Chicago notable deaths in 2016

John David Wilson Sr. played a key role in the development of Navy Pier by launching the Chicago International Art Exposition, the first art trade show open to the public on the pier in 1980. Wilson died on Nov. 25, 2016, at his home in Benton Harbor, Mich. Read more.

Craig Sager, the longtime NBA sideline reporter famous for his flashy suits and probing questions, died Dec. 15, 2016, after a battle with cancer. He was 65. A native of Batavia, Illinois, Sager attended Northwestern, where he walked onto the football and basketball teams and served as the school’s “Willie the Wildcat” mascot for three years. Read more.

Rob Sherman, who as the most prominent atheist in Illinois spent a tremendous amount of energy fighting for a big idea — the separation of church and state — no matter how unpopular his battles or seemingly small his targets, died Dec. 12, 2016, in a single-engine plane crash in rural McHenry County. Sherman, who ran as the Green Party candidate for Illinois’ 5th Congressional District, was 63. Read more.

Ann Gerber, who wrote for local Chicago newspapers for more than 70 years, authoring a gossip column that was a must-read for the city’s socialites and political class, died of heart-related problems on Nov. 15, 2016, at her home in the East Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago. She was 90. Read more.

Jane Alderman, a top Chicago-based casting director and an actress who appeared in “Superior Donuts” on Broadway in 2009, died of complications related to emphysema in North Carolina on Oct. 23, 2016, at 77. Read more.

Tom Hayden, husband of Jane Fonda and famed 1960s anti-war activist who moved beyond his notoriety as a Chicago 8 defendant to become a California legislator, author and lecturer died on Oct. 23, 2016, in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 76. Read more.

Chicago radio legend Herb Kent, the longest-running DJ in the history of radio and a fixture on local airwaves for more than 70 years, died Oct. 22, 2016. He was 88. Read more.

Agnes Nixon, who created popular daytime TV dramas such as “One Life to Life” and “All My Children,” died Sept. 28, 2016 at a senior living facility in Pennsylvania. The Chicago-born Northwestern University graduate was 93. Read more.

Longtime Cook County Board Commissioner Joan Patricia Murphy died Sept. 18, 2016, at her Crestwood home from complications of breast cancer. She was 79. Read more.

Paul Green, a researcher of Chicago political history, author, educator and media pundit, died Sept. 10, 2016, due to complications from an aortic aneurysm. He was 73. Read more.

Oscar D’Angelo, right, was a controversial city power broker and confidant of Mayor Richard M. Daley known as the “mayor of Little Italy.” D’Angelo died Aug. 7, 2016, of prostate cancer. He was 84. Read more.

Mike Butler, who was in charge of dying the Chicago River green for St. Patrick’s Day for more than 40 years, died July 12, 2016. He was 81. Read more.

Abner Mikva, a former Democratic state legislator, U.S. representative, federal judge and White House adviser who through more than a half-century of public service maintained a staunch reputation for honesty, died of bladder cancer on July 4, 2016, in Chicago. He was 90. Read more.

Buddy Ryan, the defensive architect of the Super Bowl champion 1985 Chicago Bears, died on June 28, 2016. He was 82. Read more.

Eugene Moore, a longtime Proviso Township politician, died June 14, 2016. He was 73. Read more

Margaret Vinci Heldt, a hairdresser credited with inventing the beehive hairdo, died of heart failure June 10, 2016, at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital. She was 98. Read more.

Mary Ella Smith, an elementary school teacher who was Mayor Harold Washington’s companion for more 20 years and became his fiancee the year he was elected to his first term, died in her Washington Park home June 9, 2016, after a brief illness. She was 80. Read more.

Bill Davies, the eccentric British multimillionaire who owned Chicago’s old main post office, died May 7, 2016, five days before the sale of the property to a New York company. He was 80. Read more.

Burt Katz, the pizza maker and co-owner of Burt’s Place restaurant in Morton Grove, died April 30, 2016. He was 78. The pizzeria, which he co-owned with his wife, Sharon, found worldwide fame after a 2009 visit from Anthony Bourdain for his TV show “No Reservations.” Read more.

Muhammad Salah, who became an early symbol of the U.S. government’s war on terror and galvanized Chicago’s Arab-American Muslim community shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, died April 24, 2016, of complications from cancer. He was 62. Read more.

Billy Zayas, the longtime co-host of Chicago’s Puerto Rican Day Parade on WLS-Ch.7, died of natural causes April 11, 2016, at his home in Logan Square. He was 69. Read more.

Juanita Passmore, a community activist who worked in the late Mayor Harold Washington’s administration, died of natural causes at the University of Chicago Medical Center on March 22, 2016. She was 90. Read more.

Bears quarterback Bill Wade, who helped lead the team to the 1963 championship with two touchdowns on quarterback sneaks in a 14-10 win over the Giants at Wrigley Field, died March 9, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. He was 85. Read more.

Attorney Joseph Roddy, who was known as a tireless advocate for Chicago police officers, priests and others accused of wrongdoing, died of lymphoma March 7, 2016. He was 77. Read more.

Dr. Quentin Young, a civil rights champion who pushed for public health reform and had patients such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Mayor Harold Washington, died of natural causes in Berkeley, Calif., March 7, 2016. He was 92. Read more.

Morgan Murphy Jr., who spent the 1970s in Congress and became well-known for his efforts against illegal drugs, died March 4, 2016 of prostate cancer. He was 83. Read more.

Silas Keehn, who was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago from 1981 to 1994, died of natural causes on Feb. 13, 2016, at his home in Evanston. He was 85. Read more.

Sidney Epstein, shown in 2006, was the former chairman of the Chicago engineering firm A. Epstein and Sons International, whose Chicago-area projects include everything from runways at O’Hare International Airport to the expansion of the McCormick Place convention center. Epstein died Feb. 3, 2016, in Miami after a stroke. He was 92. Read more.

Francis Akos, a member of the violin section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 48 years until his retirement in 2003, died Jan. 28, 2016, in Minneapolis following a brief illness. He was 93. Read more.

A versatile broadcaster on Chicago’s TV and radio stations from the 1940s through the ‘70s, Jim Conway co-anchored the first half-hour nightly news show on WGN-Ch. 9 and hosted the first local morning talk show on WLS-Ch. 7. Conway died of natural causes on Jan. 22, 2016, in Buffalo Grove. He was 94. Read more.

Johnny Bach, a key assistant coach under Phil Jackson during the Chicago Bulls’ first NBA title three-peat, died Jan. 18, 2016, from complications of a stroke. He was 91. Read more.

Lois Weisberg, who as the Cultural Affairs commissioner for the city of Chicago was an influential champion of the city’s arts/cultural/entertainment scene, died in Palmetto Bay, Fla., on Jan. 13, 2016. She was 90. Read more.

Aaron Gellman, director of the Transportation Center at Northwestern University, died of multiple organ failure in Glenview on Jan. 11, 2016. He was 85. Read more.

Chicago soul legend Otis Clay, left, a 2013 Blues Hall of Fame inductee, died Jan. 8, 2016. He was 73. Read more.