Maureen McCarry, 62, a former Issaquah City Council member and a longtime community leader who made the environment a priority, died Wednesday of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

The Rev. Rodney Ross Romney, 81, who welcomed a diverse array of people to Seattle First Baptist Church on Capitol Hill, where he served as senior minister from 1980 to 2000, and who had a radio show on KIRO FM, died June 30 at his home in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The Rev. Dave Watson, 51, of Kent, a beloved Green River Community College instructor, a host for international students learning English, and an ordained minister, died Wednesday while sledding at Mount Rainier.

Andy Griffith, 86, the actor who as sheriff of Mayberry in "The Andy Griffith Show" created an endearing portrait of a place where few people grew up but many wished they had, and who went on to lead another long-running TV series, "Matlock," died Tuesday at his home on Roanoke Island in North Carolina. He had a cardiac ailment.

Ben Davidson, 72, a former UW Husky who with the Oakland Raiders in 1964-71 was one of football's premier defensive ends and who later remained in the spotlight with a slew of acting roles, died of cancer Monday.

Doris Sams, 85, a pitcher and outfielder from Knoxville, Tenn., who helped inspire the movie "A League of Their Own," died of Alzheimer's disease June 28 in Knoxville. She was a leading player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League for eight years, averaging more than .300 each of her last four seasons.

The Rev. John E. Brooks, 88, a Jesuit priest and president of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., who as a professor there after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. set out on a mission that led to the integration of what had been an all-male and virtually all-white institution, died of lymphoma Monday in Worcester.

Jim Drake, 83, an aeronautical engineer who helped design the X-15 rocket plane and the Tomahawk Cruise Missile and created the Windsurfer, a surfboard with a sail that became synonymous with sailboarding, died of pulmonary fibrosis June 19 in Pfafftown, N.C.

Evelyn Lear, 86, an American soprano who became a star in Europe in the 1950s and later won acclaim in the U.S. for singing some of the most difficult roles in contemporary opera, died last Sunday in Sandy Spring, Md.

Julian Goodman, 90, who as president of NBC in the 1960s and 1970s stoutly defended his network's coverage of the Vietnam War against criticism from the Nixon White House, died July 2 in Juno Beach, Fla.

Jimmy Bivins, 92, a heavyweight boxer in the '40s and '50s who never competed for a world title but defeated some of the greatest fighters of his time, died Wednesday in Cleveland.

Sergio Pininfarina, 85, whose design firm created the rakish and elegant auto bodies of some of the most popular, and fastest, cars ever made by Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Fiat, died Tuesday in Turin, Italy.

Dr. Gabriel G. Nahas, 92, a controversial medical researcher who became a prominent crusader against marijuana, died June 28 in Manhattan.