National Obituaries

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Hollis Watkins, who started challenging segregation and racial oppression in his native Mississippi when he was a teenager and toiled alongside civil rights icons including Medgar Evers and Bob Moses , has died. He was 82.

ROME (AP) — Giorgio Napolitano, the first former Communist to rise to Italy’s presidency and the first person to be elected twice to the mostly ceremonial post, died on Friday, the presidential palace said. He was 98.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former U.S. Sen.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Phil Sellers, who led Rutgers to the school's only Final Four appearance and remains the Scarlet Knights' career leader in points and rebounds, has died, the school announced. He was 69.

NEW YORK (AP) — Tenor Stephen Gould, who announced earlier this month that he had been diagnosed with incurable bile duct cancer, has died. He was 61. Gould's agent Stephanie Ammann confirmed the singer died Tuesday in Virginia.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Erwin Olaf, an acclaimed Dutch photographer whose work documented topics ranging from gay nightlife in Amsterdam to portraits of the Dutch royal family, has died. He was 64.

HANOVER, N.H.

STELLARTON, N.S. — David Sobey, a former chief executive and chair of the Sobeys Inc. grocery store chain, has died. He was 92 years old. Empire Co. Ltd.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Former Kentucky Gov. Brereton C. Jones, a Republican turned Democrat who led efforts to improve health care and strengthen ethics laws during his one term three decades ago, has died, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday.

HALIFAX — Jen Powley, who pushed back with her writing and wisdom against systems that limited the lives of Nova Scotians with disabilities, has died at the age of 45.