41.8501° N, 87.6499° W

CHICAGO

Most Famous People Born in Chicago, USA

Notable people
7,467
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1940
Most distinctive
Baseball 5.2×

Big shoulders, broad bench. Chicago's notables are spread evenly across actors, politicians, and four major-league sports — the city is the dataset's largest baseball-and-basketball over-index outside the coasts — alongside a deep screenwriter and novelist tradition that gave the world Saul Bellow, David Mamet, and Ben Hecht. No single category dominates the way film does in Los Angeles or Wall Street does in New York, and the music economy alone runs from blues and house to first-wave hip-hop.

Standouts

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 850 notable births.

What Chicago Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is Chicago's biggest profession — 11% of all notables (813).

Chicago over-indexes on baseball 5.2× the global rate.

Chicago under-produces politician — only 0.5× the global rate.

  1. Actor 813 2.0×
  2. Politician 469 0.5×
  3. Football 462 0.6×
  4. Baseball 441 5.2×
  5. Basket 398 4.2×
  6. Music 312 2.9×
  7. Writer 220 0.9×
  8. Singer 207 1.3×
  1. Baseball 441 5.2×
  2. Basket 398 4.2×
  3. Screenwriter 128 3.9×
  4. Novelist 96 3.3×
  5. Music 312 2.9×
  6. Actor 813 2.0×
  7. Film 168 1.8×
  1. Politician 469 0.5×
  2. Football 462 0.6×
  3. Painter 116 0.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Chicago's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Music
  • Politics & Law
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Other
All7,467
Sort By

Showing 756 of 7,467 notable people

3084 HARPIST

Victor Salvi

1920 - 2015

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3086 BANDLEADER

Al Dvorin

1922 - 2004

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3113 CHEMIST

Charles Francis Curtiss

1921 - 2007

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3118 WRITER

David Ely

Born 1927

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3131 PHOTOGRAPHER

Richard Nickel

1928 - 1972

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3135 DRIVER

Eddie Russo

1925 - 2012

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3137 BASKET

Ed Earle

1927 - 2009

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3141 ARTIST

Franklin McMahon

1921 - 2012

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3144 BUSINESS

Andrew J. McKenna

Born 1929

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3150 PRIEST

Thad J. Jakubowski

1924 - 2013

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3157 POLITICIAN

Raymond F. Clevenger

1926 - 2016

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3162 HISTORIAN

William L. Moran

1921 - 2000

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3164 ACTOR

Mike Nussbaum

Born 1923

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3167 BASKET

Jack Phelan (basketball, born 1925)

Born 1925

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3178 BIOLOGIST

Jewel Plummer Cobb

1924 - 2017

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3181 ACTOR

George Kirby

1923 - 1995

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3186 PAINTER

Karl Benjamin

1925 - 2012

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3213 SCREENWRITER

Loring Mandel

1928 - 2020

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3251 ENTREPRENEUR

Edward Moskal

1924 - 2005

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3272 EDUCATION

Barbara T. Bowman

Born 1928

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3273 FOOTBALL

Bob Zimny

1921 - 2011

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3286 COMPOSER

Janet Maguire

Born 1927

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3356 FILM

Jordan Belson

1926 - 2011

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3375 MUSIC

Lee Katzman

1928 - 2013

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3397 FOOTBALL

Johnny Karras

1928 - 2008

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3403 ACADEMIC

Albert S. Kobayashi

Born 1924

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3429 HISTORIAN

Nathan Huggins

1927 - 1989

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3436 MOBSTER

Joseph Ferriola

1927 - 1989

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3439 ACTOR

Jimmy Nelson (ventriloquist)

1928 - 2019

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3442 JOURNALIST

Hal Bruno

1928 - 2011

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3445 PRIEST

John Quinn Weitzel

Born 1928

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3471 ACTOR

Muriel Landers

1921 - 1977

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3486 FBI AGENT

James P. Hosty

1924 - 2011

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3492 ARTIST

Henry Jacobs

1924 - 2015

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3513 JOURNALIST

Charles L. Bartlett (journalist)

1921 - 2017

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3523 BASKET

Al Miksis

1928 - 2009

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3528 PRIEST

John R. Gorman

Born 1925

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3544 MUSIC

Gene Allen (musician)

