Obituaries - Chattanooga Times Free Press

Chattanooga history maker John Franklin dies

Pioneering Chattanooga political figure John P. Franklin Sr. died Thursday at age 96.

By Staff Report June 21, 2018

In this 2009 staff file photo, John Franklin Sr., former vice mayor and the first elected black official in Chattanooga, talks to guests during an event held by the Chattanooga History Museum about M.L. King Boulevard.

Longtime public servant Claude Ramsey dies

Claude Ramsey, who rose from third-generation Hamilton County strawberry farmer to deputy governor of Tennessee, died Monday at the age of 75.

By Staff Report June 18, 2018

Decosimo CPA co-founder Jerry Adams dies

Jerry Adams, one of the founders of what became Chattanooga's biggest accounting firm, died Thursday in Chattanooga at the age of 74.

By Staff Report June 8, 2018

Wiedmer: C.M. Newton an irreplaceable basketball legend

Every now and then, especially during basketball season, I'd reach out to him, needing to pick the brilliant brain of the sweetest, toughest, brightest, most fair-minded man that college hoops has ever known.

By Mark Wiedmer June 6, 2018

In this March 26, 2012, file photo, C.M. Newton speaks during a news conference ahead of the 75th Anniversary NIT Championship at Madison Square Garden in New York. Officials at Alabama and Kentucky say that Hall of Fame former administrator and basketball coach C.M. Newton has died. He was 88. The schools announced his death Monday, June 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)

Handbag designer Kate Spade found dead in apparent suicide

Kate Spade, a fashion designer known for her sleek handbags, was found dead in her Park Avenue apartment Tuesday in an apparent suicide, police said. She was 55.

By Associated Press June 5, 2018

FILE - In this May 13, 2004 file photo, designer Kate Spade poses with handbags and shoes from her next collection in New York. Law enforcement officials say Tuesday, June 5, 2018, that New York fashion designer Kate Spade has been found dead in her apartment in an apparent suicide. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

Astronaut and moonwalker Alan Bean dies at 86

Former Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean, who was the fourth man to walk on the moon and later turned to painting to chronicle the moon landings on canvas, has died. He was 86.

By Associated Press May 28, 2018

In this July 15, 2009 file photo, Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean walks through the largest exhibition of his artwork to date, inspired by his experience walking on the moon, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing, in Washington. Bean, the Apollo and Skylab astronaut, fourth human to walk on the moon and an accomplished artist, has died. Bean, 86, died on Saturday, May 26, 2018 at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Philip Roth, fearless and celebrated author, dies at 85

Philip Roth, the prize-winning novelist and fearless narrator of sex, death, assimilation and fate, from the comic madness of "Portnoy's Complaint" to the elegiac lyricism of "American Pastoral," died Tuesday night at age 85.

By Associated Press May 24, 2018

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2008, file photo, author Philip Roth poses for a photo in the offices of his publisher, Houghton Mifflin, in New York. Roth, prize-winning novelist and fearless narrator of sex, religion and mortality, has died at age 85, his literary agent said Tuesday, May 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Former Georgia quarterback Andy Johnson dies

Former Georgia quarterback Andy Johnson died Wednesday after a long illness. He was 65.

By David Paschall May 17, 2018

Former Georgia quarterback Andy Johnson, who led the Bulldogs to an 11-1 record as a sophomore in 1971, died Wednesday at the age of 65.

Mike Slive, former Southeastern Conference commissioner, dies at 77

Mike Slive, the seventh commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, died Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala. He was 77.