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Welcome back to A Grave Interest!

After a two-year hiatus due to …life, and writing two books, A Grave Interest is back as a weekly cemetery blog. We also have a new webpage, www.AGraveInterest.com where all of the past blogs can be viewed. Plus more features including my speaking presentations, and info on my books. (Another one was just published in November!)

We will begin the year as we always have; by remember a few of those who passed in 2025. This past year, there were sixteen deaths that warrant a mention.

January

Melvin Wayne Osmond, part of the five-brother singing group, The Osmonds, were famous in the 1970s and 80s, died of a massive stroke on January 1st. Wayne began singing with his brothers in a Utah-based barbershop quartet in 1958. From 1962 through 1969, the brothers appeared regularly on The Andy Williams Show before adding two more Osmond brothers and hitting the pop charts in 1971 with “One Bad Apple.” The brothers reunited as a country group in the 1980s and performed in Branson, Missouri, for decades. Wayne performed until 2012. His final performance with The Osmonds was in 2018. Wayne Osmond died January 1 at the age of 73. He was interred at Ben Lomond Cemetery in Provo, Utah.

 

 

February

Eugene “Gene” Allen Hackman died of severe heart disease, kidney disease, and complications from advanced Alzheimer’s disease around February 18^th. He was instrumental in leading the “New Hollywood Movement” during his acting years. Hackman first gained acting credits in 1964 and portrayed his characters with gritty realism, receiving two Academy Awards for The French Connection (1971) and Unforgiven (1992.) He received three Oscar nominations during his career. Hackman retired from acting in 2004. Gene Hackman died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the age of 95. He was buried at Rivera Memorial Gardens in Santa Fe.

 

Roberta Cleopatra Flack was well known for her emotional ballads, known as “quiet storm” radio during the 1970s. Her musical genres ranged from Jazz and R&B to Soul. She began recording for Atlantic Records in 1968. By 1972, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” went to No.1 on the Billboard Charts and became the top song of the year. Flack received a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1973. She went on to record “Killing Me Softly with His Song (1973), which received Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance for a Female at the 1974 Grammy Awards. “Where Is the Love” (1973) and “The Closer I Get to You” (1978) both became million-selling gold singles. She received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. Roberta Flack died on February 24 of cardiac arrest. She was 88. Flack was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

March

George Edward Foreman had a solid career as a professional boxer, winning seventy-six of his 81 fights; 68 were by knock-outs. He boxed Evander Holyfield,  Joe Frazier,  and Muhammad Ali during his career and became the oldest heavyweight champion in history. He retired from boxing in 1997 and went on to become a Pentecostal minister and a product sponsor, best remembered for the George Foreman Grill. Foreman died of natural causes on March 21 at the age of 76. He was buried in the Foreman family plot at Paradise North Cemetery in Houston, Texas.

 

 

George Richard Chamberlain acted for more than sixty years in plays, films, and television. He was well known for playing the title role in the 1960s television program,  Dr. Kildare (1961-66). He appeared in several mini-series of the 1970s, and worked on the stage for numerous years. From the 1990s, until his death, Chamberlain guest-stared on television programs, in movies, and on stage. Chamberlain died at the age of 90 from complications of a stroke on March 29. He was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Jasper, Texas.

 

 

 

April

Val Edward Kilmer began his acting career on the stage, but by 1986, he was best known for his role as Iceman in the movie Top Gun. From there, Kilmer starred in Willow (1988), The Doors (1991), Tombstone (1993), Batman Forever (1995), and Heat (1995). Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015 and had lost his ability to speak by 2017. He was able to reprise his role as Iceman in the 2022 Top Gun: Maverick film with the help of AI.  Val Kilmer died from complications of pneumonia. He was 65. Kilmer was fittingly buried at Tombstone Cemetery in Arizona. He was also gifted a plot by fellow Tombstone actor, Kurt Russell, in Boot Hill Cemetery.

 

 

 

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pope Francis was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 2013 until 2025. He first served as a Jesuit priest. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and served as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998. He became a cardinal in 2001 and was elected Pope on March 13, 2013. He chose the name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis was known for his humility and less formal approach to the papacy. Pope Francis appeared to the faithful on Easter Sunday, but died on April 21st, Easter Monday at the age of 88. Pope Francis was laid to rest in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.

 

 

May

Ruth Ann Buzzi was a gifted comedian best known for her appearances on the 1960s comedy show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In (1968-1973), for which she received a Golden Globe Award and five Emmy nominations. Buzzi’s most identifiable character was the spinster Gladys Ormphby, who used her purse as a weapon. She appeared as a guest on numerous television shows during the 1970s and 80s, and did voice-over work. Buzzi then landed a part on Sesame Street in 1993 and continued with the show until 2008. Ruth Buzzi died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease on May 1st. She was 88. Buzzi was cremated and her remains buried in Earth County, Texas.

 

June

 

Robert (Bobby) Cabot Sherman, Jr. was a teen idol singing sensation during the 1960s and early 1970s. He was a regular cast member on the television program, Here Come the Brides (1968-1970). Sherman released 107 songs with 23 singles; seven became Top 40 Hits. He was honored with seven gold singles, one platinum single, and five gold albums (1962-1976), and was a guest on several television series and specials during the 1970s. 

