Whipped Cream Difficulties

A large handful of interesting obits showed up over the weekend. I decided I’d save them and do a round-up today.

Officer Norberto Ramon of the Houston Police Department passed away on Friday. He had been undergoing treatment for colon cancer, but was told it had spread and was incurable. He intended to seek medical treatment in Oklahoma, but, as it turned out, this was right before Harvey hit Houston…

Prior to the storm, Ramon had been assigned desk duty. Flooding prevented him from getting to the office, so he went to the nearest station, the Lake Patrol, to help while the storm raged.
At Lake Patrol, he filled in for an officer of the seven-man squad. He worked nonstop for three days, seeing adults, seniors and mostly children to safety.

The HPD estimates he rescued 1,500 people during the storm. Officer Ramon was 55 years old, and had been with HPD for 25 years.

Reinhard Hardegen, German submarine commander who sank two ships off Long Island in 1942.

Yvette Horner, noted French accordion player.

…her considerable legend was rooted in the years she spent as a distinctive part of the grand caravan that accompanies the Tour de France, the sprawling French bicycle race. For more than a decade in the 1950s and ’60s she played for the crowds from atop one vehicle or another as the caravan made its way along the tour route ahead of the cyclists.

William Reese, rare book dealer. I was previously unaware of Mr. Reese or his shop, but after reading his obit, I want a copy of Six Score: The 120 Best Books on the Range Cattle Industry. Stuff like that is already up my alley anyway.

Stephen Reid, bank robber and author.

Along with Patrick Mitchell, who was known as Paddy, and Lionel Wright, Mr. Reid was a member of a group of well-dressed bandits who came to be known as the The Stop Watch Gang. The name appeared to have come from F.B.I. investigators who noticed that at least one gang member, usually Mr. Reid, wore a stopwatch around his neck to keep holdups within the group’s self-imposed two-minute time limit.
While there is no precise accounting of their crimes, the police have estimated that the gang participated in at least 100 holdups during the 1970s and ′80s, getting away with about $15 million.

Matt “Guitar” Murphy, Blues Brother and noted sideman.

Neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post has published an obit for Gardner Dozois, as best as I can tell.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 18th, 2018 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Books, Cops, History, Law, Movies, Music, Nazis, Obits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.