1928 - 2008

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3551 COACH

Jimmy Evert

1923 - 2015

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3553 BASKET

Richie Niemiera

1921 - 2003

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3580 WRITER

Nan C. Robertson

1926 - 2009

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3598 EDUCATION

Lloyd Rudolph

1927 - 2016

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3605 SPORT

Jerome Holtzman

1926 - 2008

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3608 ACADEMIC

Shirley Robin Letwin

1924 - 1993

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3624 COMPOSER

John Pozdro

1923 - 2009

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3640 POLITICAL SCIENTIST

John W. Ryan

1929 - 2011

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3641 ACTIVIST

Brownie Mary

1922 - 1999

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3644 SOCIOLOGIST

Linton Freeman

1927 - 2018

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3648 HISTORIAN

Martin Ridge (historian)

1923 - 2003

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3652 BUSINESS

Robert Pritzker

1926 - 2011

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3653 HISTORIAN

Perez Zagorin

1920 - 2009

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3661 BUSINESS

Jerrold Wexler

1924 - 1992

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3663 MUSIC

Ike Cole

1927 - 2001

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3684 LAWYER

Jewel Lafontant

1922 - 1997

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3689 PASTOR

Dave Breese

1926 - 2002

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3696 NOVELIST

Jean E. Karl

1927 - 2000

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3707 SCREENWRITER

Lee Phillip Bell

1928 - 2020

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3716 MATHEMATICIAN

Louis Norberg Howard

1929 - 2015

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3725 MUSIC

A. K. Salim

Born 1922

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3729 PHOTOGRAPHER

Victor Skrebneski

1929 - 2020

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3743 ACTOR

Frank Ray Perilli

1925 - 2018

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3753 ARTIST

Irwin Kremen

1925 - 2020

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3763 WRITER

Jane Trahey

1923 - 2000

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3766 ACADEMIC

Howard Wesley Johnson

1922 - 2009

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3768 DIPLOMAT

Robert Sherwood Dillon

Born 1929

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3785 DANCER

Allegra Fuller Snyder

Born 1927

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3801 REAL ESTATE

Dempsey Travis

1920 - 2009

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3804 JOURNALIST

Marshall Loeb

1929 - 2017

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3810 COMPOSER

Carlton Gamer

Born 1929

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3815 POLITICIAN

Russell Olson

1924 - 2010

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3830 MUSIC

Ronnie Singer

1928 - 1953

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3833 BUSINESS

Irv Levin

1921 - 1996

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3849 LAWYER

Owen M. Panner

1924 - 2018

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3861 PUBLISHER

Anita Miller (publisher)

1926 - 2018

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3885 SPORT

James Enoch Hill

1929 - 2018

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3909 MUSIC

Red Balaban

1929 - 2013

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3913 SCREENWRITER

Jac Venza

Born 1926

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3918 DJ

Herb Kent

1928 - 2016

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3919 SPORT

Virginia Halas McCaskey

Born 1923

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3939 JOURNALIST

Charlotte Curtis

1928 - 1987

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3940 PHILOSOPHER

Philip Hallie

1922 - 1994

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3950 PHILOSOPHER

Jordan Howard Sobel

1929 - 2010

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3955 JOURNALIST

Bill Flemming

1926 - 2007

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3962 ANTHROPOLOGIST

John Buettner-Janusch

1924 - 1992

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3967 LAWYER

Howard Thomas Markey

1920 - 2006

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3970 ACTOR

Wally Burr

1924 - 2017

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3973 MUSIC

Ewart Abner

1923 - 1997

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3984 RABBI

Arnold Jacob Wolf

1924 - 2008

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3998 SCREENWRITER

Tom Waldman

1922 - 1985

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4002 THEATRE

Shauneille Perry

Born 1929

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4016 BOXER

Harold Dade

1923 - 1962

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4036 SOCIOLOGIST

Joseph R. Gusfield

1923 - 2015

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4039 PRIEST

Nevin William Hayes

1922 - 1988

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4051 ACADEMIC

Vernon Alden

1923 - 2020

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4099 JOURNALIST

Robert Goralski

1928 - 1988

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4107 PRODUCER

Dick LaPalm

1927 - 2013

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4130 CELLIST

Paul Olefsky

1926 - 2013

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4146 SINGER

Eugene Smith (singer)

