Lela Free; Started Exceptional Children’s Group

Lela M. Free, 93, charitable fund-raiser and founder of the Exceptional Children’s Foundation. As a Bel-Air socialite, Free was recognized at Los Angeles’ largest charity and other social affairs. At her arrival, popular orchestra leader Joe Moshay typically stopped his band and broke into “Everything Good in Life Is Free.” In addition to the Exceptional Children’s Foundation, Free regularly organized the Junior League Ball, the WAIF Imperial Ball, the Davis Musical College presentations and events for the Los Angeles Opera and Time Arts Club. She was also known for her book reviews presented orally at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. On Sunday in Oxnard of a blood infection.

Joshua Hanig; Documentary Filmmaker

Joshua Hanig, 46, documentary filmmaker who earned a Sundance Film Festival award. Born in Austin, Texas, Hanig grew up in Indiana and was educated at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he co-produced and directed his first film, “Men’s Lives.” His second documentary, “Song of the Canary,” about sterility among male pesticide workers, earned best documentary prizes at the Chicago, Mannheim and Athens film festivals, was nominated for an Emmy and caused several pesticides to be withdrawn from the market. His film “Coming of Age,” about inner-city youth in Los Angeles, won the special jury prize at Sundance and a blue ribbon at the American Film Festival. Hanig produced and directed several documentaries for PBS and the cable networks Arts and Entertainment, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel on subjects ranging from cancer to literature to archeology and television itself. Hanig, who taught film production at USC, was a founding board member of the Independent Feature Project and co-owner of New Day Films distribution company. On June 1 in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer.

Josephine Hutchinson, 94; Film, TV Actress

Josephine Hutchinson, 94, red-haired film actress popular in the 1930s and 1940s. The Seattle native studied at the Cornish Dramatic School there as a child and began her career on stage in New York and Washington, D.C. She moved to Hollywood in 1934 and made her screen debut in Mervyn LeRoy’s “Happiness Ahead.” Two years later, she won acclaim as the scientist’s loyal wife in “The Story of Louis Pasteur.” Commenting on her early film career, she told The Times wryly that year, “I’ve been all sorts of wives, mostly good ones.” A personal favorite film was “Oil for the Lamps of China.” Others included “Somewhere in the Night,” “Love Is Better Than Ever,” “North by Northwest” and “Baby, the Rain Must Fall.” In the 1960s, Hutchinson appeared on television in such popular series as “The Twilight Zone,” “Perry Mason” and “Gunsmoke.” On June 4 in New York City.

Frank Leo Massick; Masonic Leader

Frank Leo Massick, 91, active in Masonic organizations for more than 70 years. A native of Lamar, Colo., who grew up in Ventura, he joined DeMolay, the Masonic youth group, when he was 14. He began his working years as a mechanic with Shell Oil Co. in Ventura and moved with the company to Long Beach. Later, he went into sales and management with truck and parts companies. Throughout his life, Massick worked in Masonic lodges, Senior DeMolay mentoring young people and Al Malaikah Temple of the Shrine. In his retirement, Massick worked with the South Gate Police Department, volunteering his skills to install locks, fire extinguishers and other safety devices for senior citizens. His efforts earned him a dedicated service award from the city of South Gate and the Masons’ Hiram Award for community service. For many years, Massick served on the executive committee of the Los Angeles Masonic Service Bureau and as secretary to the Southern California Preceptory of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. He received a 70-year pin last year along with a standing ovation from DeMolay, Masonic and Shrine members. On June 3 in Downey.

David Navarrette; TV Cameraman

David Navarrette, 57, Emmy Award-winning cameraman for television soap operas. A Los Angeles native, Navarrette studied cinema and television production at Columbia College-Hollywood. He spent the past 15 years as cameraman for the CBS daytime shows “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Earlier, he spent 14 years as cameraman for KCOP-TV Channel 13, where he worked on several specials, game shows and programs about the Rose Bowl and the Hollywood Bowl. On Saturday in Los Angeles of throat cancer.

