The New York Times. April 04, 2020

THE NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARIESSATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2020 N B13

Bill Withers, a onetime Navy
aircraft mechanic who, after
teaching himself to play the guitar,
wrote some of the most memora-
ble and often-covered songs of the
1970s, including “Lean on Me,”
“Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Use
Me,” died on Monday in Los Ange-
les. He was 81.
His death, at a hospital, was an-
nounced by his family. His son,
Todd, said Mr. Withers had had
heart problems.
Mr. Withers, who had an evoca-
tive, gritty R&B voice that could
embody loss or hope, was in his
30s when he released his first al-
bum, “Just as I Am,” in 1971. It in-
cluded “Ain’t No Sunshine,” a
mournful lament (“Ain’t no sun-
shine when she’s gone/And she’s
always gone too long/Anytime
she goes away”) that cracked the
Billboard Top 10.
Other hits followed, perhaps
none better known than “Lean on
Me,” an anthem of friendship and
support that hit No. 1 in 1972 and
has been repurposed countless
times by a variety of artists.
There were also “Use Me”
(1972), “Lovely Day” (1977) and

“Just the Two of Us” (1981), among
other hits. But after the 1985 al-
bum “Watching You Watching
Me,” frustrated with the music
business, Mr. Withers stopped re-
cording and performing.
“I wouldn’t know a pop chart
from a Pop-Tart,” he told Rolling
Stone in 2015, when he was in-
ducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of
Fame.
“Bill was a mystical man,” Leo
Sacks, who supervised the rere-
lease of Mr. Withers’s catalog for
Sony Legacy Recordings, includ-
ing a 2012 box that won a Grammy
for best historical recording, said
by email. “Like a Greek oracle.
But he let the songs speak for
themselves. He sang so conversa-
tionally and universally, like he
was sitting next to you. His songs
made every word count.”
William Harrison Withers Jr.
was born on July 4, 1938, in Slab
Fork, W.Va., to William and Mattie
(Galloway) Withers. His mother
was a maid, and his father worked
in the coal mines.
At 17, eager to avoid a coal-mine
career himself, Mr. Withers joined
the Navy.
“My first goal was, I didn’t want
to be a cook or a steward,” he told
Rolling Stone. “So I went to air-
craft-mechanic school.”
He spent nine years in the serv-
ice, some of it stationed in Guam.
He quit the Navy in 1965, while
stationed in California, and even-

tually got a job at an airplane

parts factory. A visit to a nightclub

to see Lou Rawls perform was a

catalyst for changing his life.

“I was making $3 an hour, look-

ing for friendly women, but no-

body found me interesting,” he

said. “Then Rawls walked in, and

all these women are talking to

him.”

He bought a cheap guitar at a

pawnshop, started learning to

play it and writing songs, and

eventually recorded a demo. Clar-

ence Avant, a music executive

who had just founded an inde-

pendent label, Sussex, took note

and set him up with the keyboard-

ist Booker T. Jones, of Booker T. &

the MG’s, to produce an album.

“Bill came right from the fac-

tory and showed up in his old bro-

gans and his old clunk of a car with

a notebook full of songs,” Mr.

Jones told Rolling Stone. “When

he saw everyone in the studio, he

asked to speak to me privately

and said, ‘Booker, who is going to

sing these songs?’ I said, ‘You are,

Bill.’ He was expecting some other

vocalist to show up.”

Mr. Withers was laid off from his

factory job a few months before

“Just as I Am” came out. After the

album’s release, he recalled, he re-

ceived two letters on the same

day. One was from his workplace

asking him to return to work. The

other was from “The Tonight

Show,” where he appeared in No-

vember 1971.

That “Ain’t No Sunshine” be-

came a hit off that album was un-

expected.

“ ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ was the B-

side to ‘Harlem’,” he told The Plain

Dealer of Cleveland in 2015, refer-

ring to another track from the al-

bum, “until the D.J.s turned it

over.”

The song, he said, had just come

to him one day.

“I was watching the movie ‘The

Days of Wine and Roses,’ looked

out the window and it crossed my

mind,” he told The Plain Dealer.

“Probably some girl had left me,

but ego preservation has taught

me to avoid inconvenient truths.”

“Ain’t No Sunshine” won the

Grammy Award for best rhythm

and blues song. “Lean on Me” and

“Just the Two of Us” (a collabora-

tion with the saxophonist Grover

Washington Jr., written with

William Salter and Ralph Mac-

Donald) won the same award.

