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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
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Herman Taylor, former city employee and radio personality, died from emphysema at age 62.

Dick Wilson, known as “Mr. Whipple” from the Charmin commercials, died at age 91.

Martha Kostyra, Martha Stewart’s mother who taught her daughter just about everything she knows, died at age 93.

Since grief is magnified during times of celebration, please remember the families of these people, and anyone else for that matter, who have passed on during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Previous Comments

Oh yeah, remember the Osmonds as well. The patriarch, George Osmond, died on November 6, a couple of days before a scheduled family reunion on Oprah. He was 90.


I thought Mr. Whipple was dead a long time ago.