30: In Memoriam
2019
Peter John Cutts, 70, of Falls Church, Va., a highly regarded professional photographer and 18-year member of the National Press Club, died July 3 of liver cancer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Read more here.
Sen. Richard Lugar, 87, the longest serving member of Congress from Indiana and a lunchtime regular at the Club, died April 28, at Inova Fairfax Heart and Vascular Institute in Virginia. Read more here.
William "Bill" Seamans, 93, an Emmy-winning journalist and National Press Club member from 1992 to 2011, died April 21 in Bedford, N.H. Read more here.
Max W. Fine, 92, a 56-year National Press Club communicator member and pioneer champion of making Medicare available to all Americans, died April 19. He had lived in Rockville, Md. Read more here.
Shobhana Chandra, 53, an economics reporter in the Bloomberg News Washington bureau and a National Press Club member for more than 13 years, died Wednesday, Feb. 20, following a flight from India to the United States. Read more here.
James G. Apple, 81, died Jan. 22. He lived in Louisville, Ky., and was a 26-year member of the Club.
Russell Baker, 93, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and a Fourth Estate Award honoree, died Jan. 21 at his home in Leesburg, Va. Read more here.
Don North, a member of the National Press Club for 22 years and a correspondent who covered the Vietnam war, died Jan. 7. Read more here.
Bernard Joseph "BJ" Cutler, 94, a National Press Club member from 1970 until 2005, died Jan. 2. Read more here.
Barry J. Carroll, 74, a businessman, adventurer, photographer, filmmaker and 35-year member of the National Press Club, died Dec. 23 after brief illness in Lake Forest, Ill. Read more here.
Thomas B. Allen, 89, a prolific author, historian and lecturer, died Dec. 11 of heart failure. He was a 26-year member of the National Press Club and lived in Bethesda, Maryland. Read more here.
John Fales, 78, known as "Sgt. Shaft," a vigorous advocate for veterans and a 25-year member of the National Press Club, died Nov. 26, 2018, of congestive heart failure. Read more here.
James McCaskill, 81, a seven-year member of the National Press Club, died Nov. 5. Read more here.
Evelyn Y. Davis, 89, editor and publisher of an investor newsletter whose philanthropy benefited nonprofit journalism organizations, died Nov. 4, 2018. Read more here.
Gwendolyn Gibson, 93, a pioneering female journalist whose career took her from the New York Herald Tribune to United Press International, died Aug. 13, 2018. Read more here.
Jan King, 74, a former member of the National Press Club who was active on the Book and Author Committee, died Aug. 11, 2018 in San Diego after a long battle with cancer. Read more here.
Naaman Seigle, 94, a former reporter, editor and economic researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture who for 45 years made the National Press Club an important part of his life, died on Aug. 5, 2018 in Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. Read more here.
John D. Morrocco, 65, a nine-year member of the National Press Club and an aviation reporter before becoming director of communications for Boeing, died July 30 at his home in Bethesda. Read more here.
John Koenig Jr., 102, a former Associated Press staffer in Washington, D.C., and a long-time National Press Club member, died in July at his retirement residence in Athens, Ga. Koenig joined the Washington AP bureau and the Club in 1956 after working for the wire service in Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pa. Read more here.
Steven D. Ivins, 81, a National Press Club member during his 27 years as editor of The Kiplinger Tax Letter, died June 7, 2018 after a long battle with cancer. Read more here.
Peggy Goodrich, 85, wife of the founder of the National Press Club’s Silver Owls, died June 2 in Ocean City, NJ, following a short illness. Read more here.
Julia Cooper Schoo, 69, whose keen appreciation for art and journalism helped to secure the financial future of the National Press Club and its nonprofit Journalism Institute, died May 9, 2018 at her home in Bethesda. Read more here.
Connie Lawn, 73, a veteran independent reporter who spent 50 years covering The White House, died April 2, 2018, at her Lake Barcroft home in Falls Church, Va. Read more here.
Federico Klein, 78, a communicator member of the National Press Club since 2011, died March 21, 2018. Read more here.
Peter Grant Mayberry, 57, whose firm Mayberry & Associates worked for several trade advocacy groups, died suddenly of natural causes at his home in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 15, 2018. He was a National Press Club member for two years. Read more here.
George B. Bookman, 103, the longest-ever member of the National Press Club at 79 years, died on Jan. 24, 2018 in Seattle. He joined the Club on Nov. 1, 1938, while a reporter for The Washington Post, and maintained his membership during a career in journalism and public affairs that took him to Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Read more here.
2017
Simeon Booker, 99, a Golden Owl member and National Press Club Fourth Estate Award winner, died Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017. Booker in 1956 became the second African-American to join the Club. Read more here.
