Obituaries - June 18, 1999

James Terrance Gill; Retired TV News Producer

James Terrance “Terry” Gill, 67, Emmy-winning producer of the 6 p.m. newscast on KNBC-TV Channel 4. Gill worked for the station from 1968 until his retirement in 1993, and produced broadcasts for such anchors as Tom Brokaw, Tom Snyder, Jess Marlow, Paul Moyer and Kelly Lange. The producer, who held a doctorate in English from the University of Minnesota, was recognized as one of the best copy editors in broadcasting. He was an authority on such diverse subjects as Chaucerian English, jazz and major league baseball. Before moving to Los Angeles, Gill had worked as a copy editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and as a writer and producer for KTSP Television in Minneapolis. On Sunday in Minneapolis of cancer.

Henry Grunfeld; Investment Firm Executive

Henry Grunfeld, 95, German refugee who co-created S.G. Warburg and helped build it into one of Britain’s most successful post-World War II financial enterprises. Until his death, Grunfeld was reporting to work as a senior advisor to Warburg Dillon Read, the successor firm to S.G. Warburg. After fleeing the Nazis, Grunfeld in 1935 teamed up with fellow refugee Siegmund Warburg to establish the investment banking house that became known as S.G. Warburg. Grunfeld preferred to remain in the background while the outgoing Warburg took the public stage, but nevertheless Grunfeld played an essential role in the firm’s success. The company broke new ground in Britain in 1958 by initiating the first hostile takeover bid (of British Aluminum) on behalf of the American group Reynolds and Tube Investments. A host of new business clients lined up to sign on with Warburg. Grunfeld was born into a Jewish family in Breslau, Germany, which is now Wroclaw, Poland. He was educated in Berlin and studied law at the University of Breslau. He began a successful career in the family steel business, but in 1934, the Nazis seized the family fortune and detained Grunfeld. After his release, he went into hiding and eventually made his way to Britain. He became chairman of S.G. Warburg when Warburg retired in 1964. Grunfeld retired from that position in 1974 but remained president until 1995, when the firm was acquired by Swiss Bank. On June 10 in London.

Dolores Jimenez Alcantara; Flamenco Singer

Dolores Jimenez Alcantara, 90, flamenco singer known as la nina de la Puebla, or “the girl from Puebla.” She was given the stage name in recognition of her birthplace, Puebla de Cazalla, just outside Seville, Spain. Blind from childhood, Jimenez dedicated herself to music from her early years and in the 1960s and 1970s captured the hearts of flamenco artists and fans. She was admired for her ability to sing in a wide range of flamenco styles, but was probably best known for popularizing the Spanish traditional song “Los Campanilleros” (“The Bell Ringers”). Jimenez was scheduled to receive Spain’s Gold Medal for Fine Arts from King Juan Carlos next week. On Monday in Malaga, Spain, after a brain hemorrhage during a performance.

J.F. Powers; Award-Winning Novelist

J.F. Powers, 81, National Book Award winner for his novel “Morte D’Urban.” A celebrated Catholic author, Powers was a writer in residence and an English professor at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict from 1975 to 1993. He wrote three collections of short fiction in addition to the 1962 novel “Morte D’Urban” and the 1988 novel “What That Springeth Green.” The latter work made him a finalist for a National Book Award. Both novels follow the careers of a Minnesota priest, and much of Powers’ writing dealt with the conflict between spiritual and secular values in a materialistic society. The author was a regular contributor to New Yorker magazine. He received prestigious fellowships from both the Rockefeller and Guggenheim foundations. On Monday in Collegeville, Minn.

James Ware; Perennial Candidate Never Won Office

James A. Ware, 76, perennial political candidate who never won public office. Ware experienced his greatest success in 1978 when he won the Republican nomination for state controller, upsetting favored Assemblyman Dixon Arnett by 100,000 votes. Ware’s surprise victory was attributed--even by him--to his support for Proposition 13, the historic measure that limited property taxes for Californians. While Arnett opposed the initiative, Ware said he heartily endorsed it because of his long friendship with its author, the late Howard Jarvis. “Dixon was against 13. He didn’t tune in to the frustration people had over high taxes and expensive government,” Ware told The Times the day after the election. “I had tremendous volunteer support.” Nevertheless, Ware was defeated in the general election that November by incumbent controller Ken Cory, who won by 1.8 million votes. Ware also ran unsuccessfully for controller in 1982 and repeatedly for Los Angeles mayor and U.S. Senate. He was alternately described by political pundits over the years as a “political gadfly” and a “Los Angeles businessman” who was said to own and manage apartment buildings. A friend also said Ware in his youth had fronted a musical group called the Deacon Ware Band and had written music and two plays. On May 24 in Los Angeles of kidney disease.

Mark Wood; Municipal Court Judge

Mark Wood, 82, former presiding judge of Torrance Municipal Court. Wood, who served on the Torrance Municipal Court from 1972 to 1986, revived the practice of imposing public service assignments rather than fines on minor offenders when he was presiding judge in 1974. Calling the project a “civic improvement program,” Wood believed that in many cases fines or jail time were ineffective punishment. He offered the alternative of public service to those who would “appreciate the break we’re offering them,” he once said, giving as an example a 19-year-old with no prior record who was caught stealing a bicycle. He said that many of those sentenced to public service were grateful. One young violator who was assigned to work in the Redondo Beach maintenance department had been out of a job but turned out to be such a good worker that the city hired him. Wood was a Glendale native and graduate of Loyola Law School who practiced law in the South Bay for many years before joining the bench. He was a founder of the South Bay Legal Aid Society. On Monday of emphysema at his Manhattan Beach home.