Obituaries in the news

Lei Clijsters

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Lei Clijsters, the father of tennis player Kim Clijsters and a former Belgium soccer international, died Sunday. He was 52.

Derniere Heure newspaper in Belgium reported Clijsters died after a yearlong battle with lung cancer.

He played 40 matches for Belgium's national team, participating in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups. In 1986, Belgium reached the semifinals.

Clijsters played defense for several Belgian clubs and captained FC Mechelen when it won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1988 by beating Ajax in the final.

After retiring in 1993, Clijsters managed his daughter's tennis career until her retirement in 2007. Kim Clijsters won the U.S. Open in 2005.

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Pat Hingle

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. (AP) -- Pat Hingle, a veteran actor whose career included a recurring role as Commissioner Gordon in several Batman movies in the 1990s, died Saturday after battling blood cancer. He was 84.

Family friend Michele Seidman says Hingle died at his home in Carolina Beach.

Seidman says he decided to settle in the coastal town after shooting the movie "Maximum Overdrive" in the area in 1986. He lived there for more than 15 years.

Family spokeswoman Lynn Heritage says Hingle was diagnosed with myelodysplasia in November 2006.

His career in movies and television spanned six decades, and he was also nominated for a Tony Award in 1958. Hingle's last movie was "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," which was released in 2006.

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Sam McQuagg

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) -- Sam McQuagg, the 1965 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, died Saturday. He was 73.

McQuagg died at St. Francis Hospital, his son Sam McQuagg Jr. told The Associated Press.

Preliminary medical reports show McQuagg died from cancer.

McQuagg began racing in the 1950s and entered his first NASCAR race in 1962.

In 1966, McQuagg claimed his only NASCAR victory, winning the Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

In the 1965 Southern 500, McQuagg was involved in a spectacular wreck that sent Cale Yarborough tumbling over a guardrail. Footage of the crash was later used to illustrate the agony of defeat on "ABC's Wide World of Sports."

McQuagg drove in his last NASCAR race in 1974 and worked as a corporate pilot until retiring in 1997, McQuagg Jr. said.

After retiring, McQuagg traveled the country with his wife, Joy, in a motor home. The couple celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary while he was in the hospital on New Year's Eve.

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Jisselle Salandy

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) -- Jisselle Salandy, the Trinidadian boxing champion who was one of the sport's rising young stars, died Sunday from injuries sustained in a car crash on the outskirts of the Caribbean country's capital. She was 21.

Salandy died at Port-of-Spain General Hospital shortly after the dawn crash, according to Information Minister Neil Parsanlal. He said Salandy's car ran off a highway and smashed into a concrete column after she had brought a friend to Piarco International Airport.

Known for her quick feet and fast hands, Salandy had easily defended her WBC, WBA and WIBA belts against the Dominican Republic's Yahaira Hernandez on Dec. 26, which pushed Salandy's professional record to 17-0.

Traveling in the car with Salandy was national soccer player Tamer Watson. She was listed in critical condition Sunday at the Port-of-Spain hospital, Hunt said.

Salandy, who began boxing at age 11, earned a welterweight title in 2002 when she was just 16 by outpointing 23-year-old Colombian Paula Rojas in Curacao. That stirred controversy in Salandy's native Trinidad because at 16, she was still two years younger than the minimum age for professional fights in her homeland.

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Alfred Shaheen

TORRANCE, Calif. (AP) -- Alfred Shaheen, a pioneering textile manufacturer credited with creating the modern Hawaiian garment industry and in the process transforming the state's garish, tacky souvenir shirts into works of art, died Dec. 22. He was 86.

Shaheen died of complications from diabetes, said his daughter, Camille Shaheen-Tunberg.

As tourists from the mainland flocked to Hawaii after World War II, many began to bring home colorful but cheesy looking shirts and sundresses that would be cause for much amusement among friends.

Shaheen began to change that in 1948, however, when he opened Shaheen's of Honolulu and began designing, printing and producing aloha shirts, dresses and other ready-to-wear clothing of better design and much higher quality. Among those seen in Shaheen-designed shirts of that era was Elvis Presley, who wore one for the cover of his 1961 soundtrack album "Blue Hawaii."

Such Shaheen originals now fetch $1,000 or more.