Immigrants

Lincoln Díaz-Balart (1954–2025), former U.S. congressman from Florida

Lincoln Díaz-Balart represented southern Florida as a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2011.

Gerd Stern (1928–2025), Beat Generation multimedia artist

Gerd Stern was an influential poet and multimedia artist of the Beat era, as well as the co-founder of the 1960s art collective, USCO. 

Jerome Drayton (1945–2025), Boston Marathon winner

Jerome Drayton was one of the top long-distance runners of the 1970s and the last Canadian man to win the Boston Marathon. 

Kultida Woods (1944–2025), Tiger Woods’ mother

Kultida Woods was the mother of golf legend Tiger Woods, known for being one of his most prominent supporters and for urging him to adopt red as his Sunday color.

Charles Phan (1962–2025), influential Vietnamese chef 

Charles Phan was a Vietnamese chef whose restaurant, The Slanted Door, and cookbooks helped spark a nationwide appreciation of his country's cuisine.

Francisco San Martin (1985–2025), Days of Our Lives actor

Francisco San Martin was an actor known for roles in such TV shows as “Days of Our Lives” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

ígnes Keleti (1921–2025), oldest living Olympic champion

Ágnes Keleti was a Holocaust survivor and the oldest living Olympic champion, having won five gold medals in gymnastics in the 1950s.

íngela ílvarez (1927–2024), singer who won a Latin Grammy at 95

íngela ílvarez was a Cuban singer and songwriter who won a Latin Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2022, when she was 95 years old.

Bela Karolyi (1942–2024), coach who transformed U.S. gymnastics

Bela Karolyi was a gymnastics coach whose sometimes-controversial methods helped transform U.S. gymnastics and bring home gold medals, techniques that also stirred up criticism for alleged abuse.

Fernando Valenzuela (1960–2024), L.A. Dodgers great

Fernando Valenzuela was a Mexican-born Major League Baseball pitcher best known for his time with the L.A. Dodgers, during which he won a Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in the same year, sparking “Fernandomania.”

Andrew Schally (1926–2024), Nobel Prize winner

Andrew Schally was an endocrinologist whose work studying links between hormones and the brain stem resulted in him sharing a Nobel Prize with neuroscientist Roger Guillemin and physicist Rosalyn Yalow.

Luis Tiant (1940–2024), Boston Red Sox great

Luis Tiant was a Major League Baseball pitcher known for his distinctive windup and his years playing for the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians.

Lore Segal (1928–2024), Pulitzer Prize-finalist author

Lore Segal was an author and Holocaust survivor whose 2007 novel, “Shakespeare's Kitchen,” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction.

Dikembe Mutombo (1966–2024), Hall of Fame NBA shot-blocker

Dikembe Mutombo was an NBA star known for his towering height and his shot-blocking skills.

Michaela DePrince (1995–2024), ballerina who danced with Beyonce

Michaela DePrince was a ballerina who rose from a war-torn childhood to become a rising international star of the dance world.

íngel Salazar (1956–2024), Scarface actor and comedian

Ángel Salazar was an actor and comedian best known for his performance as Chi Chi in “Scarface.” 

Tsung-Dao Lee (1926–2024), Nobel-winning physicist

Tsung-Dao Lee was a Chinese-born physicist who won the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discoveries on the nature of subatomic particles.

Peter Buxtun (1937–2024), Tuskegee syphilis experiment whistleblower 

Peter Buxtun was a United States Public Health Service employee who revealed that the U.S. government had been experimenting on Black men without their knowledge, a “study” which came to be known as the Tuskegee syphilis experiment. 

Ruth Westheimer (1928–2024), popular sex guru known as Dr. Ruth

Dr. Ruth Westheimer was a sex therapist who became a pop culture icon thanks to her TV and radio appearances.

Olga Fikotová (1932–2024), Olympic gold medalist discus thrower

Olga Fikotová was an Olympic gold medal-winning and record-setting discus thrower whose romance with American athlete Hal Connolly made waves in her home country of Czechoslovakia.

Herbert Kroemer (1928–2024), Nobel Prize winner for laser technology

Herbert Kroemer was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist whose work on laser technology changed the way semiconductors are designed. 

Daniel Kahneman (1934–2024), Nobel Prize-winning behavioral economist 

Daniel Kahneman was a Nobel Prize-winning behavioral economist, psychologist, and author of the best-selling book on modern economic theory, “Thinking, Fast and Slow.” 

Martin Greenfield (1928–2024), tailor to the stars 

Martin Greenfield was a Holocaust survivor who became a prominent tailor specializing in dressing the elite, including six U.S. Presidents and such celebrities as , Shaquille O’Neal, , and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Cecilia Gentili (1972–2024), Pose actress and LGBTQ+ activist

Cecilia Gentili was an author, actress known for playing Miss Orlando on “Pose,” and an LGBTQ+ rights activist who advocated for health and wellness among the community.

