David L. Babson; Investment Innovator

David L. Babson, 87, who along with T. Rowe Price helped establish growth stock investing. Babson formed his own company based in Cambridge, Mass., in 1940 and retired in 1978, 12 years after contracting multiple sclerosis. A Massachusetts native and Harvard graduate, he began his financial career working for his cousin’s investment newsletter, Babson’s Reports. In 1951, David Babson published a study comparing the results of two model portfolios from 1940 to 1950 that explained his firm’s preference for such growth stocks as Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. and Polaroid Corp. Babson’s company, acquired in 1995 by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., began investing for individual clients and took on its first major institution, Bryn Mawr College, in 1966. On Dec. 14 in Boston.

Edward M. De Sure; Businessman, Volunteer

Edward Malcolm De Sure, 92, businessman and active volunteer who joined the Peace Corps as a septuagenarian. Educated at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Akron and USC, he began De Sure Furniture Stores in Los Angeles. During World War II, De Sure owned the Oasis, a nightspot that entertained servicemen and veterans. He also served in the Home Guard and was a Coast Guard volunteer. More recently, De Sure was community director of Charter Pacific Bank. De Sure devoted time to the Boys Club, earning its Medallion from President Richard Nixon, and was chapter president of B’nai B’rith, High Twelve, Shriners, Rotary, City of Hope and his area Chamber of Commerce. He was also a 32nd-degree Mason. In addition to Nixon, De Sure was honored by several officials for his humanitarian work, among them President Lyndon B. Johnson and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. In 1977, at age 71, De Sure and his wife Rose served in the Peace Corps for two years in Botswana. On Tuesday in Tarzana.

Joseph Esherick; San Francisco Architect

Joseph Esherick, 83, San Francisco architect best known for designing the Cannery complex near Fisherman’s Wharf. A native of Philadelphia, Esherick studied at the University of Pennsylvania and served in the Navy during World War II. He established his architectural office in San Francisco in 1946 and at his death was still head of Esherick Homsey Dodge and Davis. The firm designed the Monterey Bay Aquarium, among other landmarks. Esherick, who had also taught architecture at UC Berkeley, renovated the historic Cannery into shops and restaurants, becoming one of the first to transform a historic building to modern use. Opposed to skyscrapers, the architect espoused designs that cater to human needs. He described his own designs as “a genuine effort to make life easier and more pleasant for people without letting them know it’s happening.” Esherick received the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for lifetime achievement in 1989. Three years later he was the first recipient of the Maybeck Award of the California Council of the AIA, honoring a California architect “for outstanding lifelong achievement in producing consistently distinguished design.” On Thursday in San Francisco of heart failure.

Tim Kelly; Writer of 400 Plays

Tim Kelly, 67, the nation’s most published playwright, with about 400 plays. Born in Saugus, Mass., and educated at Emerson College in Boston, Kelly first worked as a journalist and drama critic in Phoenix. He started writing for television and motion pictures in 1968, penning scripts for “Bonanza” and “High Chaparral,” and for the film “Cry of the Banshee.” But he was best known for his plays, which ranged from comedy to drama to mysteries and horror. Among his titles were “Widow’s Walk,” “Bloody Jack Frankenstein,” “The Zombie” and “Varney the Vampire.” Kelly’s plays were produced at the New York Ensemble Theatre, the Manhattan Theatre Club, the Seattle Repertory Theater and the Los Angeles Actors Theater, among others. He had recently completed a musical about the roaring 1920s called “Flappers.” Kelly earned several writing awards, including the Nederlander Playwright Award and the California Festival of Arts Drama award, and grants from the National Endowment for the the Arts. Kelly served in the Army during the Korean War. On Dec. 7 in Hollywood Hills.

Joseph Muench; Desert Photographer

Joseph Muench, 94, photographer known for his images of desert landscapes and Colorado River canyons. Born in Germany, Muench received his first camera when he was 11. After he immigrated to Detroit in 1926, he began roaming Canada and the American West, photographing nature scenes. He became enamored of the Southwest, and made 200 trips to the Grand Canyon and 160 to Utah’s Monument Valley. Based in Santa Barbara, Muench contributed myriad photos over the decades to Arizona Highways magazine. He also was an influence on his son, nature photographer David Muench. On Saturday in Santa Barbara.

Janet Murrow; Joined Husband as Journalist

Janet Murrow, 88, radio journalist and the widow of Edward R. Murrow. A native of Middletown, Conn., she met her future husband while attending Mount Holyoke College and married him in 1934. Three years later they moved to London, where her husband was European director for CBS. Janet Murrow wrote scripts for the British Broadcasting Corp. and then became a correspondent for CBS. When the United States entered World War II, she filed reports on the air ambulance service and Army field hospitals while her husband broadcast live reports during air raids. She gave up journalism after the war. After her husband’s death in 1965, Janet Murrow moved to South Hadley, Mass., and worked at the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. On Friday in Needham, Mass., of complications from Parkinson’s disease and heart failure.

Dorothy B. Nyswander; Public Health Educator

Dorothy Bird Nyswander, 104, known as “the mother of health education.” Nyswander, a world leader in public health education, helped establish the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley in 1946 and taught there until 1957. For the next 16 years, she worked for the World Health Organization setting up public education programs in 12 nations. Born in Reno, she was reared on a Nevada cattle ranch, studied mathematics at the University of Nevada and then earned a doctorate in psychology at UC Berkeley. Unusual in her day, she was a young divorced mother and a socialist. Nyswander taught educational psychology at the University of Utah for 10 years and during the 1930s conducted a landmark study on school health problems in Astoria, N.Y. During the Depression, she headed an 11-state regional section for the federal Works Progress Administration. Later, during World War II, she served with the Federal Works Agency, establishing child care for mothers employed in the war effort. Her revolutionary approach to health education involved putting people in charge of identifying their own public health problems and solving them. Asked the secret to long life, Nyswander advised: “Have as much fun as you can and love people.” On Friday in Berkeley.