Virginia Ellen Ford

LOUISVILLE - Virginia Ellen “Ginny” Ford, 97, of Louisville, passed away Sunday, December 3, 2023. She was born August 19, 1926 in Louisville to the late, Edward “Whitie” and Minnie Purcell Whitener. She was a retired bookkeeper for 40 years with the Singer Sewing Machine Co., a member of Lyndon Baptist Church, the Purity Chapter of O.E.S., Red Hat’s, and LIFT with Arch L. Heady & Son.

She was preceded by her dear husband, John Thomas Ford, and her siblings; James Whitener and Elmer Henderson Whitener.

She is survived by nieces; Janice Whitener (Joseph Suggs), Dr. Virginia Louise “Ginny” Whitener (Dr. John Kearns), nephews, Eddie Whitener (Rhonda), and George Whitener.

Nieces and nephews; Bobby Campbell, Wade Campbell, Debbie McArdle, Randall Ford Sr., Martha Sue Hamilton, Sammy Douglas; Johnnie Douglas, and a host of great nieces and nephews, along with 3 special friends; Anna, Pam, and Donna.

Services to celebrate Ginny’s life will be held at 1:00 pm Monday, Dec. 11th, in the chapel of Arch L. Heady at Resthaven, 4400 Bardstown Road with interment to follow at Cave Hill. Visitation will be after 10 am on Monday, Dec. 11th.

Expressions of sympathy are requested to Kosair Children’s Hospital, or to Lyndon Baptist Church.

Juanita Castro, 90, the anti-communist sister of Cuban leaders Fidel and Raul Castro, died Dec. 4 in Miami, nearly 60 years after she fled their communist revolution. She had originally supported her older brothers’ efforts to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista, raising money and buying weapons. She said in her 2009 book that she became disillusioned when Fidel Castro became a hard-line communist after taking power in 1959 and pushed those who disagreed out of his government. She then fled Cuba in 1964 after secretly working with the CIA. She went to Mexico, then arrived in the U.S. a year later. She wasn’t initially accepted among Miami’s Cuban exile community, which viewed her with suspicion. But she mostly lived quietly and eventually became a respected member of the Cuban-American community, running a Little Havana pharmacy until 2007. She became a U.S. citizen in 1984.

Glenys Kinnock, 79, a former British Cabinet minister, member of the European Parliament and wife of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, died Dec. 3 at her London home, some six years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, her family said. Kinnock went from being a schoolteacher to an outspoken politician to Cabinet minister under former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and was known for her work to reduce poverty and starvation in Africa and other parts of the world. “She was a huge figure in progressive politics for decades: incredibly smart, brave, determined and resolute in standing up for what she believed was right,” said former Prime Minister Tony Blair. “Whether in fighting the cause of development, and the eradication of global poverty, social justice in Britain, equality for women or making the case for a European Union of weight and influence in the world, Glenys was passionate and persuasive.”

Denny Laine, 79, a British singer, songwriter and guitarist who performed in an early, pop-oriented version of the Moody Blues and was later Paul McCartney’s longtime sideman in the ex-Beatle’s band Wings, died Tuesday in Naples, Florida. The cause was interstitial lung disease, according to an announcement on Laine’s Instagram page by his wife, Elizabeth Hines. Laine sang lead on the Moody Blues’ breakthrough hit “Go Now” and with Wings performed on such hits as

Castro

“Band on the Run” and “My Love.” Laine continued to record and tour in recent years, his albums including “The Blue Musician.” He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of the Moody Blues, in 2018.

Norman Lear, 101, the producer who made TV topical in the 1970s with the sitcom “All in the Family,” died Tuesday night in his sleep, surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles, said Lara Bergthold, a spokesperson for his family. “All in the Family” starred Carroll O’Connor as die-hard conservative Archie Bunker, who clashed with his liberal son-in-law Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner) over racism, feminism and the Vietnam War. Jean Stapleton costarred as Archie’s befuddled but good-hearted wife, Edith, and Sally Struthers played the Bunkers’ daughter, Gloria, who defended her husband in arguments with Archie. It was one of a string of TV hits for Lear and then-partner Bud Yorkin that also included “Maude” and “The Jeffersons.” Lear and Yorkin also created “Good Times,” about a working class Black family in Chicago; “Sanford & Son,” a showcase for Redd Foxx as junkyard dealer Fred Sanford; and “One Day at a Time,” starring Bonnie Franklin as a single mother and Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips as her daughters. In the 1974-75 season, Lear and Yorkin produced five of the top 10 shows. Lear’s series reflected his political beliefs, which he put into action by founding the nonprofit liberal advocacy group People for the American Way.

Paul Snyder, 88, the behind-the-scenes architect of the Atlanta Braves’ rise to prominence in the 1990s, died Nov. 30, the team announced. No cause was given. Joining the Atlanta front office in the 1970s, Snyder played a key role in a scouting department that first spotted many of Atlanta’s future stars, including Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Javy Lopez and Andruw Jones. Those players and others scouted by Snyder took lead roles on Atlanta teams that won a record 14 straight division titles from 1991 to 2005, highlighted by a World Series championship in 1995. Snyder spent his entire career with the Braves, joining the organization in 1957 as a minor league player when the franchise was still based in Milwaukee. He also managed in the minors before moving to Atlanta’s front office in 1972.

Laine