Rush Limbaugh, the talk radio host who ripped into liberals and laid waste to political correctness with a merry brand of malice that made him one of the most powerful voices on the American right, influencing the rightward push of conservatism and the rise of Donald Trump, died Wednesday. He was 70.

Mary Wilson, one of the original members of the Supremes, the 1960s group that helped define the Motown sound and style and propelled Diana Ross to superstardom, has died. She was 76.

The former chemistry teacher who went on to battle former Mayor Rahm Emanuel throughout her tenure as the head of the Chicago Teachers Union, and nearly ran for mayor herself, has died. She was 67 years old.

Dianne Durham, the first Black woman to win a USA Gymnastics national championship, died Thursday in Chicago following a short illness, her husband said. She was 52.

Rennie Davis, one of the “Chicago Seven” activists who was tried for organizing an anti-Vietnam War protest outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago in which thousands clashed with police in a bloody confrontation that horrified a nation watching live on television, has died.

Larry King, the suspenders-sporting everyman whose broadcast interviews with world leaders, movie stars and ordinary Joes helped define American conversation for a half-century, died Saturday. He was 87.

Trailblazing sports reporter Jeannie Morris, the first woman to cover the Super Bowl who is perhaps best known for her book “Brian Piccolo: A Short Season” that was later turned into the film “Brian’s Song,” died Monday.

The owner of Gerri’s Palm Tavern appeared in a few WTTW features over the years, including a 1987 special about 47th Street called “Precious Memories.” We revisit that conversation.

The Philadelphia Phillies, the team Dick Allen started out with, announced his death Monday. The seven-time All-Star, 1964 NL Rookie of the Year and 1972 AL MVP started out with the Philadelphia Phillies, who retired his No. 15 in September.

Guadalupe Lopez died earlier this month of COVID-19. He was 58 and among the essential workers who must show up to work, and one of the more than 9,100 people who have died from the disease in the Chicago area.

Diego Maradona’s spokesman, Sebastián Sanchi, said he died Wednesday of a heart attack, two weeks after being released from a hospital in Buenos Aires following brain surgery.

In the 1960s, Maria Cerda became the first Latina member of the Chicago Board of Education and a pioneering advocate for bilingual classes. We talk with her son about her legacy in Chicago and across the nation.

Friends, family members and former students gathered virtually on Sunday to remember longtime Chicago yoga teacher and therapist Catherine Ashton, who died Nov. 14 as a result of pancreatic cancer.

Alex Trebek, who presided over the beloved quiz show “Jeopardy!” for more than 30 years with dapper charm and a touch of school-master strictness, died Sunday. He was 80. 

Sean Connery, the charismatic Scottish actor who rose to international superstardom as suave, fearless secret agent James Bond and then carved out an equally successful, Oscar-winning career, has died. He was 90.

Nicknamed “The Kansas Comet” and considered among the best open-field runners the game has ever seen, Gale Sayers died Wednesday, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.