She was the widow of Israeli air force Colonel Ilan Ramon, the only Israeli astronaut, who was killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The couple had four children, the eldest age 15 when they were orphaned. Assaf, the eldest son, followed his father in joining the air force and became a pilot. Shortly after completing his course, he was killed in a training accident, crashing his F16 fighter jet. This was six years after his father's death. Assaf Ramon was promoted to the rank of Captain upon his death.
Ramon died at the age of 54 from pancreatic cancer on 17 December 2018.
Francis Roache
Francis Michael Roache (August 3, 1936 – December 17, 2018) was an American policeman and politician. He was the Boston Police Commissioner from 1985 to 1993, was a member of the Boston City Council from 1996 to 2002, and was Suffolk County Register of Deeds from 2002 to 2015. He ran for Mayor of Boston in 1993.
Roache was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He studied at Boston State College. Roache died on December 17, 2018 in Boston, at the age of 82.
Tömür Dawamat
Tömür Dawamat (; ; June 16, 1927 – December 19, 2018) was a Chinese politician. He was born in Toksun, Xinjiang, China. Dawamat was the chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China from 1985 to 1993.
Dawamat died on December 19, 2018 at the age of 91.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are fictional characters from the "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" cartoon series. In the cartoons, the Coyote repeatedly tries to catch the Road Runner. However, the Road Runner runs very fast. That means the Coyote never gets the Road Runner.
Instead of his animal instincts, the Coyote uses complex traps to get his prey. They don't work, and often hurt the Coyote instead. Many of these traps are mail-ordered from companies named Acme.
The characters were made by writer Michael Maltese and animation director Chuck Jones in 1948. They were made for the Warner Bros. network.
It was originally meant to parody chase cartoons, like "Tom and Jerry". It became popular in its own right.
The Coyote and the Road Runner were in a number of video games on Atari, the Nintendo Entertainment System and the PlayStation.
Julie Gonzalo
Julieta Susana "Julie" Gonzalo (; born September 9, 1981) is an Argentine-American actress and producer. She was born in Buenos Aires. She starred as Pamela Rebecca Barnes in the TNT drama series "Dallas" (2012–14).
Gonzalo is also known for her roles in movies, including "Freaky Friday", "A Cinderella Story", and "Christmas with the Kranks", and on television series "Veronica Mars" and "Eli Stone".
David C. H. Austin
David Charles Henshaw Austin (16 February 1926 – 18 December 2018) was an English rose breeder and writer. His work was impacting on breeding roses with the character and fragrance of old garden roses (such as gallicas, damasks and alba roses). In 2010, he was named a "Great Rosarian of the World".
Austin was born in Wolverhampton, England and died on 18 December 2018 in Shropshire, England at the age of 92.
Alex Badeh
Alex Sabundu Badeh (November 7, 1957 – December 18, 2018) was a Nigerian politician and general. He was a four star flag officer of the Nigerian Air force. He was the 18th Chief of Air Staff and the 15th Chief of Defence Staff of the armed forces of Nigeria from 2014 to 2015.
Badeh was shot dead while driving near Abuja on December 18, 2018 at the age of 61.
Steve Daskewisz
Steve Daskewisz (March 14, 1944 – December 18, 2018) was an American actor and stuntman. He was known for his role as a stunt double supporting the serial killer Jason Voorhees in the movie "Friday the 13th Part 2". He had small roles in "Wolfen" and "The Jazz Singer".
Daskewisz died on December 18, 2018 in West Palm Beach, Florida from complications of diabetes, aged 74.
Kazimierz Kutz
Kazimierz Julian Kutz (16 February 1929 – 18 December 2018) was a Polish movie director, author, journalist and politician. He was born in Katowice, Poland. His best known director works were "Salt of the Black Earth", "Pearl in the Crown" and "Reverted". From 1997 to 2009, Kutz was a Deputy Senator.
Kutz died on 18 December 2018 in Warsaw from respiratory failure at the age of 89.
Peter Masterson
Peter Masterson (June 1, 1934 – December 19, 2018) was an American actor, movie director, producer and playwright. He was born in Houston, Texas. He was known for writing the musical "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas". Her daughter is Mary Stuart Masterson.
His acting roles include "Ambush Bay" (1966), "In the Heat of the Night" (1967), "Counterpoint" (1968), "Von Richthofen and Brown" (1971), "Tomorrow" (1972), "The Exorcist" (1973), "Man on a Swing" (1974) and "Gardens of Stone" (1987). In 1978, he won the Drama Desk Award.
Masterson died on December 19, 2018 after suffering a fall at his home in Kinderhook, New York, aged 84.
Kinderhook, New York
Kinderhook is a town in the northern part of Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 8,357 as of 2018, making it the municipality with the most people in the county The name of the town comes from the phrase "bend in the corner where the children are" in the language of the original Dutch settlers, by the Dutch word "Kinderhoek." The eighth president of the United States, Martin Van Buren was born in Kinderhook.
The city of Kinderhook has two villages and one hamlet.
Kinderhook was originally spelled 'Kinderhoek' by famous explorer Henry Hudson in 1609, when spotting some American Indian children looking at his ship, the Half Moon sailing upstream.
Hudson had many other encounters with the Indians, who were from the Mohican tribe, such as trading and skirmishing. When the Dutch settled Kinderhook, they had further warfare. However, the Dutch and established it as a district in 1772 and a town in 1788. Since then, the town lost a lot of land to other towns. In 1775, Chatham took a significant portion of the town, followed by Ghent in 1818 and Stuyvesant in 1823. Kinderhook is one of the original towns of Columbia County and as a result is the most populous.
The town has a total area of 32.4 square miles (83.9 km), of which 31.8 square miles (82.4 km) is land and 0.62 square miles (1.6 km), or 1.87%, is water, including Kinderhook Lake, Kinderhook Creek, and the waterfalls of Valatie. The north part of the town forms the border between Columbia and Rensselar County. U.S. Route 9 and New York State Route 9H pass through Kinderhook.
The retirement home of U.S. President Martin Van Buren, Lindenwald is in Kinderhook, as well as the famous Luykas Van Alen House, a National Historic Landmark said to be the inspiration for the Van Tassel Family in Washington Irving's book "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", along with character Jesse Merwin. In honour of this fact, the Ichabod Crane schoolhouse was built next to the van Alen House in 1850, and is also a National Historic Landmark. The other two Landmarks are the James Vanderpoel House of History and the CCHS Museum & Library Building.
The Columbia County Historical Society has its headquarters in Kinderhook. In addition to managing the four National Historic Landmarks of Kinderhook, it owns and displays a permanent collection of important genealogical materials, along with paintings, furniture, and other art related to the culture of Columbia County.
The Martin Van Buren Public School now no longer holds classes, but does have an international gallery of contemporary art, named "The School". It is owned by the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City.
In the 2018 American Community Survey 5-Year-Estimate, there were 8,357 people. The races in Kinderhook were 94.6% white, 0.6% black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaska Native, 0.5% Asian, 3.1% from other races, and 1% two or more races.