People We’ll Miss—2014
A fond look back at 16 Texans—and three beloved Texas animals—who died in 2014.
The end of a year is time for reflection, to cheer victories and lament losses. And sometimes those losses are quite palpable, like the death of loved ones who won’t be coming into the next year with us.
In 2014, Texas saw the passing of some politcal, cultural, and business giants—Robert Strauss, Johnny Winter, and Bunker Hunt, just to name a few—and great tragedy reverberated through the state when an allegedly drunk driver crashed through a barricade in downtown Austin during SXSW, killing four people.
But here we wanted to remember a few people whose deaths may not have made the same national headlines, yet whose stories need to be told nonetheless: a man who was a loyal salesman for Lone Star for more than sixty years; a woman devoted to justice to her dying day; and a codebreaker during WWII, among thirteen others. And for those on the list whose fame extended beyond our state’s borders, we share how their time in Texas influenced their lives.
This list is by no means comprehensive, and we know that many others died in 2014 too. Please feel free to tell their stories in the comments, as a way to remember the people who made our state—and our lives—great.