2009 deaths

Bob Wilkins (born Robert Gene Wilkins; April 11, 1932 – January 7, 2009) was a television personality.Wilkins was the creator and host of the popular television show Creature Features that ran on KTVU in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1971 to 1984.
The programming on Creature Features featured science fiction and horror films, ranging from classics such as Bride of Frankenstein to B-grade obscurities like The Vulture.
Wilkins' wit was very dry; it fit very well with the outrageously awful horror films he hosted. His approach suggested an aficionado's taste for genre cinema. His trade marks were his droll humor, his omnipresent cigar, and sitting in his iconic rocking chair.

Paul Avila Mayer (May 28, 1928 – July 10, 2009) was an American television writer and producer.

Cyrus Brown "Cy" Follmer, Jr. was an American broadcaster.

Janice Lowry (March 30, 1946 – September 20, 2009) was an American visual artist who worked in Arizona and California and was known primarily for her assemblages, collages, paintings, and the elaborately visual journals that she kept throughout her life.

Robert Brown Asprey (February 16, 1923 – January 26, 2009) was an American military historian and author, noted for his books on military history published between 1959 and 2001.

Joseph Brown (August 1, 1920 – April 3, 2009), known professionally as Victor Millan, was an American actor, academic and former dean of the theatre arts department at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California.

Nell Soto (June 18, 1926 – February 26, 2009) was an American politician. Soto represented the 61st Assembly district (including parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties and the cities of Ontario, Pomona, Chino and Montclair) from 1998 to 2000 and again from 2006 to 2008. She served two terms as a state senator for the 32nd district from 2000 to 2006.
Soto served on the Pomona city council from 1986 until 1998. Soto also served on the South Coast Air Quality Management District. She was the first Latina from the San Gabriel Valley to be elected to that position. In 2006, she authored legislation that included expansion of the Nell Soto Teacher Involvement program, improving foster care licensing, and improving welfare to work programs.
Soto was married to Phil Soto, a pioneering Latino politician in California's history. Soto died February 26, 2009, after months of declining health.

Colonel Harold Edward Fischer Jr. (May 8, 1925 – April 30, 2009) was a United States Air Force fighter pilot and flying ace of the Korean War. He accrued 11 victories in the war. He is also one of the two flying aces to be Prisoners of War during the war. He was released in 1955 and continued to serve in the USAF until 1978.

José B. Cisneros (1910 – 2009) was a Mexican–born American artist. He is known for his historical illustrations and drawings of early Texas, specifically of horsemen including charro, vaquero, Texas rangers, and Texas cowboys. He illustrated over 300 books.

John H. Connors (December 2, 1922 – March 7, 2009) was an American politician in the state of Iowa. Connors was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He attended high school there, and then the Harvard University Trade Union Program. He served in World War II with the United States Navy Reserve. He was a firefighter in the Des Moines Fire Department. In 1945 he married Marjorie Leonard. He has four children. Connors served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 2005 as a Democrat. He served the 64th district from 1973 to 1981, and the 68th district from 1981 to 2005. He died in Des Moines in 2009, at the age of 86.