Kenneth Eskey, 87, National Press Club Silver Owl, former Speakers Committee chairman and a journalist at Scripps Howard News Service, died Nov. 29, 2017 in Hanover, N.H.. Read more here.
Donald Ford, 86, a longtime science educator who became a technical writer for magazines, died June 12 at his home in Alexandria, Va. Read more here.
David Hess, 83, who presided over the Washington Press Club merger as 1985 National Press Club president, died July 19, 2017 at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where he had moved to live near family after many decades in Washington, D.C. Read more here.
Donald R. Larrabee, National Press Club president in 1973 and a founding member of the board of the National Press Foundation in 1976, died July 18, 2017 at the Sunrise on Connecticut home in Washington. Read more here.
2016
Edgar A. Poe, Jr., 80, a veteran editor at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, died Oct. 24, 2016, after suffering a stroke. He had lived in Lancaster, Virginia, and had been a National Press Club member for 16 years. Read more here.
Art Wiese, 69, a former National Press Club president who began his journalism career at The Houston Post, died April 22, 2016. Read more here.
Douglas R. Fleming, 93, a retired Navy aviator, publisher and 36-year member of the NPC, died Jan. 21, 2016 in Alexandria, Va. Read more here.
Douglas P. Baldwin, 79, an international media consultant and a 53-year member of the National Press Club, died Jan. 2 in Snohomish, Washington. Read more here.
2015
Barbara S. Bahny, 56, Club member for 14 years.
Austin H. Kiplinger, winner of the Fourth Estate Award in 2005, died Nov. 20 at age 97. Read the obit here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/austin-h-kiplinger-dc-publisher-and-philanthropist-dies-at-97/2015/11/21/d396ff48-9062-11e5-baf4-bdf37355da0c_story.html
Samuel H. Murray, 91, a tax lawyer, writer and Club member for 55 years, died May 17, 2015. He lived in North Potomac, Md. Read more here.
Grace Johnsen-Koss, 95, of Luxemburg, Wis., a 36-year member of the National Press Club, died March 27 in Green Bay. Read more here.
Arnaud de Borchgrave, an intrepid journalist who made his mark as a war correspondent, had a distinguished career with United Press International, Newsweek and the Washington Times, died on Feb 15. He was 88. Read more here.
2014
Winthrop "Win" Peirce Carty, 87, who worked as a correspondent for Time and Life magazines in Bogota, Colombia during the country's period of dictatorship and revolution, died Oct. 10, 2014. Read more here.
Marilou Donahue, 82, who brought blockbuster luncheon speakers to the National Press Club, died on Friday, Aug. 8 after a brief illness. Read more.
Michael Shanahan, political reporter and educator. He taught at George Washington University. Story here: http://www.press.org/news-multimedia/news/life-political-reporter-and-educator-mike-shanahan-be-celebrated-dec-6
Kemi Aubuchon, widow of former Club President John Aubuchon. She was a widow member since 2003.
David R. Dear, 86, died Feb. 22. He was a member for 61 years,and lived in Potomac, Maryland. More here.
Charles D. Brown, 102, of Fairfax, Va., a Golden Owl known for hosting "Transportation Table," died on March 22. More here.
David Nydick , a 25-year member, lived in New York.
2013
Chris Battle, 45, of Alexandria, Va., a public relations innovator for Adfero Group and former Hill and Bush Administration chief of staff, died Aug. 8 in Savannah, Ga. For a complete obituary, click here.
2012
Irwin Goodwin, 85, a prize-winning science writer for Physics Today and Club member for 20 years, died in September 20 in Alexandria, Va. For a complete obituary, click here.
Col. Kenneth D. Blackshaw, 94, retired Air Force public affairs officer and former commander of the NPC's Post 20 of the American Legion, died April 14 in Arlington, VA. He was a Silver Owl and a 45-year member of the Club. For a complete obituary, click here.
Winzola "Winnie" Poole McLendon of Washington, D.C., retired reporter with The Washington Post, magazine writer and author, died March 1. She was a Golden Owl and a Club member for 61 years. For a complete obituary, click here.
Ann D. Schmidt, 85, of Washington, D.C., retired journalist and columnist for The Denver Post and other Colorado newspapers, died Feb. 10. She was a Silver Owl. For a complete obituary, click here.
Carl Hartman, 95, of Washington, DC, retired Associated Press correspondent in Europe and the U.S., died Feb. 5. He was a Golden Owl and a 70-year member of the Club. For a complete obituary, click here.
Roger E. Coleman Jr., 74, of Lottsburg, VA, retired public relations specialist with several trade associations, died Jan. 21. For a complete obituary, click here.