Deaths in 2003 - February 2003

February 2003

• 1 - Rick Husband, 45, astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
• 1 - William McCool, 41, astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
• 1 - Michael Anderson, 43, astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
• 1 - Kalpana Chawla, 41, astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
• 1 - David Brown, 46, astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
• 1 - Laurel Clark, 41, astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
• 1 - Ilan Ramon, 48, astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
• 1 - Mongo Santamaría, 85, percussionist, band leader, Latin jazz musician.
• 2 - Lou Harrison, 85, American composer, noted for his microtonal works.
• 3 - Lana Clarkson, 40, American actress.
• 3 - Trevor Morris, 82, Welsh footballer and World War II pilot.
• 4 - Charles McLaren, 3rd Baron Aberconway, 89, British industrialist and horticulturist.
• 5 - Helge Boes, 32, CIA operations officer, accident during live-fire training in Afghanistan.
• 6 - Sir Peter Saunders, 91, British theatre impresario.
• 7 - John Reading, 85, Mayor of Oakland, California from 1966 to 1977 who supported the building of the Oakland Coliseum.
• 8 - John Charles Cutler, 87, American surgeon.
• 9 - Vera Hruba Ralston, 83, star of Ice Capades and Republic Pictures "B" actress in the 1940s.
• 10 - Edgar de Evia, 92, American photographer born in Mérida, Yucatán.
• 10 - Curt Hennig, 44, professional wrestler.
• 10 - Clark MacGregor, 80, former 5-term Republican United States Congressman from Minnesota (1961–1970).
• 10 - Al Ruffo, 94, politician, philanthropist, educator, lawyer, and football coach, former mayor of San Jose, California who helped form the San Francisco 49ers football team in 1946.
• 10 - Ron Ziegler, 63, former press secretary for Richard Nixon during the Watergate Scandal.
• 12 - Frederick Higginson, 89, British World War II fighter pilot.
• 13 - Axel Jensen, 71, Norwegian author, ALS.
• 13 - Kid Gavilan, 77, world boxing champion and hall of famer.
• 13 - Stacy Keach, Sr., 88, character actor; father of actors Stacy and James Keach.
• 13 - Walt Rostow, 86, political advisor.
• 14 - Dolly, 6, the world's first cloned mammal, euthanization following a lung disease.
• 14 - Philip John Gardner, 88, British recipient of the Victoria Cross.
• 14 - Johnny Longden, 96, jockey.
• 16 - Eleanor "Sis" Daley, 95, wife of Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley.
• 16 - Rusty Magee, 47, American composer of musicals.
• 17 - Steve Bechler, 23, baseball pitcher, Baltimore Orioles.
• 19 - Johnny PayCheck, 64, country music singer.
• 20 - Maurice Blanchot, 95, French philosopher and literary theorist.
• 20 - Ty Longley, 31, Guitarist for the heavy metal band Great White; victim of the Station nightclub fire.
• 20 - Harry Jacunski, 87, former NFL player, Green Bay Packers.
• 20 - Orville Lothrop Freeman, 84, former Governor of Minnesota and Secretary of Agriculture for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
• 20 - Mushaf Ali Mir, 55, Pakistan Chief of the Air Staff, air crash.
• 22 - Jesica Santillan, 17, heart and lung patient whose wrong transplant made headlines.
• 22 - Daniel Taradash, 90, former president of AMPAS; Oscar-winning screenwriter of "From Here to Eternity".
• 23 - Howie Epstein, 47, former Bass player for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
• 23 - Christopher Hill, 91, British historian.
• 25 - Alberto Sordi, 82, Italian comedy actor.
• 25 - Tom O'Higgins, 86, former Irish Chief Justice and presidential candidate.
• 27 - John Lanchbery, 79, British-born Australian musician.
• 27 - Fred Rogers, 74, host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
• 28 - Roger Needham, 68, computer pioneer, cancer,
• 28 - Fidel Sánchez Hernández, 85, former President of El Salvador, heart attack,
• 28 - Chris Brasher, 74, athlete.