National Obituaries

NEW YORK (AP) — Jerry Butler, a premier soul singer of the 1960s and after whose rich, intimate baritone graced such hits as "For Your Precious Love," "Only the Strong Survive" and "Make It Easy On Yourself," has died at age 85.

NEW YORK (AP) — Voletta Wallace, the dedicated mother of the late great rapper The Notorious B.I.G. and protector of his legacy, died Friday morning. She was 78.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Robert Seaman, the New Hampshire artist who brightened dark days by creating intricate and imaginative “daily doodles” during the COVID-19 pandemic and then kept at it for nearly five years, has died. He was 92.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Frankétienne, a renowned writer, painter, actor and musician known as the “father of Haitian letters” has died. He was 88.

Mabel Staton, the Black track and field standout who broke through racial barriers and became the only woman to compete for the United States in the long jump at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, died Thursday. She was 92.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Former Oklahoma Gov. David Boren, who became one of the nation's youngest governors in the 1970s at age 33 and later helped shape national intelligence as a U.S. senator, has died. He was 83.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Lange, whose imaginative goal calls made his raspy voice immediately recognizable to Pittsburgh Penguin fans for decades, has died. He was 76. The team confirmed Lange's death Wednesday.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé, a pioneer of African cinema with a career spanning 50 years, has died at age 84, Malian television announced Wednesday. The cause of Cissé's death was not announced.

DENVER (AP) — Anne Marie Hochhalter, who was partially paralyzed in the Columbine High School shooting but found strength to forgive and to heal her soul after bonding with another family devastated by the tragedy, has died. She was 43.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Marian Turski, a Holocaust survivor who became a journalist and historian in postwar Poland and co-founded Warsaw's landmark Jewish history museum, died on Tuesday. He was 98.