1921 - 2009

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4152 JOCKEY

Billy Pearson

1920 - 2002

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4159 AUTHOR

Arthur M. Brazier

1921 - 2010

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4167 ANIMATOR

Sam Kweskin

1924 - 2005

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4178 POLITICIAN

Paul St. Pierre

1923 - 2014

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4188 CHEMIST

Norman Larsen

1923 - 1970

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4191 FENCER

Edward Vebell

1921 - 2018

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4201 MUSIC

Ronald Clyne

1925 - 2006

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4215 PIANIST

Caesar Giovannini

1925 - 2017

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4234 ILLUSTRATOR

Constantinos Coconis

Born 1927

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4253 FILM

Rolf Forsberg

1925 - 2017

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4291 POLITICIAN

Donald Stephens

1928 - 2007

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4301 CHOREOGRAPHER

Beverly Schmidt Blossom

1926 - 2014

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4313 BASKET

Don Hanrahan

1929 - 2010

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4315 MATHEMATICIAN

Daniel Zelinsky

1922 - 2015

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4325 FOOTBALL

Pete Barbolak

1926 - 2006

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4336 PSYCHOLOGIST

Jack S. Annon

1929 - 2005

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4342 DIPLOMAT

Richard Llewellyn Williams

Born 1929

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4343 ACTOR

Archie Lang (actor)

1920 - 2016

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4366 SWIMMER

Jeanne Wilson

1926 - 2018

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4389 PRIEST

Lawrence James McNamara

1928 - 2004

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4407 PHOTOGRAPHER

Bert Andrews (photographer)

1929 - 1993

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4452 POLITICIAN

George Burditt (lawyer)

1922 - 2013

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4454 OFFICER

Walter Haut

1922 - 2005

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4457 CONDUCTOR

David L. Kaplan

1923 - 2015

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4466 PRIEST

James Richard Ham

1921 - 2002

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4468 OFFICER

Donald Conroy

1921 - 1998

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4480 LAWYER

Jim Barrett (winemaker)

1926 - 2013

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4485 WRITER

Jean Rikhoff

1928 - 2018

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4498 BASEBALL

Jim Hughes (1950s pitcher)

1923 - 2001

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4503 SOCIALITE

Lois Weisberg

1925 - 2016

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4513 HOCKEY

Ivan Irwin

1927 - 2019

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4519 MILITAR

John P. Fardy

1922 - 1945

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4544 BASEBALL

Walt Linden

1924 - 2013

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4547 BUSINESS

William J. Ruane

1925 - 2005

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4548 BASEBALL

Dick Sipek

1923 - 2005

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4549 SPORT

Frank Brilando

1925 - 2019

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4552 BASEBALL

Erv Dusak

1920 - 1994

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4559 WRITER

Doris E. Saunders

1921 - 2014

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4563 GEOLOGIST

Raymond Siever

1923 - 2004

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4564 GANGSTER

William Jackson (gangster)

1920 - 1961

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4569 PROFESSOR

Edwin Kuh

1925 - 1986

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4572 POLITICIAN

Grace Rohrer

1924 - 2011

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4587 ACTOR

Jane Webb

1925 - 2010

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4598 FOOTBALL

Bus Mertes

1921 - 2002

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4629 PRESENTER

Arthur Lawrence Hellyer Jr.

1923 - 2018

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4635 FOOTBALL

Marty Wendell

1926 - 2012

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4637 ZOOLOGIST

Donald Putnam Abbott

1920 - 1986

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4643 ACTOR

Anne Howard (actress)

1925 - 1991

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4650 FOOTBALL

Jack Karwales

1920 - 2004

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4670 HISTORIAN

Robert M. Kingdon

1927 - 2010

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4675 FOOTBALL

Zygmont Czarobski

1922 - 1984

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4682 EXECUTIVE

Gale Cincotta

1929 - 2001

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4684 WRITER

Joseph Ritz

1929 - 2016

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4685 COMMISSIONER

Donald W. Banner

1924 - 2006

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4713 SPORT

Al Stiller

1923 - 2004

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4740 POLITICIAN

Jeanne Hurley Simon

1922 - 2000

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4744 MUSIC

Cornbread Harris

Born 1927

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4752 CHOREOGRAPHER

Paul Sanasardo

Born 1928

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4756 DIPLOMAT

M. Larry Lawrence

1926 - 1996

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4764 ACTOR

Keith Hefner

1929 - 2016

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4802 FOOTBALL

Mike Swistowicz

1927 - 1973

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4805 AUTHOR

Larry Reithmaier

1921 - 2015

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4814 PUBLISHER

Waldo Hunt

1920 - 2009

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4820 ICE HOCKEY

Marguerite Norris

1927 - 1994

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4828 CIVIL RIGHTS

Hortense Canady

1927 - 2010

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4831 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Phillip Harold Lewis

1922 - 2011

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4844 BASEBALL

Boyd Bartley

1920 - 2012

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4848 ACADEMIC

John Howes

1924 - 2017

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4858 ACTOR

Harry Bernsen

1925 - 2008

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4860 FOOTBALL

George Meyer (soccer)