Mr. Withers released six other

studio albums in the 1970s, for

Sussex and then Columbia, and

performed across the country and

beyond. One memorable appear-

ance was at the music festival in

Zaire in 1974 that preceded the

“Rumble in the Jungle,” the

heavyweight fight between

George Foreman and Muhammad

Ali.

But he also played clubs like the

Bottom Line in Manhattan.

“Mr. Withers’s lyrics are among

the most thoughtful in all of pop

music,” Robert Palmer wrote in

The New York Times, reviewing a

1976 show there, “but his work

also has its physical side. Many of

his tunes simmer irresistibly, as if

cooking over a low flame.”

Mr. Withers chafed at Colum-

bia, clashing with executives, and

after the release of “Watching You

Watching Me” in 1985, he was

done with the music business.

Years later he liked to tell stories

about not being recognized in pub-

lic. One such incident occurred at

a Los Angeles restaurant.

“Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles

up on Pico,” he told NPR’s “Morn-

ing Edition” in 2015, “and these la-

dies looked like they had just

come from church or something,

and they were talking about this

Bill Withers song. So I was going

to have some fun with them. I said,

‘I’m Bill Withers,’ and this lady

said: ‘You ain’t no Bill Withers.

You too light-skinned to be Bill

Withers.’ ”

Mr. Withers’s brief marriage to

the actress Denise Nicholas in the

1970s ended in divorce. In 1976 he

married Marcia Johnson. She and

their son survive him, along with

their daughter, Kori, and a sister,

Florence Mather.

In 2015, in advance of a tribute

concert in his honor at Carnegie

Hall, Mr. Withers was interviewed

at a restaurant by a reporter for

The Times. The talk turned to how,

with no music training, he had

managed to fashion a career in

music relatively late in life.

“It was just something I decided

to do,” he said. “If I decided to

build one of these fountains” — he

pointed to a decoration on the

restaurant’s patio — “I could prob-

ably do it.”

He could also probably have re-

sumed his career at any time.

“Late in life, he would tease us

about recording again,” Mr. Sacks

said. “But I think he was truly am-

bivalent. He said he didn’t think

anyone was interested in what an

‘old man’ had to say. And that was

Bill to a tee: wily, cunning, self-ef-

facing. Utterly disingenuous.”

Bill Withers, 3-Time Grammy Winner Who Sang ‘Lean on Me,’ Is Dead at 81

By NEIL GENZLINGER

MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES

AARON JOSEFCZYK/REUTERS

J.P. ROTH COLLECTION

JAKE MICHAELS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Clockwise from left: Bill With-

ers in the early 1970s; being

inducted into the Rock & Roll

Hall of Fame by Stevie Wonder

in 2015; on the cover of his

first album in 1971 which in-

cluded “Ain’t No Sunshine;”

and, in 2015 in Beverly Hills,

Calif. Frustrated with execu-

tives in the music business,

Mr. Withers stopped recording

and performing in 1985.

Derrick Bryson Taylor contributed
reporting.

‘I wouldn’t know

a pop chart from

a Pop-Tart.’

Cedar Haber, Phyllis

Chen, Yen-Chun

Cohen, Murray

Goldberger, M.

Horowitz, Gedale

Joblin, Sheldon

Leyton, Jan

Loomis, John

Savage, Elizabeth

Turchiano, Joseph

CEDAR HABER—Phyllis,
of Floral Park, New York
passed away on April 1 at the
age of 98. Devoted wife (Law-
rence Cedar, Ted Haber), lov-
ing mother of Ann Travis
(Dick) and Phil Cedar (Mer-
yl), adored “grammy” to her
grandchildren Karen Benett
(Halle), Lisa Travis (Abhijeet
Lele), Jonathan Cedar (Tory)
and Andrew Cedar (Liz), be-
loved great-grandmother of
Sydney, Jordan, Mia, Alex,
Bella, Will, Jasper and Abby.
A strong woman who took
great pride in her family and
was always beautifully and
meticulously puttogether.
We are indebted to the loving
care of Rosa Ramirez and
Linda Adamas. We will miss
Phyllis greatly.

CHEN—Yen-Chun.

