Elizabeth Ghaffari, busted at the seams of her small-town Western life

As Betty Lindholm, she grew up in Logan, Utah with her older sister, Ellen. From a young age, Betty had an individualistic spirit, refined taste, and a thirst for travel and experience that busted at the seams of her small-town Western life. She began subscribing to the New Yorker magazine as a teenager and delighted in listening to New York Philharmonic broadcasts on the family radio. She had a low tolerance for prejudice of any kind, and was often able to defuse such situations through logic, persuasion, or humor.

Bad days to die? So many bad days to die ...

To the extent one cares about one’s death making a news splash, it’s best as a rule not to expire on the same day, or nearly the same day, as a Kennedy. Such was the case with the author Dominick Dunne, who died in 2009 the day after Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Dunne’s family initially refused to confirm his death, concerned that the tsunami of coverage on Kennedy’s would swamp Dunne’s obituary.

Martin Masters joins the passing parade

Following graduation, Masters worked for a series of newspapers, including the Hartford Courant, the Hartford Times, and the New York World-Telegram & Sun. He was also a contributor to the New York Times. He said he felt most at home in the city room of a newspaper, with the teletype machines and typewriters clickety-clacking away in the background.

Virginia M. Hicks, 90, reprimands friends from beyond the grave

There will be no viewing, no funeral services. You should have all visited me with kind attention when I needed you to put a smile on my face and love in my heart. (H/T Jim Romenesko)

Rena Petruzzi, 108, lived a century in one place

She prided herself on being the first woman to hold a driver's license in Town Plot, and was fond of the expression "watch my dust." As a flapper in the 1920s, she was also an early speculator in the stock market, as well as a championship bridge player.

William Freddie McCullough, the man, the myth, the legend

He attracted more women than a shoe sale at Macy's. He got married when he was 18, but it didn't last. Freddie was no quitter, however, so he gave it a shot two more times. It didn't work out with any of the wives, but he managed to stay friends with them and their parents. (H/T Jim Romenesko)

Virginia Secor, 91, services to be held near the Bowery

Virginia attended P.S. 3, an old mansion in Astoria, where the family dog Storm was allowed to stay in the principal's office until it was time to go home, where the canary "Lucky Lindy" awaited. Virginia grew up in a neighborhood peopled by America and Europe's diaspora: Italians who guarded the streets, Czechoslovakian neighbors who taught her how to knit with willow sticks and torn rayon stockings. Also shared by Civil War veterans, widows, and manufacturers who left the south and continued to trade with gold coinage after FDR established the Silver Standard.