Born 1923

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4875 MUSIC

Oliver Colbentson

1927 - 2013

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4896 PRIEST

James Edward Michaels

1926 - 2010

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4929 BASEBALL

Ed Winceniak

Born 1929

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4931 HISTORIAN

Charles Stuart Kennedy

Born 1928

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4933 SCULPTOR

Carol Kreeger Davidson

1929 - 2014

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4940 LINGUIST

William Diver

1921 - 1995

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4941 FOOTBALL

Alf Bauman

1920 - 1980

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4954 BANK

Bram Goldsmith

1923 - 2016

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4957 ACTOR

Duane Grey

1921 - 2001

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4971 BASEBALL

Dick Wakefield

1921 - 1985

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4979 FOOTBALL

Ed Mieszkowski

1925 - 2004

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4982 BUSINESS

James R. Cargill

1923 - 2006

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4991 CHAMPION

Carl "Buster" Smith

1921 - 1992

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4997 ACTOR

Joan Gardner (voice actor)

1926 - 1992

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5009 GUITAR

Bob Bain

1924 - 2018

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5010 SWIMMER

Bill Heusner

1927 - 2002

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5024 FOOTBALL

Ed Bell

1921 - 1990

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5038 PLAYER

Seymour Greenberg

1920 - 2006

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5046 SPORT

Marvin Thomson

1923 - 1967

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5052 CARTOONIST

Frank Interlandi

1924 - 2010

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5057 WRITER

Jean Baer

1923 - 1992

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5065 POLITICIAN

Bernard Epton

1921 - 1987

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5085 BASEBALL

Marv Rotblatt

1927 - 2013

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5093 ACTOR

Pat Bond

1925 - 1990

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5097 BASEBALL

Bob Zick

1927 - 2017

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5100 MILITAR

Brunon Godlewski

1924 - 1989

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5116 BASEBALL

Don Carlsen

1926 - 2002

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5124 SPORT

Earl Gillespie

1922 - 2003

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5135 SPORT

Lloyd Pettit

1927 - 2003

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5142 FOOTBALL

Tiny Croft

1920 - 1977

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5147 MILITAR

Fred Olivi

1922 - 2004

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5148 LAWYER

Alvin Krenzler

1921 - 2010

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5156 EDITOR

William A. Hilliard

1927 - 2017

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5158 ARTIST

Paul Sarkisian

Born 1928

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5170 COMPOSER

Beverly Grigsby

Born 1928

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5172 BASEBALL

Dick Kokos

1928 - 1986

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5191 FOOTBALL

Joe Vodicka

1921 - 1995

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5200 SINGER

Marion Abernathy

1920 - 1960

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5203 PAINTER

Ralph Arnold

1928 - 2006

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5204 METEOROLOGIST

George W. Platzman

1920 - 2008

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5208 NEUROSCIENTIST

Edward Perl

1926 - 2014

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5209 INVENTOR

Frances Hugle

1927 - 1968

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5212 DANCER

Ruth Ann Koesun

1928 - 2018

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5221 PLAYER

Billy Rosen

1928 - 2019

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5240 BASEBALL

Ray Jablonski

1926 - 1985

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5245 GEOLOGIST

Jack Souther

1924 - 2014

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5253 BASEBALL

Lou Possehl

1926 - 1997

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5266 TEACHER

Barbara Sizemore

1927 - 2004

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5267 COMPOSER

Edwin R. Fissinger

1920 - 1990

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5276 DRIVER

Tom Pistone

Born 1929

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5286 MILITAR

John J. Hennessey

1921 - 2001

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5291 PSYCHOLOGIST

Ferdinand Merz

1924 - 1997

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5292 PLAYER

Grant Golden

1929 - 2018

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5308 FOOTBALL

Bob Skoglund

1925 - 1949

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5309 FOOTBALL

Bill Conterio

1929 - 2017

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5311 SCREENWRITER

Jerry Birn

1923 - 2009

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5344 POLITICIAN

Joanne H. Alter

1927 - 2008

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5365 ENGINEER

Peter Karter

1922 - 2010

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5366 FOOTBALL

George Schmidt

1927 - 1995

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5370 BUSINESS

John McCandish King

1927 - 2016

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5382 POLITICIAN

John J. Nimrod

1922 - 2009

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5402 COMPOSER

Tom Merriman

1924 - 2009

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5425 ENGINEER

Diogenes Angelakos

1920 - 1997

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5427 ENGINEER

John Francis Mitchell

1928 - 2009

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5456 BUSINESS

Robert Irsay

1923 - 1997

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5477 LAWYER

Tom Foran

1924 - 2000

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5478 ACTOR

John Bay

1928 - 1982

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5497 BROADCAST

William J. Small

1927 - 2020

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5500 ACTOR

Elaine Shore

1929 - 2007

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5503 ARMY

T. D. A. Lingo

1924 - 1993

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5505 LAWYER

Carl Olaf Bue Jr.

