Obituaries - Jan. 4, 1999

Walker Hancock; Sculptor of Presidents

Walker Hancock, 97, sculptor of presidents from James Madison to George Bush. Hancock amassed many awards including the National Medal of Art in 1989 and the Medal of Freedom in 1990. His works include a statue of President James Madison displayed in the Library of Congress in Washington, a bust of President George Bush for the Capitol and a depiction of a Christ figure in Washington’s National Cathedral. Hancock also was known for massive war memorials. His last major project was a flight memorial at West Point. On Wednesday in Gloucester, Mass.

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Robert E. Kirby; Led Westinghouse Turnaround

Robert Emory Kirby, 80, former chairman and chief executive officer of Westinghouse Electric Corp. Kirby took over the company on Feb. 3, 1975, when its stock had fallen from a high of $56 a share to only $8. He rid the company of money-losing sections, cut the work force from 166,000 to 132,000, sold off businesses and compressed 144 Westinghouse divisions into 37. He also dealt with “the uranium crisis” that year in which prices soared for the mineral, used by Westinghouse to supply nuclear plants. During his tenure, Westinghouse doubled sales and acquired Teleprompter, which doubled the size of its broadcasting operations. On Thursday in Pittsburgh after a series of strokes.

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Rolf Liebermann; Ran Hamburg, Paris Operas

Rolf Liebermann, 88, who led the Hamburg Opera and sparked the revival of the Paris Opera. Liebermann headed the Hamburg Opera from 1959 to 1972 and then joined the Paris Opera as chief administrator when it was being abandoned by performers and the public alike. He spent the next seven years reviving the storied Paris organization and propelling it to new heights. His strategy included bringing in some of the world’s great conductors, such as Karl Bohm, Pierre Boulez, Lorin Maazel and Georg Solti. Born in Zurich, Liebermann composed numerous concertos, symphonies and operas, including “Eleonore 40/45,” “Penelope,” “L’Ecole des Femmes” and “Le Foret.” On Saturday in Paris.

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James H. Taylor; Molecular Genetics Biologist

James Herbert Taylor, 82, biologist who studied molecular genetics. He was a professor at Columbia University when he proved, in collaboration with colleagues at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, that DNA in higher organisms preserves its continuity as unbroken molecular chains during replication. Taylor was named professor of molecular biology in the Institute of Molecular Biophysics at Florida State University in 1964 and taught there until his retirement in 1980. He was recognized for his original research by election in 1971 to the National Academy of Sciences. Taylor was an organizer of the American Society for Cell Biology and served as its president in 1969 and 1970. On Tuesday in Tallahassee, Fla.

* JERRY QUARRY DIES

Jerry Quarry, a heavyweight who, fought the greatest boxers of his era, has died at 53. D1