Alvin C. Elton, well-known, popular Northwest Side darts player, dies at 56 from coronavirus. 'He enjoyed Chicago pleasures. “Italian beef sandwich and a Bud Light, and he was a happy guy,” said his wife Gretchen Meyer, director of customer service at the city Department of Aviation.' Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/3/26/21195894/alvin-c-elton-well-known-popular-northwest-side-darts-player-dies-56-coronavirus

62-year-old Carl Redd, an Army veteran, died from a COVID-19 infection. He was one of the first 19 killed. He was denied the presenting of his military honors due to the coronavirus. Read more: https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/illinois-veteran-one-of-19-killed-by-covid-19

Fred Walter Gray, 75, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at Kadlec Medical Center on March 20, 2020 due to complications of the Wuhan Coronavirus (COVID-19). Sadly, he was the third Benton County resident to succumb to this virus. Read more: https://www.sunsetgardenstricities.com/obituary/2020/03/fred-walter-gray/

JoAnn Stokes-Smith, the first Charleston resident to die of the disease tied to the new coronavirus, spent her life nursing sick South Carolinians and died holding her own nurse’s hand. Read more: https://www.postandcourier.com/health/covid19/charlestons-first-coronavirus-victim-a-lifelong-nurse-lived-a-long-fruitful-life/article_c0ddf3ca-7037-11ea-859b-2bb16a6d9c11.html

Arnold Obey, a long-time educator and a pillar in Staten Island’s sports community starting from when he starred on Wagner College’s basketball team in the mid-1960s, passed away suddenly [of the coronavirus] Sunday night while on a trip in Puerto Rico. Read more: https://www.silive.com/sports/2020/03/arnold-obey-long-time-educator-and-pillar-in-staten-islands-sports-community-has-died.html

The 54-year-old Juarez had been infected with the novel coronavirus, according to his son [on March 15]. He died three days later. Read more: https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-death-will-county-man-20200324-kwecjqi2vrchdicjijvr2ubxyq-story.html

Merle was the first Oklahoma citizen to die from complications related to COVID-19. He was passionate about the things of God. Besides being with his wife and children, he was happiest when he was doing something for the church or for the people of the church. Read more: https://www.mogro.co/obituary/merle-dry

When 61-year-old Patricia Frieson died Monday, she was the first COVID-19 death in Illinois. But her death was also a huge loss for a large South Side family in which she played a central role — a family that has journeyed through the stark reality of a loved one dying in COVID-19 quarantine. Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/coronavirus/2020/3/18/21186000/patricia-frieson-1st-coronavirus-covid-19-death-illinois-quarantine-family-sister

San Jose’s Patricia Dowd died of COVID-19 in February 2020. She was the first confirmed coronavirus death in the United States. Read more: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/coronavirus/daughter-of-patricia-dowd-the-first-u-s-covid-victim-breaks-her-silence/2466324/

Ronald Lewis, Preserver of New Orleans Black Culture, Dies at 68 His colorful museum, the House of Dance and Feathers, was a monument to the rich street culture of African-Americans. Mr. Lewis died of the coronavirus. Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/us/ronald-w-lewis-dead-coronavirus.html

Jermaine was a friend to all who lit up any room she was in. She excelled at every craft she put her mind to and had the greenest of green thumbs. Jermaine passed away March 5, at the age of 77 due to COVID19. Read more: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/newsday/name/jermaine-kolbeck-ferro-obituary?pid=195669614

DJ Black N Mild (born Oliver Stokes Jr.) helped bring New Orleans bounce music to the radio. For years, he hosted popular shows like "Rhythm And Bounce" on WBOK. He died of COVID19 on March 19, 2020. Read more: https://www.npr.org/2020/04/07/829092048/remembering-new-orleans-bounce-dj-black-n-mild

Washington Deacon John-Sebastian Laird-Hammond was the first U.S. clergy fatality from COVID-19 Read more: https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2020/03/24/first-us-clergy-fatality-covid-19-deacon-washington

