A new memorial project from NBC News:

Read the stories of 60 coronavirus victims from all walks of life and how the lives of their loved ones have been entirely changed in just a matter of weeks. https://nbcnews.to/2SlT7uN 
61-year-old Patricia Frieson of Chicago spent her career caring for others as a nurse.

Her nephew says “her main thing was to see people smile.”

She was Illinois’ first fatality from the illness on March 16, per the Chicago Sun-Times.

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66-year-old Gary Young was a “hidden staple” of his community in California.

His daughter has received messages from those he touched the hearts of when working in customer service.

“He was always friendly,” says a customer. “A staple whom I will miss."
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61-year-old Larry Edgeworth was always the first to volunteer for any assignment during his 25 years as a sound technician for NBC News.

“Larry was a gentle bear of a man, the heart and soul of our extended NBC family,” says @mitchellreports.

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Principal Dez-Ann Romain, 36, had "an infectious smile and a Michelle Obama aura."

"She’s a mother, even though she didn’t have kids,” a former student says. “We were her children.”

She was the first NYC public school official to die from coronavirus.

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93-year-old Robert Kirkbride spent his life on the front lines.

He served as a WWII infantryman, military policeman, police officer, firefighter, and fire chief.

Because of the stay-at-home order, Kirkbride was buried without a service, his nephew says.
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The Rev. Isaac Graham was a pastor in Harlem for 40+ years.

His daughter, who was at the church ministering on March 22, got word after 11 a.m. that her father had died.

“I know he was at peace ... He was telling me, ‘I’m happy because you’re doing what I taught you to do.’”
Mike Farley was a retired probate attorney in Denver who devoted more than 30 years of volunteer work to the cause of low-income housing.

He leaves behind his wife of 59 years, 2 children and 2 grandchildren.

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Wanda Bailey, a 63-year-old medical coder in Chicago, would cry nearly every time she saw her son.

“It was so warming to know that you were loved,” he says.

Wanda died about a week after her younger sister, Patricia (included in this thread above), also died from coronavirus.
Bishop Robert Earl Smith Sr., 82, was known for stopping people on the street and asking if he could pray with them.

He took care of his wife who has dementia, and took her to every service he attended.

“Everywhere he went, she went,” says his son.

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Pastor Kevelin Jones Sr., 72, raised 9 children with his wife in Flint, Michigan.

During the lead-contaminated water crisis, he would sit outside his church with water for people who needed it.

“Love conquers all,” says his wife. “And he had it down pat. He had it down pat.”
49-year-old Rev. Jorge Ortiz-Garay was “more than a father” to his Brooklyn congregation of mainly Hispanics and low-income immigrants, a colleague says.

"In times of difficulty, Father Jorge would tell his people 'ánimo',” says a friend. “Have faith, have courage.”
25-year-old Bassey Offiong was a “gentle giant.”

The chemical engineering student at Western Michigan University was weeks away from graduation when he became sick.

He hoped to work in the cosmetics industry, developing organic makeup products.

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Jack Bandy, 93, was a successful businessman, but "the most humble."

“We never knew about his accomplishments unless we read about them,” says his granddaughter.

After his death, she took calls from some who'd known him. She'd never heard so many grown men cry, she says.
James Villecco was a 55-year-old FDNY mechanic.

The day before he died, his wife stood 6 feet from his hospital bed and said, “I want you to know that I married the right one.”

He was the first member of the FDNY to die of coronavirus.
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Lawrence and Patsy Adcock, 86 and 83, spent 65 years as husband and wife.

The same day Lawrence died, Patsy started experiencing symptoms of coronavirus.

“We always planned to be able to go together,” Patsy told their son. She died two weeks later. http://nbcnews.to/2SlT7uN 
33-year-old Israel Tolentino Jr. was known for his generosity and selflessness.

He once invited a homeless man to his family's dinner table, his wife recalls.

“He would light up the room,” she says. “The room is now just a little less bright.”
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27-year-old Leilani Jordan didn’t call out of work at the grocery store, where she'd been for 6 years.

"Customers have been finding me and calling me and telling me, 'Thank you, you don’t know what your baby did for us every day,'" says her mom.
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Colleagues say 43-year-old Det. Marylou Armer always had a smile and managed to excel in her job’s most challenging moments.

She’d served with Santa Rosa PD for over 2 decades.