José Delbo (1933–2024), Wonder Woman, Transformers artist

José Delbo was a comic book artist for seven decades, arguably best known for his work on “Wonder Woman,” “The Transformers,” and “Billy the Kid.”

Arno A. Penzias (1933–2024), Nobel winner for Big Bang theory 

Arno A. Penzias was a scientist who shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics for discoveries that helped prove the Big Bang theory. 

Amalija Knavs (1945–2024), Melania Trump’s mother

Amalija Knavs was the mother of former First Lady Melania Trump. 

Iasos (1947–2024), New Age music pioneer

Iasos was a musician whose 1975 album “Inter-Dimensional Music” was one of the early examples of New Age music.

Edmundo Desnoes (1930–2023), author of Memorias del subdesarrollo 

Edmundo Desnoes was the author of the novel “Memorias del subdesarrollo,” which was adapted into an acclaimed film.

Guy Stern (1922–2023), Holocaust refugee and WWII intel operative

Guy Stern was a German refugee who fled the Nazis in the 1930s and became a military intelligence operative for the U.S. during World War II as part of the elite group known as the Ritchie Boys.

Juanita Castro (1933–2023), anti-communist sister of Fidel Castro

Juanita Castro was an anti-communist activist and author who opposed her brothers, Cuban leaders Fidel Castro and Raíºl Castro, and Cuban Revolution leader Ramón Castro. 

Henry Kissinger (1923–2023), influential secretary of state

Henry Kissinger was the U.S. secretary of state under Presidents and .

Harald Hasselbach (1967–2023), two-time Super Bowl champion

Harald Hasselbach was an NFL player and defensive end for the Denver Broncos through two Super Bowl victories, including a start in the 1999 game.

Oleg Protopopov (1932–2023), gold medal-winning Olympic figure skater

Oleg Protopopov was a two-time Olympic gold medal winner who, along with his wife, Ludmila Belousova, defected from the Soviet Union and became an international figure skating icon. 

Eve Bunting (1928–2023), bestselling children’s author

Eve Bunting was the author of bestselling and award-winning books for children, including “The Wall” and “Smoky Night.” 

Jonathan Sheppard (1940–2023), Hall of Fame horse trainer 

Jonathan Sheppard was a thoroughbred trainer whose horses had more steeplechase victories than any other trainer’s in U.S. history.

Nechama Tec (1931–2023), Holocaust survivor, historian, and scholar

Nechama Tec was a Holocaust survivor, scholar, and author of the book “Defiance: The Bielski Partisans,” which inspired the 2008 film of the same name.

Sixto Rodriguez (1942–2023), 'Searching for Sugar Man' musician

Sixto Rodriguez was an internationally recognized Detroit musician best known in the United States for being featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “Searching for Sugar Man.” 

Manny Coto (1961–2023), writer and producer for Star Trek, 24, Dexter

Manny Coto was a screenwriter, director and producer known for his work on popular genre shows such as “American Horror Story,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” “24,” and “Dexter.”

Coco Lee (1975–2023), internationally famous singer and actress

Coco Lee was a singer, songwriter, and actress who released 18 albums and in 2001 became the first Chinese American to perform at the Oscars.

Raymond Cassagnol (1920–2023), Tuskegee Airman from Haiti 

Raymond Cassagnol was a veteran of the Haitian Air Corps who trained with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. 

Lilli Vincenz (1937–2023), pioneering gay rights activist 

Lilli Vincenz was a filmmaker, psychotherapist, and LGBTQIA+ activist among the first lesbians to openly protest for equal treatment in front of the White House.

Dahrran Diedrick (1979–2023), Big 12-leading Cornhuskers rusher 

Dahrran Diedrick , a Big 12-leading rusher for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, enjoyed a 10-year career in both the NFL and the Canadian Football League (CFL). 

Firouz Naderi (1946–2023), NASA Mars mission director 

Firouz Naderi was a scientist with NASA who led several missions to Mars.

Ben Helfgott (1929–2023), Holocaust survivor and Olympian

Ben Helfgott was a Holocaust survivor who went on to compete in the Olympics as a weightlifter, then spent his life advocating for and supporting his fellow survivors.

The Iron Sheik (1942–2023), pro wrestling superstar

Hossain Khosrow Ali Vaziri , better known as The Iron Sheik , was a professional wrestler who won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in 1983.

Amitai Etzioni (1929–2023), influential author and sociologist 

Amitai Etzioni was an influential author and sociologist who advocated for societies built around the common good.

Thomas Buergenthal (1934–2023), prominent human rights advocate

Thomas Buergenthal was a Holocaust survivor who went on to become an attorney, judge, and scholar, and an influential advocate for human rights.

Anna Shay (1960–2023), Bling Empire star

Anna Shay was an heiress and socialite who starred on the Netflix reality series “Bling Empire.”