While 2025 saw many bright spots and great moments, there were also many moments of darkness and sad farewells to beloved friends, neighbors and luminaries. It would be impossible to list all of the wonderful people who passed this year, but here are just a few whose lasting impact and memories we will carry with us into the New Year.
Ed Blank, Jan. 22: The former reporter and critic for the Pittsburgh Tribune Review died at 81. The native Pittsburgher was an Army Signal Corps veteran, a graduate of Duquesne University and a former Pittsburgh Press reporter. Blank joined the Tribune Review in 1993 and retired in 2007. Among his passions were Kennywood Park, oldies music, classic films and theater.
Mike Lange, Feb. 19: Sports broadcasting titan and Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Lange was 76 at the time of his death. While Lange was originally from Sacramento, Calif., his contribution to Pittsburgh Penguins history made him an honorary Pittsburgher. For more than four decades, Lange’s iconic turns of phrase and detailed knowledge defined Penguins radio and television. He spent the seasons between 1976 and 2021 on the air in Pittsburgh (with one previous non-contiguous season with the team). Lange will be remembered every time “it’s a hockey night in Pittsburgh.”
Jon Burnett, Feb. 20: Longtime local broadcaster Jon Burnett died at age 71 as result of CTE. He played football at the University of Tennessee until graduating in 1976 before moving to Pittsburgh. Burnett then began his lengthy time at KDKA in 1982 with the “Evening Magazine” program, then moved to “Pittsburgh 2Day” in 1985. In the 1990s, he moved into weather broadcasting for KDKA, becoming a fixture there for nearly three decades. Burnett retired in 2019 and was diagnosed with CTE in 2022, a fact that he made very public in an effort to raise awareness about the disease.
Craig Wolfley, March 10: With two huge phases of his career, Wolfley was known both as a Steelers offensive lineman and then later as a sports reporter for his former team. He died at 66, following a short battle with cancer. With a shining sense of humor and generosity, Wolfley was exemplary at both sideline reporting and color commentary. Drafted in 1980 from Syracuse, he spent a decade with the Steelers before finishing his playing career in Minnesota. After spending almost two decades reporting from the sidelines, he took over color commentary in 2021.
Jim Quinn, March 30: Going back to the 1960s, this New Jersey native had been on the Pittsburgh airwaves. Quinn was 82 at the time of his death. He enjoyed a radio hosting career that began on KQV, then moved to WTAE in the 1970s and to morning radio at B-94. An acolyte of conservative host Rush Limbaugh, Quinn would move into conservative talk radio later in life at WRRK, WPGH, XM Satellite Radio and at WAVL in Apollo, where he hosted “Quinn in the Morning.”
Lawrence E. Brandt, June 8: Serving as the Bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg from 2004 to 2015, Brandt was seen as a steady hand during a transitional period for the Catholic Church in the region. Brandt died at 86. He had a reputation for his strength, wisdom and an openness to listening to his parishioners. His tenure also saw the launch of successful fundraising and vocational campaigns that helped to improve the financial and clergy situation of the Church in Greensburg.
Dave Parker, June 28: This Pirates great died at age 74, just weeks before he was set to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The right fielder had battled Parkinson’s Disease for more than a decade. Parker was a member of the Pirates’ 1979 championship “family” and was a seven-time All-Star in Major League Baseball. He played 11 seasons with the Pirates and was part of their inaugural Hall of Fame class in 2022. Over almost two decades in the league with several teams, Parker had a .290 batting average and had 2,712 hits and 339 home runs.
Jimmy Joe Robinson, July 14: Robinson was the first Black varsity football player at the University of Pittsburgh, and he was 97 at the time of his death. The Connellsville native first lettered in 1945, then remained with the team for two additional seasons. He then went on to play in the National Football League for the Cleveland Browns after being drafted in 1950. After serving in the Korean War, he did eventually play with the Steelers, as well as with the Montreal Alouettes in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union.
Judy Zarra, Aug. 12: Also known as “Judy Banana,” Zarra was well-known both as a restaurant owner and club proprietor in the punk scene. She and husband John Zarra Sr. owned The Electric Banana, a nightclub renowned for its position in the national underground music scene, from the 1970s to the 1990s, serving as the Pittsburgh stop for many pioneering punk bands. Eventually, as the century came to a close, the club transitioned into Zarra’s, an acclaimed Italian eatery. Zarra was 78 at the time of her death from cancer.
Gil Snyder, Oct. 2: Not only was Snyder the longtime keyboardist for legendary Pittsburgh band the Iron City Houserockers, he also left an indelible mark on the Pittsburgh music scene in the 1980s and ’90s. He was 72. A fixture at long-closed Oakland club The Decade, Snyder played with a number of local groups — including Bon Ton Roulet and local all-star band The Mystic Knights of the Sea — and proved a charismatic and memorable presence in the local scene.
Paul O’Hanlon, Nov. 30: While he may not have the name recognition of many other notable locals, O’Hanlon spent decades as a disability rights advocate, voting rights advocate and a pillar of the Pittsburgh community. He died at the age of 71. Especially active in Pittsburgh public transit rights, the wheelchair-bound attorney graduated from Pitt’s School of Law in 1979 and worked for institutions such as Neighborhood Legal Services and Disability Rights Pennsylvania.