Sherman then left the entertainment industry to become a paramedic in L.A. He worked with the Los Angeles Police Department and became a Technical Reserve Police Officer in the 1990s. He became a reserve deputy sheriff with the San Berdino County Sheriff’s Department in 1999. He retired from the sheriff’s department in 2010, and from the L.A. Police in 2017.

Sherman was diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer, making the prognosis public in March of 2025. He died on June 24 in Los Angeles at the age of 81. Bobby Sherman was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.

 

July

John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne wore his nickname, “The Prince of Darkness,” as a mantle. The English singer-songwriter has been called the “Pioneer of Heavy Metal Music.” Osbourne co-founded the band Black Sabbath and formed the Ozzy Osbourne Band in 1980. His band released thirteen solo studio albums, seven, which were certified multi-platinum. Osbourne continued to appear with Black Sabbath throughout the decades. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 as part of Black Sabbath, and as a solo musician in 2024. On July 5, Osbourne made his final show performance in Birmingham. Ozzy Osbourne died on July 22 of a heart attack at the age of 76. He was interred at his home, Welders House, Buckinghamshire, England.

 

August

Loni Kaye Anderson is best remembered as the sexy yet savvy receptionist, Jennifer Marlowe, on the sitcom, WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-1982). Anderson was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and two Emmys for her role. She continued to guest star and appear on television programs throughout the 1980s and 1990s. She also appeared in numerous movies, including playing the lead role in The Jane Mansfield Story in 1980. Loni Anderson died on August 3 of metastatic uterine leiomyosarcoma at the age of 79, just two days shy of her 80th birthday. She was buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

 

 

 

September

Charles Robert Redford, Jr. began his career as an actor before transitioning into the roles of producer and director. Redford gained fame, alongside Paul Newman, in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). He went on to star in The Way We  Were (1973), The Sting (1973), Ordinary People (1980), Out of Africa (1985), and The Horse Whisperer (1998).

Redford debuted as a director with Ordinary People, which won four Academy Awards, including Best Director. He directed another half dozen films and co-founded The Sundance Film Festival in 1978. Redford was an outspoken advocate for the environment, Indigenous rights, and equality for LGBTQ. His acting and directing awards were profuse. Robert Redford died in his sleep on September 16 at the age of 89. Redford was buried on his Sundance property.

 

October

Dame Valerie Jane (Morris) Goodall was an English anthropologist who pioneered the study of chimpanzees in Tanzania. Goodall studied primates for more than six decades to discover traits primates and humans share. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, promoting conservation and wildlife. Goodall was an active lecturer, authored 32 books, and was the recipient of several medals and awards, including the United Nations Messenger of Peace (2002), French Legion of Honour, Templeton Prize (2021), and the Presidential Medal of Honor (2025). In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II designated her a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Jane Goodall died October 1st, of natural causes at the age of 91 and was cremated.

 

 

Diane Keaton Hall had an acting career that spanned more than 55 years. She began acting as an ensemble member in the original musical version of Hair (1968) on Broadway. By 1972, she was appearing in the movie Godfather, and its sequels. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress in Annie Hall (1977). Keaton could play drama and comedy with equal verve and was nominated for a Prime Time Emmy, a Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for her acting. She directed three films and a documentary. In later life, she blogged for The Huffington Post, represented L’Oreal, and worked to save older buildings in L.A. Diane Keaton died October 11 of bacterial pneumonia and was cremated. She was 79.

 

November

Rose Diane (Ladner) Ladd had a rich acting career spanning more than seventy years. She appeared in more than 200 films and television programs, receiving three Academy Award nominations for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), Wild at Heart (1990), and Rambling Rose (1991). She was well known for her roles in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), and Primary Colors (1998). Ladd also appeared in several television programs. Her first book, Spiraling Through the School of Life: A Mental, Physical and Spiritual Discovery, was released in 2006. Ladd appeared in some films along with her daughter, Laura Dern. Diane Ladd died November 3 of respiratory failure at the age of 89, a few weeks short of her 90th birthday. She was buried in Ojai, California.

 

 

December

The deaths of actor and filmmaker, Rob Reiner, and his wife, producer Michele Singer, were a tragic loss to the entertainment industry. Reiner made his name as a television actor playing Michael Stivic, the liberal son-in-law of Archie Bunker in All in the Family, a 1970s cutting-edge sitcom. But Reiner soon realized his destiny lay behind the camera.

In the early 1980s, Reiner began directing films, including This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Stand By Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), and When Harry Met Sally (1989). By the 1990s, Reiner was branching out into other genres with films like Misery (1990), The American President (1995), and Ghosts of Mississippi (1996). Reiner continued his filmmaking and activism throughout his life. He was nominated eleven times for an Academy Award, winning once; nominated twice for a British Academy Film Award, winning once; and nominated 19 times for Golden Globe Awards, winning once.

Robert (Rob) Reiner and Michele Reiner were murdered on December 14th at their home in Los Angeles. Rob was 78, Michele 70. The Reiners were buried in Brentwood, California.

Thanks for joining me for a look back at 2025. Here’s wishing you and yours a wonderful 2026!

Joy