1932-2020. Yen-Chun Chen, 88,

passedaway January28,

2020, in San Diego, California

with his loving wife by his

side. Son of the late Fong-Po

and Kao-Cheng (Long) Chen,

Yen-Chun was born in Beij-

ing, China. He and his five

siblings and their parents im-

migrated to Taiwan in 1950

where he attended college at

Cheng Kung University and

met a group of fellow stu-

dents who would become his

lifelong friends. He came to

the United States to attend

graduate school, studying en-

gineering at the University of

Florida, Gainesville.Upon

graduating, he moved to New

York where he married his

one true love Wan-Ling and

started a family in Queens,

NY. Yen-Chun spent 24 years

working as a structural civil

engineer for PSE&G in New-

ark, NJ. He and his wife lived

in Bayside, Queens for al-

most 40 years before moving

to California to be closer to

their grandchildren. He en-

joyedfamilyget-togethers,

reunions with his college bud-

dies and traveling with

friends and relatives. Most

recently, he traveled to the

Panama Canal, an engineer's

dream. He loved singing, Su-

doku, classical music, brain-

teasers, linguine with clam

sauce and root beer floats.

He deeply treasured his fami-

ly and friends, especially his

threegrandsons-Gavyn,

Kyle and Charlie. They sur-

vive him, as do his wife Wan-

Ling, their three daughters

Gladys, Vicky and Julie, and

his five siblings. In lieu of

flowers, please consider

making a donation in his me-

mory to your favorite organi-

zation.

COHEN—Murray.

Beloved husband of Barbara,

loving father of Bradley and

father-in-law of Marielle, lov-

ing grandfather of Harley and

Sabrina. We miss you already

and will never forget you.

GOLDBERGER—

Dr. Marianne,

a prominent New York psy-

choanalyst who had a wide-

ranging career that spanned

60 years, died peacefully of

natural causes at home Wed-

nesday, April 1. She was 89.

Dr. Goldberger was a training

andsupervisingadultand

childanalystfordecades,

contributed numerous acade-

mic publications in her field,

and was a cherished teacher,

mentor and a superb clini-

cian. Dr. Goldberger was de-

voted to her patients, her su-

pervisees and to her work.

Dr. Goldberger attended Rad-

cliffe College and NYU Medi-

cal School. She was an intern

at Mount Sinai Hospital in

1958-59, where she was the

only woman among a class of

41. She began her psychoana-
    lytic career in Washington,
    D.C. where she studied with
    her mentor, Dr. Paul Gray.
    Dr. Goldberger's belief that
    psychoanalysisneeded to
    evolve as society changed
    was exemplified by her con-
    victionthatlyingonthe
    couch was not required for
    psychoanalysis. She envi-
    sioned the future as a colla-
    boration between psychoa-
    nalysis, neuroscience and
    cognitivescience.Bornin
    Prague,Czechoslovakia, in
    1931, Marianne Rudolf was
    the daughter of Liese and re-
    nowned German conductor
    Max Rudolf. She was a very
    beloved wife, mother, aunt
    and grandmother. Her hus-
    band, Robert Goldberger, a
    microbiologistand former
    provost of Columbia Univer-
    sity, died in 2003. She is sur-
    vivedbythreedaughters,
    five grandchildrenand a
    brother.Donationsin her
    name can be made to the
    World Wildlife Fund. A me-
    morial service will be
    planned for a time when fa-
    mily and friends can gather
    safely.

HOROWITZ—Gedale B.,

died on April 2, 2020, at age 87

after a long illness. The love

of his life, his wife Barbara,

predeceasedhim.Beloved

and loving father and grand-

father of Ruth (Michael

Nachman) and Seth (Linda),

and Jared and Elliot. Son of

the late Florence and Abra-

ham and brother of the late

David. He left a legacy of

business success and of com-

munity involvement, but fa-

mily always came first. Do-

nations: Barnard College or

Northwell Health Foundation.

HOROWITZ—Gedale B.

The Partners and employees

of Salomon Brothers and its

successorfirms are sad-

dened with the passing of

Dale Horowitz. He was a con-

tributor to our firm and the

securities industry in nume-

rous ways. He stood for the

highest ethical standards and

was committed to upholding

themduringhis 60 year

career in the industry. He was

Chairman or a Member of

the Municipal Securities Rule-

making Board, the U.S. Trea-

sury Borrowing Advisory

Committee, the Public Securi-

ties Association and the Se-

curities Industry Association

where he generously gave of

his time and wisdom. He was

a mentor to many people of

the younger generation with

whom he came into contact

and left an extraordinary le-

gacy of achievements. We

offer our heartfelt sym-

pathies to Ruth and Michael,

SethandLindaandtheir

children.

