Marvin P. Gay Sr.; Fatally Shot Soul Singer Son

Marvin P. Gay Sr., 84, who fatally shot his son, Grammy-winning singer Marvin Gaye, in 1984. The soul singer, who added an E to his name when he began his career, had been considered the peer of Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson and had 13 records in the Top 10 from 1963 to 1977. Among his best-known hits were “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Sexual Healing,” “Let’s Get It On” and “What’s Going On.” Gaye was killed April 1, 1984, a day before his 45th birthday, at the family home in the Crenshaw district after an argument with his father. Gay, a retired minister of the House of God Church, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to five years of probation. Police said the argument between the father and son began when Gay was unable to find an insurance company letter that had nothing to do with the singer. Probation investigators said Gaye had apparently beaten his father shortly before the shooting. The two men reportedly had a troubled relationship, with the son never believing that the father appreciated his success. “I’m sorry. . . . I loved him,” Gay said at his sentencing. On Oct. 17 in Los Angeles.

Mary Servaes-Beij; Dutch Folk Singer

Mary Servaes-Beij, 79, Dutch folk singer whose records sold more than 16 million copies. Known as the “Singer Without a Name,” she performed and recorded a repertoire of about 600 popular tear-jerking folk songs. Among them were “Oh, Daddy Dear,” which was a plea to a father to stop drinking, “Mexico” and “Mandolin in Nicosia.” Many of her songs contained doleful lyrics mirroring her own difficult early life. On Friday in Amsterdam of cardiac arrest.

Irene Slater; San Fernando Valley Community Leader

Irene Slater, 83, a leader of San Fernando Valley community and charitable organizations. A former field deputy to U.S. Rep. James C. Corman and to City Councilman Ernani Bernardi, Slater worked tirelessly for youth and health causes. In 1979, she was named outstanding female volunteer of her regional United Way, and in 1980 she received the Sam and Helen Greenberg Award for Community Service for her work on the board of the Valley Free Clinic. She also served on advisory or administrative boards of the Children’s Bureau, Salvation Army, Child Care Resource Center, Child Guidance Clinic, Valley Community College, San Fernando Chamber of Commerce, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Industrial Assn. and the Legal Center for Public Representation Inc., which aids alcoholics in rehabilitation. She had also assisted school support groups, the Red Cross, the YMCA and Girl Scouts. Slater served on the California Commission on Crime and Delinquency and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. On Saturday in Los Angeles of complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

Albert Washington; Blues Guitarist Known for ‘Wings of a Dove’

Albert Washington, 59, blues guitarist prominent in the 1960s and 1970s. Influenced by gospel music and bluesman B.B. King, Washington was known for his signature song “Wings of a Dove,” in which he combined his gospel-style singing with a pounding blues riff. He was also remembered for his late 1960s single “Turn on the Bright Lights,” which the Grateful Dead recorded and turned into a hit in the 1970s. On Friday in Cincinnati of complications of diabetes.