John Y. Pashgian; Attorney, Rug Dealer

John Y. Pashgian, 91, attorney and Pasadena dealer in Oriental rugs. A lifelong resident of Pasadena, Pashgian graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Law School and began his career practicing law with the Christian Hartke firm and for Title Insurance in Los Angeles. After serving in World War II, he helped establish and operate Pashgian Brothers Gallery of Fine Oriental Rugs in Pasadena. A dedicated community leader, Pashgian co-founded Huntington Library Affiliates in 1982 to increase private support of the Huntington Library, Art Gallery and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. In addition to the affiliates board, he served on boards of Caltech Associates, the Pasadena Public Library Foundation, the Mountain View Foundation and the Pasadena YWCA. On Friday in Pasadena of heart failure.

Maria Reiche; Mathematician

Maria Reiche, 95, German mathematician who dedicated a half-century to protecting and studying massive ancient drawings in the Peruvian desert. Reiche became a legend in Peru for her almost single-handed battle to preserve the Nasca lines--figures of a hummingbird, a monkey, a man, a spider and other mysterious geometric figures scratched into the desert floor about 250 miles south of Lima. The figures were created by the Nasca culture between 700 BC and AD 900. The mathematician, who became a Peruvian citizen in 1994, earned international respect for her theories that the Nasca used the drawings’ alignment with the sun as a calendar. Her tireless work promoting and protecting the pre-Columbian drawings persuaded UNESCO to declare the 200-square-mile area a world heritage site in 1995. Her years of work in the bright Peruvian sun caused her to go blind and contract skin diseases. On Monday in Lima, Peru, of stomach cancer.

James Shifflett Jr.; Civil Rights Activist

James Shifflett Jr., 86, African American community leader and civil rights activist. Born in Indianapolis, Shifflett came to Los Angeles as an infant with his family. He studied accounting at USC and worked for the U.S. Postal Service and then County-USC Medical Center, where he was supervisor of stationery supplies processing. He was active in the NAACP, the Urban League and his academic fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha. Shifflett helped wage a landmark class-action case in the U.S. Supreme Court that ended racial housing restrictions. Living his conviction, Shifflett moved his family into the historic West Adams district near USC at a time when the area had restrictions prohibiting black residents. On Sunday in Los Angeles.

H. Allen Smith; Ex-Glendale Congressman

Former Rep. H. Allen Smith, 88, who represented the Glendale area in the state Assembly and the U.S. Congress. Born in Illinois, Smith lived in Glendale for 55 years and was active in Republican politics. He served as parliamentarian for three Republican National Conventions, served in the Assembly for eight years and in Congress for 16 years. Before becoming a lawmaker, Smith was an attorney in private practice and a special agent with the FBI. On June 4 in Glendale.

Kelly Snyder; TV Producer

Kelly Snyder, 41, a television producer and location manager for such series as “The Marshal,” “Friday Night” and “Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.” The son of veteran Times sports staff editor Don Snyder, the young producer was born in Los Angeles and studied at the University of Santa Clara. After working as a restaurant manager, he moved to the entertainment industry. As a location manager, he found New York-style restaurants in the San Fernando Valley for the “Molly Dodd” series and similarly relocated the Big Apple into Los Angeles sites for “The Slap Maxwell Story.” In production, Snyder worked on several specials about circuses and his final special this year, “That’s Incredible!” On Sunday in Santa Monica.

Norman Stuart; Actor, Dialogue Director

Norman Stuart, 89, Broadway actor who became a motion picture dialogue director. In the 1930s and 1940s, Stuart performed regularly in New York and in road companies of such plays as “Taming of the Shrew” with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, “Family Portrait” with Judith Anderson, “Biography” with Ina Claire and “Herod and Mariane” with Katharine Cornell. During World War II, he toured the globe with Irving Berlin’s show “This Is the Army.” After the war, Stuart worked for the Theatre Guild in Manhattan and then came to Hollywood as a dialogue director for films by Delbert Mann and Michael Curtiz. On Tuesday in Hollywood of cancer.