Tom Strauss on behalf of the

Salomon Brothers' family

JOBLIN—Sheldon B.,

94, passed away on March 30

in New York City of complica-

tions from a fall. He was the

beloved husband for 48 years

of Norma, the proud father of

Brad (Barbara), loving grand-

father of Blake and devoted

brother of Nancy Joblin Park-

er. Born in Philadelphia and

raised in Brooklyn, he was a

graduate of James Madison

High School and Cornell Uni-

versity, where he earned a

BA and, in 1948, an MBA in

the first graduating class of

the university's business

school. Shel had a long and

successful career in the tex-

tile industry and was CEO of

his own company. He en-

joyed a second career as a

real estate broker, traveled

widely and loved sports and

music of all kinds. His family

andmanyfriendswillre-

member him as a man of in-

tegrity, kindness and genero-

sity with a wonderful sense of

humor.

LEYTON—Jan.

The Board of Governors and

membersofBeach Point

Club note with deep sorrow

thepassingofourfellow

memberJanLeytonand

extend sincere condolences

to her family.

Andy Greenberg, President

LOOMIS—John.

First Manhattan Co. mourns

the passing of our longtime

friend and colleague, John

Loomis. John joined the firm

in 1974, became a Partner in

1982, and over his 40-year

career with us, set the stan-

dard for integrity and decen-

cy. He understood the impor-

tance of treating his clients'

interests as paramount and

he carried that deference into

every other aspect of his life.

His moral compass was al-

ways true, and he treated all

of his colleagues, regardless

of status or stature, with dig-

nity and respect. John would

have scoffed at any sugges-

tion that he was special but

thosewhointeractedwith

himknew that they were

dealing with a true gentle-

man. He was generous of

spirit and provided valuable

guidance and mentorship to

countless friends and asso-

ciates over the years. John's

warm smile, sense of humor

andcompassionate nature

brought happiness to all who

knew him. He will truly be

missed by his First Manhat-

tan family and we offer our

sincerest condolences to his

wife, Carol, his children, Bar-

bara (Tom) and Mark (Step-

hanie), and his four beloved

grandchildren.

SAVAGE—Elizabeth Ann.

Born and raised in Brooklyn,

the daughter of Kathryn Tay-

lor and Richard P. Charles. A

graduate of Rosemont Col-

lege and a lifelong learner in-

cluding programs in London,

Oxford, Florence and NYC.

Survived by her loving hus-

band, John C. Savage, and

five daughters: Elizabeth,

Nancy Skinner(Stephen),

Faith (Michael Gollner), Me-

gan Lally, Dierdre and 11

grandchildren. Also survived

by her siblings; Judy, Patrick

and Mary Jane Charles.

Funeral mass and reception

to be held at a later date. Our

sincere thanks to Carol

McCallum and Melissa Morri-

son-Chambers for their extra-

ordinary home care. Dona-

tions may be made to Rose-

mont College, Rosemont, PA.

TURCHIANO—Joseph

Leonard.

Passed away peacefully with

his loving wife Evelyn (nee

Luciano) at his side on April 1,

he was 93 years old. He grew

up inBrooklyn,NYand

earned a degree in Mechani-

cal Engineering from the Po-

lytechnic Institute of Brook-

lyn. He served in the Navy

during WWII, as midshipman

under the V-12 College Train-

ing Program. With his late

brother Richard, he founded

Richards Plumbing & Heating

Co., Inc. He enjoyed his sum-

mers on Long Island fishing

with family and friends, even-

tually retiring at his home in

Mattituck, NY. He is survived

by Evelyn and children, Lin-

da(Peter Wells),Richard

(Karen Dodson Turchiano),

Joseph, Jr. (Laurie Hyland

Turchiano), his sister Justine,

brother Bernardandfive

grandchildren - Ian, Allison,

Katie, Joseph and Daniel, and

by many nieces and nep-

hews. A private burial at Cal-

verton NationalCemetery

will be followed by a memor-

ial service at a later date. Do-

nations can be made, in me-

moriam, to the Prostate Can-

cer Foundation at

http://www.pcf.org

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