Richard Louis Meier (1920 - February 26, 2007) was a US regional planner, systems theorist, scientist, urban scholar, and futurist, as well as a Professor in the College of Environmental Design at the University of California at Berkeley. He was an early thinker on sustainability in planning, and recognized as a leading figure in city planning and development. He is not related to the New York-based architect Richard Meier, whom he was often confused with.
Nancy DeShone [Rockwell / Dinehart] (March 22, 1932 – October 6, 2007) was an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player. Listed at 5' 3", 120 lb., she batted and threw left handed.Born in Elkhart, Indiana, Nancy DeShone attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in Indiana, where she earned a number of ribbons while participating in the school sports for girls.A strong-armed, left-handed pitcher, she hurled for the Miles Laboratories club in a fastpitch softball factory league, leading Miles to a championship title in South Bend, Indiana. While pitching in a championship game, she was approached by an All American League scout and was drafted in 1948.At age 16, DeShone joined the South Bend Blue Sox and was assigned as an outfielder. But she did not see much action, going hitless in two at bats in a game, because she primed as a pitcher. She then was dealt to the Fort Wayne Daisies in 1949, but she decided to return to school and earn her diplom.After graduation, Nancy worked in sales and management and married Rodney Rockwell in 1950. The couple had four daughters: Debbi, Sherry, Jacki and Conni. Her husband died in 1992. She later married James Dinehart and became the stepmother of James' children: Kathleen, Debra, Laura, Martin and Dale.In between, Nancy remained interested in baseball and coached women's softball, Little League Baseball, and tee-ball for children aged 4 to 8 over the years.In 1993, Nancy was the chairperson for the 50th reunion of the AAGPBL Players Association held in South Bend, where she coordinated activities for more of 200 former league's players at the five-day event.
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League folded in 1954, but there is a permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York since 1988 that honors the entire league rather than any individual figure.Nancy DeShone died in 2007 in South Bend, Indiana, at the age of 75.
Gary R. Pfingston (January 2, 1940 – June 23, 2007) was an airman in the United States Air Force who served as the 10th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force from 1990 to 1994.
Vertus Wellborn Hardiman (March 9, 1922 – June 1, 2007) was a victim of a US government human radiation experiment at the age of five that left him with a painful skull deformity that forced him to cover his head for 80 years.
Geraldine Warrick-Crisman (May 22, 1930, Gary, Indiana – February 12, 2007, Scottsdale, Arizona) was a television executive.
She began her broadcasting career in the standards department of NBC's affiliate in Chicago. She became one of the first African-American executives at NBC Television in New York City, holding various positions over two decades. She was the first black president of American Women in Radio and Television. In 1981, she left NBC to become president and general manager of WNJR Radio in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey. New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean soon appointed her assistant state treasurer.
In the 1990s, Warrick-Crisman moved to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where she worked in public affairs and survived the 1993 World Trade Center explosion, which killed six people.
She retired to Scottsdale with her husband, Bruce Crisman, in 1997, and became a member of Tanner African Methodist Episcopal Church in Phoenix. She also served on the board of the New School for the Arts in Tempe.
Warrick-Crisman died on February 12, 2007, aged 76, following a 10-year battle with breast cancer, survived by two sisters, a daughter, a son and a stepdaughter. Her husband died in 1998.
Anthony DeSantis, KStJ (January 5, 1914 - June 6, 2007) was an American entrepreneur and theater owner in Chicago, Illinois. He is most well known for the foundation of the area's Drury Lane theatres. During DeSantis' lifetime, his empire included six separate theaters.
Russell Wayne Kruse (December 9, 1922 – May 4, 2007) was an American auctioneer best known for building the business of auctioning classic cars through Kruse International.Born in Auburn, Indiana, he took up farming after graduating from high school. After losing crops to flooding two years in a row, he took up auctioneering to cover the costs of raising his seven children. He attended the Reppert School of Auctioneering in December 1952 and started a local real estate and farm auction business. He was a licensed auctioneer, real estate broker and certified residential appraiser in the state of Indiana.In 1971, the Auburn Chamber of Commerce needed fundraising for their annual classic-car show. Kruse suggested auctioning off some of the antique cars. When a bidder's $61,000 bid for a locally-made Duesenberg was turned down, the press picked up the story, and his fame as a car auctioneer took off. He started the Kruse Auction Institute in 1972 to give pre-licensing training to auctioneers. Russell was on the original Indiana Board of Auctioneers and served as chairman. He was also a past president of the Indiana Auctioneer's Association, and a member of their hall of fame, along with two of his son's - Dean Kruse and Dennis Kruse.
Because of the lucrative divisions that auctioned real estate and oil field equipment, ITT bought Kruse International in 1981, but the family bought it back in 1987. eBay then bought the company in 1999 but sold it back in 2003. Three of his sons are involved in the auction business: Dean Kruse, Dennis Kruse and Daniel Kruse, as well as eight grandchildren. He founded the Kruse Auction Institute in 1972, and served as an instructor at the Reppert School of Auctioneering from 1996 until his death in 2007.
His first wife, Luella (Boger), the mother of his seven children, died in 2000. Kruse died in Fort Wayne, Indiana of a stroke, aged 84.
Ann L. Colone (June 11, 1930 – June 12, 2007) was a pioneering female broadcaster in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, whose career as TV host spanned three decades. She was the first female radio disc jockey for WGL (AM) and was a regular contributor at WANE-TV, which is a CBS affiliate, since it went on air in 1958, and she became well known as the first local female TV host of her own afternoon program with residents, local news makers, and national celebrities as guests.
Donald G. Malcolm (March 26, 1919 - June 18, 2007) was an American organizational theorist, professor and dean at Cal State L.A.'s College of Business and Economics and management consultant, known as co-developer of the Performance, Evaluation, and Review Technique (PERT).
Elaine Roth [E] (January 17, 1929 – May 25, 2007) was a female pitcher and outfielder who played from 1948 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right-handed.A native of Michigan City, Indiana, Elaine Roth joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League with her twin sister Eilaine in 1948, and they played together for three seasons as the dynamic duo (E and I).Roth spent her career as a pitcher, playing for the Peoria Redwings for two years, before joining the South Bend Blue Sox (1950) and Kalamazoo Lassies (1951–1954). A spot starter and dependable reliever, she posted a career record of 45–69 and was a member of the Champion Team during what turned out to be the league's final 1954 season.In the first round of the playoffs, fourth-place Kalamazoo surprised second-place South Bend in three games. Pitcher Gloria Cordes hurled and lost the opener, but Nancy Warren and Roth won games two and three, respectively. In the final series, the inspired Lassies defeated the favored Fort Wayne Daisies in five games. Roth was a key contributor in Game 2, pitching 8⅔ innings of relief.Roth died in Springfield, Michigan, at the age of 78.