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Obituaries
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Peterson Zah, a monumental Navajo Nation leader who guided the tribe through a politically tumultuous era and worked tirelessly to correct wrongdoings against Native Americans, has died.
Mar. 8, 2023
Former Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce has died. Pearce is perhaps best known as the architect of the controversial anti-immigration legislation SB 1070, which allowed police to question and detain people suspected of being in the country illegally.
Jan. 5, 2023
Former Phoenix Suns player Paul Silas, a member of three NBA championship teams and LeBron James’ first coach in the league, has died at the age of 79.
Dec. 11, 2022
Former Arizona Republican Congressman Jim Kolbe died Saturday at the age of 80. He served eleven terms in the U.S. House until he retired in 2006. His political career began as a teen while serving as a page for former U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater.
Dec. 4, 2022
On Friday, Arizonans found out about the sudden death of former Mesa Mayor Keno Hawker.
Current Mesa Mayor John Giles recognized his predecessor as “a strong advocate for Mesa.”
Oct. 22, 2022
Former Arizona Mine Inspector Joe Hart has died at age 78. Gov. Doug Ducey's office says the businessman and former state lawmaker died Sunday.
Sep. 13, 2022
One of the last remaining Navajo Code Talkers has died. Samuel Sandoval's wife, Malula, says he died late Friday at a hospital in Shiprock, New Mexico. He was 98.
Aug. 1, 2022
Former Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel, who resigned in March, has died. She was 45. An email statement released by the public relations firm OH Strategic Communications said Adel died Saturday morning due to health complications.
Apr. 30, 2022
Longtime TV news anchor Kent Dana is being remembered as a gracious, down-to-earth guy. Dana died Tuesday at age 80. Rick DeBruhl worked with Kent Dana at Channel 12 and was there the day Dana arrived.
Apr. 20, 2022
Former U.S. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada died Tuesday at the age of 82.
Dec. 29, 2021
Historians believe that obituaries were first published in ancient Rome and that they became a regular part of publications in the mid-1800s.
The form has changed dramatically since then, but its purpose hasn’t — to inform the public about someone’s death
Dec. 28, 2021
Georgia Lord, mayor of Goodyear for the last decade, has died. The city of Goodyear confirmed Lord's death. In a statement, city officials said she died Sunday afternoon at her home surrounded by family. Lord had recently broken her hip in a fall. Her health declined after that.
Dec. 13, 2021
The celebrated Native American singer-songwriter Joanne Shenandoah has died. She was 63. The Native American Music Awards & Association says on its website that Shenandoah died Monday night in Scottsdale after complications of abdominal bleeding.
Nov. 24, 2021
Bob Bondurant, a former champion race car driver and founder of a high-performance driving school that taught many A-list actors, has died at age 88.
Nov. 15, 2021
Jo-Carroll Dennison’s time was marked with the experiences of an extraordinary life — a childhood spent performing for pennies and selling snake-oil miracle elixirs in her parent’s traveling medicine show, a reign as Miss America that was punctuated by defiance and as an actor who challenged the misogynistic Hollywood system during the industry's Golden Age.
Nov. 8, 2021
Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods died at the age of 67 on Saturday.
Woods served two terms as the state’s attorney general from 1991 to 1999, as well as chief of staff for former Sen. John McCain in the 1980s.
His wife, Marlene Galan Woods, said he died unexpectedly.
Oct. 23, 2021
Like many cities around the nation, Mesa held an event Saturday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Former Mesa Fire Chief Dennis Compton spoke at the event.
Sep. 11, 2021
A longtime leader of the Havasupai Tribe who fought to protect its resources by lobbying against mining around the Grand Canyon and snowmaking at an Arizona ski resort has died.
Services for Rex Tilousi begin Friday with a traditional wake at the family’s home in the village of Supai.
Jun. 25, 2021
One of the three surviving Tuskegee Airmen in Arizona has died. Lt. Col. (retired) Robert Ashby was 95 years old when he passed away on Friday, March 5 in his Sun City home.
Mar. 10, 2021
Longtime ESPN baseball correspondent Pedro Gomez passed away unexpectedly at the age of 58. He died at home on Sunday. No cause of death was announced.
Feb. 9, 2021
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