NOTABLE DEATHS

Ben Dunne, 74, an Irish businessman who survived a kidnapping by the IRA and triggered a scandal that shook Ireland’s politics, has died. The supermarket tycoon’s son Robert confirmed his death to the news website Extra.ie. Irish media reported the the elder Dunne died Nov. 18 of a heart attack during a trip to Dubai. He was a former director of family-owned supermarket chain Dunnes Stores and founder of the Ben Dunne Gyms fitness centers. In 1981, masked gunmen from the Irish Republican Army kidnapped Dunne as he was on his way to open a store. He was released a week later. Revelations in 1996 about his payments to politicians caused a huge scandal. Rosalynn Carter, 96, former first lady and the wife of former President Jimmy Carter, died Nov. 19 at her home in Plains, Georgia, with her family at her side. She had lived with dementia and suffering many months of declining health, and had entered hospice care at home days earlier. The Carter Center in Atlanta announced her death. Rosalynn Carter was married to Jimmy Carter for more than 77 years, and both said she was the more political of the pair. Unlike many previous first ladies, Rosalynn Carter sat in on Cabinet meetings and spoke out on controversial issues. President Carter even sent her on a trip to Latin America to tell dictators he meant what he said on human rights. Throughout her husband’s political career, she chose mental health and problems of the elderly as her signature policy emphasis. Together, Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter also co-founded The Carter Center to continue their work. Frequently, the Carters left home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and promoting public health and democracy across the developing world. The former president, now 99, remains at the couple’s home in Plains after entering hospice care himself in February.

Harald Hasselbach, 56, a defensive lineman for the Denver Broncos during the team’s back-to-back Super Bowl championships in the late 1990s, has died. The Broncos announced Hasselbach’s death on Thursday, citing family. Hasselbach’s family said he died at home in the Denver area after a sixmonth fight with cancer. Hasselback began his career with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He’s one of 10 players to win a Grey Cup and a Super Bowl. A native of the Netherlands, Hasselbach played at the University of Washington after growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Willie Hernández, 69, three-time Allstar relief pitcher who won the 1984 Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards as part of the World Series champion Detroit Tigers, has died. Tigers spokesman Chad Crunk said on Tuesday that the franchise confirmed Hernández’s death with his family. No cause was immediately provided. Guillermo Hernández was born in Aguada, Puerto Rico, on Nov. 14, 1954. The left-handed Hernández had a 13-year career but is mostly known for his role as the closer on one of the most dominant teams in the past 40 years. He is one of just 11 pitchers to win the Cy Young and MVP in the same season. In 1988, Hernández asked the team to have the public address announcer refer to him as Guillermo, and he went by that for the rest of his career.

Ron Hodges, 74, a catcher who spent his entire 12-season major league career with the New York Mets, died Friday. Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz says Hodges died at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital after a short illness. Selected by the Mets from Appalachian State in the second round of the second phase of the January 1972 amateur draft, Hodges finished with a .240 batting average, 19 homers and 147 RBIS. Hodges had a .342 on-base percentage with 224 walks and 217 strikeouts. Daisaku Ikeda, 95, who headed Soka Gakkai, a Japanese Buddhist organization that includes Herbie Hancock and other celebrities in its fold, has died. The Japanese religious organization said that Ikeda died on Nov. 15 at his Tokyo home from “natural causes.” Along with his two predecessors, Ikeda is credited with reviving Nichiren Buddhism in the modern age, making it more accessible for present-day practitioners by emphasizing the importance of happiness. Soka Gakkai has been set up in 192 countries, drawing more than 8 million member households in Japan, and nearly 3 million people outside Japan, according to the organization. Eddie Merrins, 91, who was known as “The Little Pro” because of his 5-foot-7 stature, died Wednesday in Los Angeles after a long illness, according to UCLA, where he coached golf for 14 years. The nickname surely had nothing to do with his giant influence on golf. Merrins was famous for his driving cap and his passion. He played a little on the PGA Tour. But his real joy was teaching. He took over as head pro at Bel-air Country Club in Los Angeles in 1962 and stayed there the better part of 50 years. He taught everyone from major champions like Corey Pavin to Hollywood legends like Fred Astaire.

Carlton Pearson, 70, the founder of a former megachurch in Oklahoma known for rejecting the idea of hell and supporting gay rights, has died. Bishop died Nov. 19 in hospice care in Tulsa due to cancer, according to his agent. Pearson founded Higher Dimensions Family Church in Tulsa, and by 2000 its membership reached 6,000. Membership fell to a few hundred by 2008 after Pearson began teaching what he called “the gospel of inclusion,” a form of universalism, which does not recognize hell.