Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style made her one of the top recordings artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday. She was 88.

Jerry Butler was a former Cook County board commissioner who would still perform on weekends and identify himself as Jerry “Iceman” Butler, a show business nickname given for his understated style.

Virginia McCaskey, who inherited the Chicago Bears from her father, George Halas, but avoided the spotlight during four-plus decades as principal owner, has died. She was 102.

Gene “Daddy G” Barge, an admired and durable saxophone player, songwriter and producer who worked on hits by Natalie Cole, oversaw recordings by Muddy Waters, performed with the Rolling Stones and helped inspire the dance classic “Quarter to Three,” has died in Chicago. He was 98.

Rich Hein, an intensely gifted photographer who spent four decades working at the Chicago Sun-Times, died Sunday. He was 70.

Cecile Richards served as president of Planned Parenthood from 2006 to 2018, helping boost the profile of an organization long criticized by conservatives and anti-abortion activists who have called on the government to strip its funding.

David Lynch was celebrated for his uniquely dark vision in such movies as “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive” and the TV series “Twin Peaks.”

José “Cha Cha” Jiménez in the 1960s founded the Young Lords as a street gang to counter the growing hostility toward the Puerto Rican community in Lincoln Park, at the time one of the most impoverished neighborhoods of Chicago.

David W. Grainger, a longtime supporter of WTTW who led W.W. Grainger Inc. for almost three decades and ran a family foundation dedicated to making a “positive difference,” died Jan. 9 at age 97.

Daniel Levin, a prominent real estate developer, Chicago civic leader and longtime supporter of WFMT and WTTW, died Jan. 11. He was 94.

All of Carter’s living successors were in attendance, with President Joe Biden, the first sitting senator to endorse his 1976 run for the White House, delivering a eulogy. Biden and others took turns praising Carter’s record and extolling his character.

The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said.

Greg Gumbel, the older brother of sportscaster Bryant Gumbel, grew up in Chicago. He won local Emmy Awards during his long career and was the recipient of the 2007 Pat Summerall Award for excellence in sports broadcasting.

Ella Jenkins was known for revolutionizing children’s music with her signature “call and response” style found throughout her performances. The self-taught musician became a leading figure in American folk and children’s music of the 20th century.

Barbara Taylor Bowman is known not only for her lifelong work in the field and for co-founding the Erikson Institute, but also as the mother of Valerie Jarrett, an advisor to former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

Quincy Jones rose from running with gangs on the South Side of Chicago to the very heights of show business, becoming one of the first Black executives to thrive in Hollywood and amassing an extraordinary musical catalog that includes some of the richest moments of American rhythm and song.