LI notable deaths of 2018

Paige Keely, a first-grader who danced in St. James Elementary School’s Christmas production of “The Nutcracker,” died on Jan. 8 of an undetected and rare condition. She was 6. Newsday's obituary for Paige Keely.

Mathilde Krim, a Kings Point resident who co-founded an AIDS research foundation and spent years fighting the stigma that confronted people with the disease, died on Jan. 15. She was 91. Newsday’s obituary for Mathilde Krim.

Michael Harris Spector, an award-winning designer and architect who has worked on the landscape of Long Island, died on Jan. 21. He was 79. Newsday's obituary for Michael Harris Spector.

Brian Vickers, who was a star on the Babylon High School basketball team in the 1970s and went on to play basketball for legendary coach Jim Valvano at Iona, died Jan. 29. He was 58. Newsday's obituary for Brian Vickers. 

Walter Degen, who became a community fixture as the Mister Softee ice cream man around the streets of North Massapequa and Plainedge, died Feb. 1 in Florida, where he moved after he retired. He was 90. Newsday's obituary for Walter Degen.

Bernard D. Kennedy, co-chairman and former president of the family-owned King Kullen chain of grocery stores, died Feb. 17 at his home in Point Lookout. He was 92. Newsday's obituary for Bernard D. Kennedy.

Haley Anderson of Westbury, who attended Binghamton University and was a passionate nursing student, was found dead March 9 in her off-campus residence. She was 22. Newsday's obituary of Haley Anderson.

Capt. Andreas B. O’Keeffe, 37, of Center Moriches, Master Sgt. Christopher J. Raguso, 39, of Commack, and Staff Sgt. Dashan J. Briggs, 30, of Port Jefferson Station, were all assigned to the New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing and were killed on March 15 when an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter crashed in western Iraq. Newsday’s obituaries for the three airmen.

Les Payne, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist for Newsday who fiercely championed racial equality, died on March 19. He was 76. Newsday's obituary for Les Payne.

Michael Davidson, an FDNY firefighter, died March 22 while battling a Harlem fire on the set of a movie written, directed and starring Edward Norton. He was 37. Newsday's obituary for Michael Davidson.

Zeke Upshaw, whose basketball career at Hofstra was brief but impactful, died March 26, after collapsing during the final minute of an NBA G League game in Michigan. He was 26. Newsday's obituary for Zeke Upshaw.

Dr. Filippo Balboni, who escaped a Nazi death squad in Italy when he was 16 and later became a Garden City pediatric cardiologist, died March 29. He was 90. Newsday’s obituary for Dr. Filippo Balboni.

Denise A. Cicione of Nesconset, a seventh-grade science teacher at Great Hollow Middle School in Smithtown, died on March 30. She was 53. Newsday's obituary for Denise A. Cicione.

Leonard Wexler, a senior judge in Central Islip’s Eastern District federal court who presided over some of Long Island’s biggest cases during his 34 years on the bench, died on March 31. He was 93. Newsday's obituary for Leonard Wexler. 

Vincent Altebrando, a longtime wrestling coach and physical education teacher at Walt Whitman High School, died on April 20. He was 51. Newsday's obituary for Vincent Altebrando.

Shelley LaFauci, a retired elementary school teacher who taught for 31 years in the Rockville Centre district, died of unknown causes on April 20. She was 69. Newsday's obituary for Shelley LaFauci.

William Maldonado, a Suffolk police detective of 31 years who helped to prosecute dozens of MS-13 gang members, died on April 23 after a battle with colon cancer. He was 53. Newsday's obiutary for William Maldonado. 

Judith Leiber, a legendary handbag designer, died on April 28 at her home in Springs. Her husband of 72 years, Gerson Leiber, an abstract painter, died the same day. She was 97 and he was 96. Read Newsday's obituary for her here.

Joan P. Yale, a trailblazer in Nassau policing who became the highest-ranking woman to serve in any Long Island law enforcement agency, died May 24 at an assisted living facility in Sayville. She was 72. Newsday's obituary for Joan P. Yale.

Sharon Korbel, the wife of longtime News 12 Long Island chief meteorologist Bill Korbel, died on May 30. She was 70. Newsday's obituary for Sharon Korbel.

The Rev. Marvin Dozier, the first black president of the Southampton Board of Education, who was dedicated to his church ministry and social and racial justice, died on June 17. He was 66. Newsday’s obituary for Rev. Marvin Dozier.

Frank Jones, a former Islip Town supervisor and chief deputy county executive who cut through a web of scandal to open the $1 billion Southwest Sewer District, died on June 22. He was 88. Newsday’s obituary for Frank Jones.

Patrick Henry, a dominant figure in Suffolk’s criminal justice system for three decades as the county’s Republican district attorney, a state Supreme Court justice and mentor, died on July 22. He was 88. Newsday’s obituary for Patrick Henry.

Annie Bleiberg, left, an Auschwitz survivor who regularly spoke to visitors at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County in Glen Cove, died on Aug. 1. She was 97. She is pictured here with Eddie Weinstein. Newsday’s obituary of Annie Bleiberg.

Evelyn Rodriguez, who became a national voice against MS-13 gang violence after her teenage daughter was beaten to death in 2016, died on Sept. 14 after being struck by an SUV in Brentwood. She was 50. Newsday's obituary for Evelyn Rodriguez.

Andrew McMorris, a seventh-grader at Albert Prodell Middle School in Shoreham and a Wading River Boy Scout, died on Oct. 1 after being struck by an alleged drunken driver. He was 12. Newsday’s obituary for Andrew McMorris.

Madelyn Bowen of Massapequa Park, a SUNY Old Westbury student and softball player, died on Oct. 6 after a battle with cancer. She was 21. Newsday's obituary of Madelyn Bowen. 

Gabriella Pellicani, a kindergartner who loved to dance, died on Oct. 16 in her Rockville Centre home after being diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. She was 5. Newsday's obituary for Gabriella Pellicani. 

Former Islanders owner Charles Wang, also the founder of CA Technologies who donated millions to charities and higher education, died on Oct. 21 due to lung cancer. He was 74. Newsday's obituary for Charles Wang.

Joseph L. Pidoto, an NYPD detective who aided in the relief effort following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, died on Oct. 26. He was 51. Newsday's obituary for Joseph L. Pidoto. 

Richard Henry Robertson Sr., a World War II veteran who went on to become Huntington Town's first black police officer, died Nov. 1. He was 95. Newsday's obituary for Richard Henry Robertson Sr. 

Peter Collins, who is credited with expanding the Long Island Junior Soccer League, died on Dec. 1. He was 87. Newsday's obituary for Peter Collins.

Michael LoGrande, who served Long Island for decades as Islip planning director, Islip Town supervisor, Suffolk County executive and head of Suffolk's Water Authority, died Dec. 18. He was 80. Newsday's obituary for Michael LoGrande.