatorship of Pinochet, finding ways to help the people, and he remained there for the rest of his life.

Bishop John Keenan said: "In life and ministry, Neil was known for his love of life and sense of fun, with an infectious laugh that could reach to the uproarious when the three Sharp brothers got together.   

"And yet countless, too, are the stories of how he turned lives around by sharing his joy of life and revealing to lost souls their wealth of talent even in their direst straits.

"A true man of God, evident in all that he said and did.  The world over is a better place because Father Neil Sharp lived in it."

In 1979 Father Neil and his brother Father Jim went together to Chile, where they found people to be living in fear of Pinochet and his regime.

Bishop Keenan said: "This was during the Pinochet dictatorship in which the Church was the only place you could speak even mild criticism. 

"To say the poor had rights was to be a communist. But the bishops were strong, and the Sharp brothers found that a wee bit of persecution did the Church no harm and focussed attention on basics.  

"Throughout it all the ups and downs, Neil remained contented in his priesthood and peaceful in his ministry.  

"Schooled in the Saint Mungo experience of authentic religion, Father Neil saw Arica as the Gibshill of his altar boy years and tried to build it up with real religion and no frills. "

In Aria, Father Neil took his love of God and his ministry into the prisons and hospitals.

Bishop John added: "He was well received by the people and formed a rapport with them; they took to him and liked him, feeling he was interested in them, and he responded to that."

Father Neil set up a monthly magazine and embraced technology and was popular on the radio.

But he never lost touch or his love of home and remained very much part of the Paisley Diocese.

Father Neil Sharp, or Padre Andrés Sharp Langan, to give him his Arican title, was born in the east end of Greenock in November 1945, the third child of six to Ellen and Neily Sharp, and was baptised and raised in the St Mungo’s parish.

His life of service began as an altar boy and culminated in his ordination to the priesthood at his church in 1970 after studying at St Peter's Seminary in Cardross.

Father Neil was then Curate at St Margaret’s in Johnstone from 1970 to 1974, then in St Patrick’s in Greenock from 1974 to 1978.

Father Neil is remembered for his love of life, his love of football and as a life long supporter of Greenock Morton.

At school his family recall he was a champion bogie maker and used to love the rough and tumble of life in the east end. 

In 2010, he developed Parkinson’s which remained manageable until 2017 when, after a knee operation, he felt a gradual slide. 

At the beginning of the year, the disease finally took its toll and he died peacefully in the home of the Little Sisters in Arica on May 3 with his funeral a day later in St Mark's Cathedral in Arica, Chile.

Following his death many people who remembered his time in local parishes, friends and family paid tribute to him, calling him an 'inspiration' in their own lives.

At his Requiem Mass in St Ninian's Gourock, his sister Betty gave a greeting in Spanish at the end of Mass, which was then played on the morning programme on Radio Montecarmelo de Arica.

Afterwards she said: "I would really like to say is thank you to Bishop John and Bishop Moses of the Arican diocese, all the clergy and friends who have expressed their sympathy. 

"He was a wonderful priest and man and it was a privilege to be his sister."

Will Kinney, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and brother, died in San Diego of complications due to Parkinson’s at the age of 86. Will was born to Willard and Elvira Kinney in Sacramento in 1937. He graduated from Sacramento High School in 1955 and Sacramento State University in 1960. He later earned a master’s degree in management from the University of Redlands.

Will worked odd jobs in Sacramento, from cannery and field work to designing and painting the art for shop windows. At the age of 17, he joined the Marine Corps reserve unit in Sacramento. Upon graduation from college in 1960, he was commissioned as a Marine Corps officer.

Will met his wife, Hannah Armanino, at Sac State where he pitched for the Hornets, and she was the sports editor for the yearbook. The couple married in 1963 and had four children. The family lived in various places in California and Hawaii while Will served in the Marines, including Escondido, 29 Palms, Stockton, Oceanside, Pearl City, and San Diego. Will served three tours overseas, and he was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat V for service during the Vietnam War.

Will attained the rank of major and retired from the military in 1980. Then the family settled in San Diego, and Will worked in planning and logistics for aerospace companies for another 20 years. He loved to spend time with his family and especially enjoyed taking his grandkids to the track at Del Mar. Last year, Will and Hannah celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

Will was a lifelong fan of baseball. He played baseball in high school, college, semi pro, and American Legion. Will coached little league, softball, and all stars. Will could recite stats from the Baseball Encyclopedia, and he visited Cooperstown with Hannah in his later years. The couple loved to root for the Padres and attended the local World Series games in 1984.

Will is survived by his wife Hannah, children Shannon Rouiller (Michael), Erin Machado, Kerry Hornby (Russ), and Bill Kinney (Rebecca), sister Diane Basler Leflang and her family, and his eight grandchildren: Laura and Brent Rouiller, Katie and Sarah Machado, Tommy and Jacob Hornby, and Samantha and Tyler Kinney.

Will’s family would like to thank the many caregivers, neighbors, and friends who supported him through his illness. We are especially grateful to Otto Zambrano.