National Obituaries

CARY, N.C. (AP) — A funeral was held over the weekend for Dr. Greg Brannon, a physician in North Carolina and past favorite of political conservatives who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate and House in the 2010s.

PORTO, Portugal (AP) — Jorge Costa, who captained Porto to the 2004 Champions League title, died Tuesday of cardiac arrest, the club said. He was 53.

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Ion Iliescu, Romania’s first freely elected president after the fall of communism in 1989, who later faced charges of crimes against humanity for his role in the bloody revolution, has died. He was 95.

Hilary Weston, an Irish-Canadian fashion mogul and former lieutenant-governor of Ontario who devoted time to issues tied to women, volunteerism and youth, has died at 83.

LONDON (AP) — Stella Rimington, the first female chief of Britain’s MI5 intelligence agency and later a successful thriller writer, has died, her family said Monday. She was 90. The first woman to head a U.K.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Loni Anderson, who played a struggling radio station’s empowered receptionist on the hit TV comedy “WKRP in Cincinnati,” died Sunday, just days before her 80th birthday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jeannie Seely, the soulful country music singer behind such standards like “Don’t Touch Me,” has died. She was 85. Her publicist, Don Murry Grubbs, said she died Friday after succumbing to complications from an intestinal infection.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Federal judge T.S. Ellis III , whose legal scholarship and commanding courtroom presence was evident in numerous high-profile trials, has died after a long illness. He was 85.

HOUSTON (AP) — Flaco Jimenez, the legendary accordionist from San Antonio who won multiple Grammys and helped expand the popularity of conjunto, Tejano and Tex-Mex music, died Thursday. He was 86.

LONDON (AP) — British writer Allan Ahlberg, author of more than 150 children’s books including classics like “Each Peach Pear Plum” and “The Jolly Postman,” has died, his publisher said Friday. He was 87.