Their Stories

Jacques Pellen was a French jazz guitarist. Pellen worked with many musicians over the years such as Peter Gritz, Kenny Wheeler, Bruno Nevez, Henri Texier, Riccardo Del Fra, and violinist Didier Lockwood. He died of the coronavirus on April 21, 2020.

Gerson Peres was a Brazilian politician, lawyer and journalist from the state of Pará. He died of the coronavirus on April 21, 2020.

José María Calleja was a Spanish journalist, political prisoner during the Francisco Franco era and anti-ETA activist. He was born in Ponferrada. Until the end of the ETA’s activity, he had to live with bodyguards as he was under threat of death from the Basque terrorist group. He died of the coronavirus on April 21,…
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Alan Abel was an American percussionist, music educator, and inventor of musical instruments. He was the associate principal percussionist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1959 until his retirement in 1997. He is widely regarded as one of the most important percussion educators of the second half of the twentieth century, having taught at Temple University…
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Ricardo Brennand was a Brazilian businessman, engineer, and art collector in the state of Pernambuco. In 2002 he founded the Ricardo Brennand Institute, which includes the world’s largest private collection of Frans Post paintings, and was the 17th-highest-rated museum in the world according to TripAdvisor in 2014. He died of the coronavirus on April 25,…
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Henri Kichka was a Belgian writer and Holocaust survivor who was one of the leading figures in Holocaust education in Belgium. Kichka was the only member of his family to have survived the deportation of Belgian Jews to camps in Central and Eastern Europe. He began speaking on the importance of the memory of those…
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Roy Lester was an American college and high school football coach. After a successful career at the high school level, he served as the head coach of the University of Maryland football team from 1969 to 1971. He died of coronavirus on May 3, 2020.

David Greenfield was an English keyboardist, singer, and songwriter who was a member of rock band The Stranglers. He joined the band in 1975, within a year of its formation, and played with them for 45 years until his death. He died of the coronavirus on May 3, 2020.

Meyer Rubin was an American geologist known for his radiocarbon dating work with the United States Geological Survey. He died of the coronavirus on May 2, 2020.

Syahrul was an Indonesian politician, teacher, and member of the Great Indonesia Movement Party. He served as the Mayor of Tanjung Pinang, and capital and second largest city in the Riau Islands, from September 21, 2018, until his death. Prior to that office, Syahrul had served as Deputy Mayor of Tanjung Pinang from 2013 to…
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