USGrant1962
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The old superstition raises its head again. Rosalynn Carter, Henry Kissinger, and now Sandra Day O'Conner. They all lived long and interesting lives, may they rest in peace.
RIP:Famous People Die in Threes
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audreyh1
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Chuckanut
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It probably has more to do with many aging baby boomers reaching that age where every additional year is truly a gift to be treasured. We could end up with a faux pattern of people dying by the dozen.
Humans are pattern-seeking animals. A good thing: that's how we got to be where we are.
But I think this particular thing is likely a matter of people dying near the end of the year. You always see the obituary column of the paper get very full around the end of December, as those who are already in bad shape try (maybe subconsciously) to make it past that milestone. Some do, most don't.
aaronc879
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Hopefully it's not starting over with another 3.
Chuckanut
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Music Lover
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Everything happens in 3's...as long as you start and stop counting at the right time. 
W2R
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Seems like for years, eons, we don't see deaths of people of this import in our lives, and then suddenly, three. In my life:
1. My eldest brother Bob (whom I totally idolized),
2. my cousin Terri that grew up with me like a sister and was my best friend ever, and
3. my ex-husband Randy that I was married to for 23 years
all died unexpectedly one after the other about five years ago, right after my 70th birthday. Boom, boom, boom. Ages were 77, 68, and 67. No time to mourn or recover between these deaths before the next death. All I can say is thank goodness for the forum, which kept me from losing my mind, and kept my thoughts at least partly on other matters until I could absorb and handle the reality of all these deaths at once.
Some years are like that, I suppose.
1. My eldest brother Bob (whom I totally idolized),
2. my cousin Terri that grew up with me like a sister and was my best friend ever, and
3. my ex-husband Randy that I was married to for 23 years
all died unexpectedly one after the other about five years ago, right after my 70th birthday. Boom, boom, boom. Ages were 77, 68, and 67. No time to mourn or recover between these deaths before the next death. All I can say is thank goodness for the forum, which kept me from losing my mind, and kept my thoughts at least partly on other matters until I could absorb and handle the reality of all these deaths at once.
Some years are like that, I suppose.
Qs Laptop
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Yes, but the three that USGrant1962 mentioned were all from the government arena. I think the decedents need to have some common connection besides fame that causes us to group them into threes. Usually, it's entertainers, so it's kind of rare to see government service people related.
Qs Laptop
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True, true.
He did set a qualifier--"They all lived long and interesting lives."
I can see where all four lived long lives. But did Charlie Munger live an interesting life? Probably. But interesting compared to Henry Kissinger, Sandra Day O'Connor, or Roselyn Carter? I don't know.
Qs Laptop
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Also, what's the time limit on these deaths? Is it the same day? Over two days? Three days?
Car-Guy
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I'd say absolutely. If had to pick a life model between the four of them, I'd pick Charlie's life model in a heartbeat. Harvard grad, chairman of several companies along the way, served in the US Army, philanthropist, wrote a book, advisor to Buffett, etc, etc... And of course being a billionaire doesn't hurt.
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Texas Proud
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Well, the question is how much time is in the mix...
President Carter looks like he will be gone in the next couple of months... so maybe we have 2 groups of 3...
President Carter looks like he will be gone in the next couple of months... so maybe we have 2 groups of 3...
easysurfer
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You are generous. I don't think he will make it to 2024.
Hope that isn't taken the wrong way as I'm so happy that he was able to attend the service for Rosalynn.
Dtail
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What is interesting to me is that these famous people probably get the best health care available and of course have enough money.
This appears to often translate into one living into their 90's.
Of course there are other factors to dying at an earlier age, but nevertheless interesting.
This appears to often translate into one living into their 90's.
Of course there are other factors to dying at an earlier age, but nevertheless interesting.
Car-Guy
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After seeing him at Rosalynn funeral, he looked pretty bad. (So would I if I were his age.) You never know, he's been in hospice care since the beginning of the year and she didn't make it two weeks.
easysurfer
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It's amazing his wonderful long life. I still can't believe that when he was running for President I was a wee lad in high school. It's heartwarming, that he made to to Rosalynn's funeral. Plus the love letter he wrote years ago that was read by daughter Amy.
But at first glimpse when he was wheeled out was shocking to see (my first thought was he looked like former Commodore Pike in episode The Menagerie on the original Star Trek).
Guess I expected to see him flashing that Jimmy Carter smile.
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Car-Guy
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Sad but true. But on the lighter side, IIRC, Pike was never a former officer, he was never decommissioned by Star Fleet. Trekkie Trivia. But I could be wrong.
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easysurfer
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We had a question about why all threads about people who die get labeled "RIP:". It's the same reason we label all threads with polls "POLL:" because it makes it much easier to find them in searches.
We did have a suggestion 3 or so years ago to create a separate forum just for obituaries because we get hundreds of threads and thousands of posts every year which would make that forum the dead center of the site. We decided instead to simply label the threads.
We did have a suggestion 3 or so years ago to create a separate forum just for obituaries because we get hundreds of threads and thousands of posts every year which would make that forum the dead center of the site. We decided instead to simply label the threads.
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Qs Laptop
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This came up in my Twitter feed:
On November 22, 1963, three great men, C. S. Lewis, John F. Kennedy and Aldous Huxley, died within a few hours of each other.
I can't think of three more significant people of the 20th century dying on the same day.
On November 22, 1963, three great men, C. S. Lewis, John F. Kennedy and Aldous Huxley, died within a few hours of each other.
I can't think of three more significant people of the 20th century dying on the same day.