Cornelius B. "Neil" Lawyer passed away on March 8, 2020 in Bellevue, Washington at the age of 84 of complications from COVID-19. Known as "Moose" to all and "Grandpa Moose" to a select gang of 17 grandkids and 3 great-grandchildren, Neil installed himself in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Bellevue and St. Louise Catholic Church in 1988 after a decades-long overseas posting. Moose made a career in technical sales. Read more: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?n=cornelius-bernard-lawyer&pid=195761805

Loretta Mendoza Dionisio, age 68, of Orlando, Florida, passed away March 2020 due to COVID. She was a cancer survivor born in the Philippines who became the first person in Los Angeles County known to have died of COVID-19.

Marion Krueger fell and fractured her hip on New Year’s Eve. Less than two months later, after a stay in a nursing home where she was supposed to mend, the 85-year-old became the first woman in the U.S. known to have died from the new coronavirus. Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-coronavirus-killed-its-first-female-victim-in-the-u-s-11586961428

Donald Raymond Haws, 88, of Jacksonville, FL died Thursday, March 19, 2020 after rapidly succumbing to Covid-19 (Coronavirus). Don believed strongly in the ethical responsibility of service to others, and spent a lifetime giving back to his communities. Read more: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/jacksonville-fl/donald-haws-9102947

John Cofrancesco was an administrator at a nursing home in Montclair, New Jersey and died on March 19, 2020 from COVID-19 complications at age 52. Read more: https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/coronavirus/2020/03/23/montclair-nj-nursing-home-administrator-dies-coronavirus/2897666001/

You can ask any musician who ever played or sang for conductor Alan Lund: If you were sitting in an orchestra or choir, and one person hit a bad note, Mr. Lund would hear it, know who did it, and tell that individual how to fix it. “He had the most amazing ear,” said his wife of 45 years, Ellen Lund. Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/obituaries/alan-lund-who-taught-and-directed-music-throughout-the-seattle-area-dies-at-81-from-coronavirus-complications/

Larry Rathgeb, head engineer behind the first 200-mph racecar, dies of coronavirus at 90. Rathgeb was among the more than 700 coronavirus fatalities Michigan had reported as of April 19th, 2020. Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/07/larry-rathgeb-head-engineer-behind-first-200-mph-racecar-dies-coronavirus-90/

Michael E. Mika a lifelong Chicago resident and an Army Veteran who served in the Vietnam War, passed away Thursday, March 19, 2020 at the age of 73 due to complication from the COVID-19 Virus. Read more: https://www.dupagecremations.com/obituary/Michael-Edward-Mika/Chicago-Illinois/1870561

Donald J. Horsfall, 72, of Rydal, a computer consultant who led a quiet life with his wife, Carol Ann Casciato, in their house with an English garden, died Sunday, March 22, 2020 at Abington Hospital-Jefferson Health. Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/obituaries/coronavirus-first-patient-death-montgomery-county-identified-20200323.html

LIYONSCRYPT is a musical cryptogram written as a signature work for the Long Island Youth Orchestra. The youth orchestra suspended its pre-60th anniversary season due to COVID19 shutdowns. It was the first major ensemble I had devoted my arts administration career to that was shuttered by the virus. Nassau & Suffolk Counties were the hardest hit in New York City early on during the spread of the novel coronavirus; as such, many arts organizations ceased operations due to restrictions on large gatherings. Using video conferencing technologies, LIYO's young artists were able to continue meeting to produce a music video to end its season. They brought me to tears with this rendition of Lean On Mahler, a commission of "Lean on Me" interspersed with variations on symphonies by renown composer/conductor Gustav Mahler. Please support them by watching their "Lean on Mahler" video linked below and making a 60th anniversary donation at liyo.org https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EsG-vW4Gj4 About the title: LIYONSCRYPT is a play on the phrase "Lion's Crypt" (as in a crypt of the dead), an acronym for Long Island Youth Orchestra of Nassau Suffolk Counties neologized with "Cryptogram"; better phrased "Cryptogram for the Long Island Youth Orchestra of Nassau-Suffolk Counties."