She died on March 31, after twice being denied a COVID-19 test, her family says.
Art Whistler, 75, was known as “‘Tupu o le Vao Matua,” or “The King of the Forest” by locals in Samoa.

“We will never again see the likes of an individual" with such a deep connection to the Hawaiian islands and people, says his girlfriend.
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Bob Glanzer, a 74-year-old Republican lawmaker in South Dakota, works for his constituents "to his last moments," says his son.

"Someone sent a card," he says. "The first line was ‘They don't make cards for what you're going through.'"
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Wilson Maa, 71, and his wife boarded the Coral Princess on March 5 to travel around South America.

The couple was stranded aboard the ship until it reached Miami on April 4. By then, Wilson had developed symptoms and was taken to a hospital.

He died the same day.
When James Walker, 59, called his wife to tell her that he had COVID-19, her first response was "Stop playing!"

He loved pranking her.

A nurse called his wife on April 5 to tell her that she held his hand while he took his last breaths so he wasn't alone.
After recovering from a yearslong crack cocaine addiction, Virgil Sutton led an addiction recovery ministry at his church.

For more than a decade, he led a weekly group where he'd offer coaching and support.

"This dude was a warrior,” says a pastor.
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Raymond Copeland, 46, was so proud to be a sanitation worker that he bought a plaque with the word “strongest” on it to commemorate the agency’s motto, “New York’s Strongest,” says his daughter.

He felt like he was “a part of something great.”
Rudolph Sutton, 67, was serving time for a murder he insisted he did not commit.

“I waited so long for him,” says his son. “And now I’ll never see him again.”

The Pennsylvania Innocence Project says it plans to continue fighting for his exoneration.
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Brian R. Miller, 52, worked on disability rights at the U.S. Dept. of Education.

It's "gratifying to know how many people he touched," says his mother. "But at the same time, it reminds me of how much more he wanted to do — he needed to do.

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21-year-old Cody Lyster was “athletic and active,” according to his mother.

The college student from Colorado loved working with kids and spent summers coaching Little League teams.

“He was the mentor to so many,” his father says.

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Rosario González, a paraprofessional educator, hardly ever called out sick — even at age 91.

“She loved teaching and her students,” says her granddaughter.

She remembers her grandmother as someone who “had an amazing gusto for life and people.”

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Gerda Garbatzky, 90, escaped Nazi-occupied Austria. The home she'd fled to in England was bombed. And after eventually settling in NYC, she developed breast cancer — and beat it.

"She was a survivor," her grandson says. "And then this happened."

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Patrick McNamee, a 46-year-old father of two, was a fan of the Beatles and a World War II buff.

He worked as the dairy manager for a Kroger grocery store in Michigan.

“He was funny. He was not easily angered and very easygoing,” his mother says.

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Oliver Stokes Jr., known as DJ Black N Mild in New Orleans, was a mainstay of the city's music scene.

He was credited with bringing the bounce genre to radio waves.

With his passing, the city lost a local legend, and his family lost a man they adored.

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58-year-old Franklin Williams, a three-decade veteran of the Detroit Fire Department, would go to sleep with the TV on. His wife would wait for him to fall asleep and then shut it off.

"Now my TV is on 24/7," says his wife. "I can't cut it off.”

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Alvin Simmons, 54, believed in second chances, and he had plans to make the most of his.

The Army vet was a hospital's environmental service worker.

“He just thought sick people deserve someone who actually cared to be around them,” his sister says.

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Lawrence Riley knew everyone in Milwaukee, or at least, that’s how it felt to his son.

“Our house was always full,” he said. “He was one of the only fathers in the neighborhood. So when our friends didn’t have fathers he would take them in.”

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90-year-old Frank A.M. Williams was a retired New Orleans businessman.

“He could walk downtown, through the Whitney building, into a doctor’s office, grocery store, almost anywhere, and everyone knew his name (even if he couldn’t remember theirs),” reads his obituary.
Rod Powell’s barstool performances were Vail's soundtrack for decades.

He'd performed for Princess Diana, Gerald Ford and Gregory Peck, friends say, as well as thousands of others.

“He was very talented, and he never knew a stranger,” says his sister.

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Ron Golden was a Native American veteran and was immensely proud of both identities, reflected in the “Native American Veteran” hat he wore constantly.

He had just started chemotherapy for lung cancer before testing positive for coronavirus.

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Marlowe Stoudamire never forgot his roots.

