January 6: Donald Tyson, 80

2011 In Memoriam

Former President and CEO of Tyson Foods Donald Tyson, known by his nickname "Mr. Chicken," died at the age of 80.

(AP Photo/April L. Brown)

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January 6: Donal... Former President and CEO of Tyson Foods Donald Tyson, known by his nickname "Mr. Chicken," died at the age of 80.

(AP Photo/April L. Brown)

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January 8: Judge... Federal Judge John Roll died after being shot along with 18 others while attending a constituent outreach event held by U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords.

(AP Photo/Federal 9th Circuit Court)

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January 13: Elle... Genius grant recipient and founder and director of the pioneering off-off-Broadway group La MaMa Experimental Theater Club died after a long illness. Stewart had a history of heart disease.

(AP Photo/Marcia Keegan)

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January 18: Robe... Shriver, who served as JFK's and Lyndon Johnson's lawyer and launched several social programs including the Peace Corps, Head Start and the War on Poverty, died in Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Shriver was awarded America’s highest honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1993.

(AP Photo/Henry Burroughs)

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February 5: Bria... Jacques, the author of the famed 21-book “Redwall” series, died after having a heart attack.

(Photo: The Huffington Post)

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March 18: Warren... Warren Christopher, who served as the 63rd Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton, died at his home in Los Angeles on March 18, 2011 from complications of kidney and bladder cancer. He was survived by his wife and four children from two marriages.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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March 19: Polar ... Knut, a polar bear who was born in captivity at the Berlin Zoological Garden, became an international tourist attraction and commercial success. Knut unexpectedly passed away due to a virus that caused swelling in the brain.

(AP Photo/ Steffi Loos)

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March 23: Jean B... Bartik (left), one of the original programmers for the ENIAC computer, died at the age of 86.

(Photo: United States Army)

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March 18: Prince... Princess Antoinette of Monaco, aunt of Albert II, Prince of Monaco died at The Princess Grace Hospital Centre. She was buried in the Chapel of Peace in Monaco.

(AP Photo/Eric Gaillard)

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March 24: Lanfor... Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, who is considered one of the founders of the Off-Broadway theater movement, died at age 73 in Sag Harbor.

(AP Photo/Marty Reichenthal)

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March 26: Gerald... Democratic congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, the first female Vice Presidential candidate representing a major American political party, died due to complications stemming from pneumonia.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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April 12: Sidney... Harman served as the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce in 1977 and 1978. He recently began working as the publisher of “Newsweek” in August of 2010 and died in Washington D.C. due to complications from acute myeloid leukemia.

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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April 20: Tim He... British-American photojournalist Tim Hetherington was killed by mortar shells fired by Muammar Gaddafi's forces while covering the 2011 Libyan civil war.

(AP Photo/Evan Agostini)

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April 30: Ernest... The Argentinian author of "The Tunnel" died at his home, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. He had been suffering from bronchitis.

(AP Photo/Leslie Mazoch)

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June 3: Dr. Jack... Kevorkian, a huge advocate for assisted suicide, died at a Detroit-area hospital at the age of 83.

(AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

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June 4: Lawrence... Eagleburger, who served briefly as the United States Secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush, died of pneumonia at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is survived by three sons.

(AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

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June 4: Lilian J... Braun, the author who wrote 29 books in the “The Cat Who” mystery series, died at a hospice center in South Carolina.

(AP Photo/Penguin Group (USA)

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June 13: Laura Z... Ziskin, a renowned film producer and co-founder of Stand Up to Cancer organization, died after a long battle with breast cancer.

(AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)

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July 8: Betty Fo... The former First Lady, who created precedents as a politically active presidential wife, died of natural causes at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage.

(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

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September 16: Ka... Member of the political Kennedy dynasty, Kara served on the boards of numerous charities and was a film maker and television producer. She died of a heart attack.

(AP Photo/Steven Senne)

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September 25: Wa... Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmentalist Wangari Maathai, who founded the Green Belt Movement and served as a Member of Parliament in Kenya, died from complications of cancer.

(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

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September 30: Ra... Canadian immunologist and cell biologist Ralph M. Steinman, who won one-half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for "his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity," died three days before receiving the award.

(AP Photo/Mike Groll)

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October 5: Fred ... Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, a U.S. civil rights activist who led the fight against segregation and other forms of racism as a minister in Birmingham, Alabama, died in his hometown.

(AP Photo/Dave Martin)

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October 5: Steve... Visionary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

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November 1: Doro... The mother of former first lady Hilary Clinton, who was often seen by her daughter's side on the campaign trail, died at the age of 92 in Washington, D.C.

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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November 4: Andy... The Emmy Award winning commentator died from postoperative complications after an undisclosed surgery just one month after his final regular appearance on "60 Minutes."

(AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)

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November 8: Bill... Bill Keane, the creator of the long-running newspaper comic “Family Circus," died at the age of 89.

(AP Photo/Louis Lanzano)

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November 12: Eve... Lauder, a member of the Estee Lauder cosmetics family who helped create the pink ribbon symbol for breast cancer awareness, died at the age of 75.

(AP Photo/Evan Agostini)

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November 19: Joh... Former General Motors board Chairman and Procter & Gamble Co. innovator, who expanded the consumer products maker with a major acquisition and a push into China and other emerging markets overseas, died in Cincinnati. The cause of his death was not revealed.

(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

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November 19: Rut... Prolific writer and poet Ruth Stone, who won the 2002 National Book Award for "In the Next Galaxy," died at her home in Ripton, Vermont.

(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

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November 22: Sve... The youngest child and only daughter of former Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin died from complications arising from colon cancer in Richland Center, Wisconsin.

(AP Photo/File)

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December 11: Car... Cardinal John Foley, who for 25 years was the voice for American viewers of the Vatican's Christmas Midnight Mass and who led an ancient Catholic order in the Holy Land, died Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011. He was 76.

(AP Photo/File)

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December 15: Chr... Essayist Christopher Hitchens, famous for picking fights with God, Mother Teresa and many others, died on Thursday Dec. 15, 2011 at the age of 62 from complications of cancer of the esophagus.

(AP Photo/Chad Rachman)

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December 18: Vac... Former Czech President Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright who wove theater into politics to peacefully bring down communism in Czechoslovakia and become a hero of the epic struggle that ended the Cold War, died Sunday Dec. 18, 2011 in Prague. He was 75.

(AP Photo/File)

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