Steve Black, 44
Black died in January. A native of Pen Argyl, Black helped found and operate the Pennsylvania Gay and Lesbian Alliance for 10 years. A strong lobbyist, he began pressing for a domestic-partner law in Allentown two decades ago, which was passed shortly after his death.
Bob Bland, 64
Bland died in June of cancer. Bland was an original member of the New York Gay Liberation Front and a longtime Democratic activist. Bland most recently chaired the Democratic Party Committee in the town where he lived in Arizona.
Carter Burnette, 50
The music consultant died in November of liver cancer. A longtime songwriter, Burnette was the founder of WhatEver Productions, where he oversaw marketing for a number of national performers. He also worked on web design for several local HIV/AIDS service organizations.
Robert Burns, 36
Burns died in December. He had served as executive director of The Colours Organization Inc. for the past year and previously worked as the organization’s deputy director and interim executive director. He also was the former director of HIV-prevention effort The Collective and the House of Blahnik.
Greg Campoli, 29
Campoli died in December. The Northeast Philadelphia native and St. Joseph’s University grad was a popular figure in the Gayborhood and a frequent presence at Uncles, where a crowded memorial was held for him.
Gene Cavanaugh, 63
The cabaret performer died in July. Cavanaugh performed at such LGBT locales as Tavern on Camac, Chez Odette and Bob Egan’s in New Hope. Weeks before his death, he retired from a 40-year career at Cherry Hill’s Record Shop.
Donn DesChaine, 63
DesChaine died in September of complications from emphysema. DesChaine worked at a number of South Street restaurants throughout the 1970s and ’80s and was also a member of the Dumpster Divers arts group.
Stephen Gallagher, 31
Gallagher died in May of heart failure. The University of Pennsylvania genetic analyst was a member of the City of Brotherly Love Softball League and also a self-taught sketch artist.
Ellis Ginsburg, 80
Ginsburg died in August. He was a volunteer at the William Way LGBT Community Center for a number of years and was involved in the center’s “40+ Club” in the 1990s. He later helped launch the center’s Silver Foxes program and founded its Party Bridge group.
Barbara Grier, 79
Grier died in November of lung cancer. The co-founder of Naiad Press, Grier first wrote for a number of lesbian publications, including The Ladder, for which she later served as editor.
The Rev. Dr. Bob Hanrahan, 76
Hanrahan died in June. An LGBT ally, he volunteered at AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania during the height of the AIDS epidemic. He served at a number of congregations before retiring as pastor of the New Britain Baptist Church in Bucks County.
Dr. Frank Kameny, 86
Kameny died in October, on National Coming Out Day. Known as a father of the modern gay-rights movement, Kameny was among the participants in the Annual Reminder LGBT demonstrations in the 1960s in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. He brought the nation’s first civil-rights claim based on sexual orientation to the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1950s after being fired by the Army Map Service. Kameny, who co-founded the D.C.-based Mattachine Society, is credited with coining the slogan, “Gay is Good.”
Marvin Lundy, 80
Lundy died in December of heart failure. He was one of the city’s most prominent personal-injury lawyers and had vast philanthropic interests. In the late 1980s, he organized a fundraiser that generated $40,000 for the Philadelphia Endowment for AIDS.
Gary Dennis Mammucari, 53
Mammucari died in May. A sales representative by trade, Mammucari was also a singer, specializing in ’40s hits. He was a member of the South Jersey String Band and a frequent entertainer on the Jersey Shore boardwalks.
Dr. Arnold Markley, 47
Markley died of complications from leukemia in June. He was a longtime professor at Penn State’s Brandywine campus, where he coordinated the school’s English department. He also volunteered for AIDS Fund and Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutritional Alliance.
Mark Mechowski, 45
Mechowski died in November of heart failure. A New Jersey resident, Mechowski served as assistant vice president of the Collingswood branch of Bank of America. He was active in his local community and supported fundraisers for Equality Pennsylvania and the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania.
Doug Shaps, 53
Shaps died of colon cancer in October. A financial analyst, he served as the former executive director of Outfront Philadelphia. Shaps additionally sat on the Philadelphia Steering Committee of the Human Rights Campaign and on the national HRC board.
Robert Smith, 62
Smith died of liver cancer in January. A longtime travel professional and former flight attendant, he most recently worked as the travel representative for a local engineering company before retiring last year.
John Wilcox Jr., 66
Wilcox died in January of mesothelioma. Known by many as Jack, he was a constant presence at the William Way LGBT Community Center, to which he contributed heavily. Wilcox established a $100,000 endowment for the center and also supported the center’s library and archives, which was renamed after him.