The Detroit entrepreneur's projects focused on his hometown. But he was also a committed dad who'd stop working at 2:40 p.m. so he could pick up their kids from school.

He called their family "Team Stoudamire."

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76-year-old Carole Brookins had a passion for helping countries develop better infrastructure.

She was working to build camaraderie among US and French military leaders through the First Alliance Foundation.

She died after returning from Paris, her favorite city.
Adolph “TJ” Mendez volunteered teaching kindergarteners at Sunday school with his wife.

“Before they unplugged him, they let us speak with him,” his daughter says. “They put the phone on speakerphone and all of his family were able to say goodbye.”

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William Grimes served in the Navy, lived around the world and worked at the White House for NATO forces.

He returned to his hometown of Urich, population of 500, and worked in local politics.

"He wanted to fight for those who couldn't fight for themselves," his daughter says.
Joe Diffie wore jeans to his wedding because he "hated dress pants."

The musician had a show last spring at a college bar where the fans were so loud that he had to tell them to quiet down.

"I hope people listen to his songs forever," his wife says.

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Chad Capule used his “well-rounded” intelligence not to show off, but to connect with people, says his wife.

He was on “Jeopardy” in 2015, and competed on trivia teams twice a week with her.

He “brought a childlike joy to everything he did,” she says.

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Albert Dargan was a father of 7 daughters who opened up the row house he bought in NYC to take in even more family members.

“He was very adamant about never saying goodbye,” says his daughter.

“It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later.”
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Wallace Roney, a jazz trumpeter, was anointed by critics as a young lion when Miles Davis recruited him for a concert.

Davis almost never shared a stage.

Roney later won a Grammy for a Miles tribute album, and secured his own major label recording contract.
Marty Evans lived with her daughter in Colorado.

“I promised dad that I would never leave mom alone,” she says. But she was forced to.

“When my dad died, we were all at my mother’s house together. But this time, we all had to grieve and mourn on our own.”
David C. Driskell was widely regarded for elevating black artists.

He tried to instill in his kids, "we need to do the best we can, and we always need to look to others to be able to help," says his daughter.

"We have a lot of joy to think about how he lived."
Earl Denbow Jr. loved being a grandfather.

Living in a quarantined nursing home, “he couldn’t understand why his own daughter or grandchildren couldn’t visit,” says his daughter.

Earl’s death was his grandchildren’s first loss. “They took it hard."
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Warren Pohl, 68, volunteered bringing music to patients in senior centers, hospitals and rehab facilities.

He "got as much out of it" as the patients did, says his bandmate.

“Bringing a conversation into their day was almost as important as the music."
Terrell Young “had a tough shell, but inside was a kind and generous heart,” his wife says.

He always wanted to help — whether it was one of his children struggling with homework or one of his colleagues in need of support.

His kids "miss their dad.”

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David Pitman was his son’s best friend.

"I told him that all I ever wanted was make him proud... and if we made the wrong choice by pulling the plug, forgive us ... I said, ‘Dad, this is one of the hardest choices I've ever made.' But I didn't want to see him suffering no more."
The call came March 28: Todd Andreason was being placed on a ventilator. Minutes before, his wife had been at the hospital with him.

She hopes others would use this moment to embrace their families.

"Hold them a little tighter," she says.
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Ruben Burks was a trailblazing union worker who fought “for what is right and just.”

Because of the pandemic, his family could not be with him when he died.

“That was the most tragic thing,” says his son, “because he was always there by our side.”

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Kenneth Boswell, 64, loved to read and tell jokes.

“Every card we have, there’s a joke in there,” his wife says. “His handwriting was so bad."

His wife plans to honor his memory by turning his large collection of books into a library in their home.

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Instead of thinking of herself, 90-year-old Josephine Schirripa was worrying about her son, who was in the same hospital also being treated for the virus.

She “looked at me and lipped, ‘You’re OK,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I’m OK,’” her son recalls. “She seemed at ease.”
Paul Loggan had 3 children, but there were dozens more whom he considered his kids.

The high school athletic director and coach was known for his strict standards on the field and his compassion off of it.

He would drop anything to help one of his players, his son says.
When pursuing his Ph.D., Dennis Wilson would bring his son along to class.

"I'd pretend to take notes like a college student," says his son. "Just constantly looking up to him."

"Anyone can contract the virus,” he says. “And anybody can spread" it.

http://nbcnews.to/2SlT7uN 
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