2021 deaths

Hipólito Chaiña Contreras (February 3, 1954 – 22 February 2021) was a Peruvian physician and politician.

Michel Tubiana (24 November 1952 – 2 October 2021) was a French jurist and lawyer. He served as President of the Human Rights League of France from 2000 to 2005.

François Vérove (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa veʁɔv]; 22 January 1962 – 29 September 2021), also known as Le Grêlé ([lə ɡʁɛle, ɡʁele], the "Pockmarked Man"), was a French serial killer, rapist and police officer who murdered at least three people between 1986 and 1994 in the Île-de-France region. He received his nickname from acne scars seen on his face by witnesses following his first murder. Vérove committed suicide in September 2021 upon realizing that he was about to be identified.
Vérove's first murder, that of 11-year-old Cécile Bloch, took place in the 19th arrondissement of Paris in 1986. The following year he murdered two adults in the 4th arrondissement. He was linked to two further murders in 1991 and 1994, as well as two rapes in 1987 and 1994. During his crime spree, Vérove belonged to various French police forces; he was a member of the National Gendarmerie between 1983 and 1988, serving as a motorcyclist in the Republican Guard, then became an officer in the National Police in Paris until his retirement in 2019. He briefly held elected office as a municipal councillor in Prades-le-Lez, Hérault, between 2019 and 2020.
On 24 September 2021, Vérove received a police summons to provide a DNA sample as part of an investigation into the Bloch killing. His wife reported him missing on 27 September. Two days later, Vérove killed himself by barbiturate overdose in a rented flat in Le Grau-du-Roi, Gard. He left behind a suicide note in which he confessed to his crimes.

Lawrence Donald Soens (August 26, 1926 – November 1, 2021) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. In 2008, the Diocese of Davenport in Iowa announced multiple credible accusations that Soens had sexually abused children as a priest. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City in Iowa from 1983 to 1998.

John Harrison Frick Jr., also known as Mark Elliott (September 24, 1939 – April 3, 2021), was an American voice-over artist who performed numerous voice-overs for The Walt Disney Company from 1983 to 2008. He was also the voice of CBS and FOX throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and various theatrical trailers for other animated films.

Robert Herron (September 23, 1924 – October 10, 2021) was an American stuntman and actor, best known for performing stunts in hundreds of Hollywood films between 1950 and 2011.
Herron was born in Lomita, California in September 1924. He began his career in the early 1950s, appearing in films and television series as an actor and as a stunt performer. His work includes The Ten Commandments (1956), Rio Bravo (1959), Spartacus (1960), The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), The Wild Bunch (1969), Shaft (1971), Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Rocky (1976).He died from complications of a fall on October 10, 2021, at the age of 97.

Leon Black (February 21, 1932 – October 12, 2021) was an American college basketball coach.Black, who coached the Texas Longhorns men's basketball team from 1967 to 1976, guided the Longhorns to two NCAA Tournaments as a result of winning the Southwest Conference twice in his nine seasons as head coach. The Longhorns lost in the Sweet Sixteen in 1972 and the first round in 1974. Prior to his time at Texas, Black was head coach at junior college Lon Morris College, compiling a 131–35 record in five seasons.Black resigned from Texas on February 28, 1976 and was replaced by Abe Lemons seventeen days later on March 16.Black died on October 12, 2021.

Otilia Larrañaga Villarreal (3 November 1931 – 6 October 2021) was a Mexican dancer and actress who participated in classic Mexican films and also on stage and television.

James L. Van Engelenhoven (September 8, 1943 – September 20, 2021) was an American politician, serving as the Iowa State Representative from the 71st District. He had served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 1999, when he was elected to represent the 95th district. In addition to winning re-election in general election challenges, Van Engelenhoven had won three primary elections (1998, 2008, and 2010), though he went one year (2004) without any primary or general election opponents.
As of September 2011, Van Engelenhoven served on several committees in the Iowa House, including the Ethics, Local Government, Natural Resources, and Transportation committees. His prior political experience included serving as County Supervisor in Mahaska County from 1992-1998. He died in 2021 at the age of 78.

Edith Frances Ruth Bradley Holmes (November 26, 1924 – September 2, 2021) was an American linguist, educator, and polyglot who authored two Cherokee language textbooks. Holmes served on the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education from 1975 to 1985. She taught Russian language at Louisiana State University and Russian and Cherokee language adult education courses in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.