Born 1922

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5517 ATTORNEY

Mitchell P. Kobelinski

1928 - 1997

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5528 DRUMMER

Wilbur Campbell

1926 - 1999

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5529 POLITICIAN

Frank Henderson (Idaho politician)

1922 - 2015

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5545 FOOTBALL

Don Stonesifer

Born 1927

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5553 FOOTBALL

Jim Psaltis

Born 1927

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5557 MUSIC

Sam Distefano

1926 - 2015

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5565 BUSINESS

Andrew Athens

1921 - 2013

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5566 BASEBALL

Johnny Groth

Born 1926

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5576 LAWYER

John Reese Stevenson

1921 - 1997

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5579 AVIADOR

Irene Leverton

1927 - 2017

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5584 FOOTBALL

Charlie Gauer

1921 - 1973

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5589 FOOTBALL

Joe Skibinski

1928 - 2015

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5597 LAWYER

Nicholas John Bua

1925 - 2002

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5600 MILITAR

Michael D. Healy

1926 - 2018

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5611 INTELLIGENCE

Milan C. Miskovsky

1926 - 2009

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5614 FOOTBALL

Nick Adduci

1929 - 2005

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5615 ACTOR

Charles Rutherford

Born 1928

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5650 FOOTBALL

Don Johnson (American football)

Born 1920

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5651 CONDUCTOR

Bill Page

1925 - 2017

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5659 RESTAURATEUR

Arnie Morton

1922 - 2005

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5669 MILITAR

Edward J. Moskala

1921 - 1945

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5674 SWIMMER

Bob Gibe

1928 - 2005

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5680 WINEGROWER

Warren Winiarski

Born 1928

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5692 MEDIA

Mary Agnes Moroney

Born 1928

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5695 BASEBALL

John Sullivan (shortstop)

1920 - 2007

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5708 NOVELIST

Richard Himmel

1920 - 2000

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5719 AUTHOR

Justus George Lawler

Born 1927

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5727 VISUAL ARTIST

Irwin Rosenhouse

1924 - 2002

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5739 HISTORIAN

George Buelow

1929 - 2009

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5743 MISSIONARY

Alden E. Matthews

1921 - 2014

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5755 MILITAR

Richard E. Kraus

1925 - 1944

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5765 WRESTLER

Ray Gunkel

1924 - 1972

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5780 PAINTER

Kenneth Kilstrom

1922 - 1995

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5787 POLITICIAN

Myrna Williams (politician)

Born 1929

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5790 RACEHORSE

Richard L. Duchossois

Born 1921

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5798 TELEVISION

Frank Pacelli

1924 - 1997

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5807 HISTORIAN

E. C. Alft

Born 1925

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5819 POLITICIAN

Loren P. Thompson

1927 - 2015

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5826 FOOTBALL

Dick Steere

Born 1927

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5833 FOOTBALL

Chick Jagade

1926 - 1968

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5841 ENTREPRENEUR

William J. Cullerton

1923 - 2013

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5864 FILM

Jay Kanter

Born 1926

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5865 SINGER

Dolores Parker

Born 1920

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5869 POLITICIAN

William J. Scott (Illinois)

1926 - 1986

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5870 ADMIRAL

Paul T. Gillcrist

1929 - 2016

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5906 SONGWRITER

Milton Brunson

1929 - 1997

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5907 PAINTER

Roland Reiss

Born 1929

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5929 ADVERTISING

Frederick D. Sulcer

1926 - 2004

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5941 MILITAR

William G. Windrich

1921 - 1950

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5943 ACTOR

Ted Zeigler

1926 - 1999

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5949 COACH

Pat Filley

1923 - 2000

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5988 BASEBALL

Deacon Donahue

1920 - 2008

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5990 POLITICIAN

John White (Ontario politician)

1925 - 1996

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6020 MOBSTER

Dominic Cortina

1925 - 1999

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6050 THEATRE

Abena Joan Brown

1928 - 2015

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6053 BUSINESS

Chuck Comiskey

1925 - 2007

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6062 BASEBALL

Edythe Perlick

1922 - 2003

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6075 OFFICER

John H. Leims

1921 - 1985

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6081 LAWYER

Philip H. Corboy

1924 - 2012

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6088 LITERARY

Lea Bertani Vozar Newman

Born 1926

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6109 COACH

Nobby Wirkowski

1926 - 2014

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