The official 2020 death pool
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I always feel a sense of dread when this thread gets necro'd, though I suppose that's appropriate.
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R.I.P. Tuck Tucker, SpongeBob SquarePants and Hey Arnold! Animator Dead at 59
Tuck Tucker, the veteran animator known for his work on shows like SpongeBob SquarePants and Hey Arnold!, has died at the age of 59.
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Obituary: Pierre Cardin
The legendary French fashion designer will be remembered for his futuristic designs and huge range.
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Dawn Wells, ‘Gilligan’s Island’s’ Mary Ann, Dies of COVID at 82
Dawn Wells, who starred as Mary Ann in "Gilligan's Island," died Wednesday of causes related to COVID-19 in Los Angeles. She was 82.
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He died in October, and his death was announced on NYE
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Missouri woman believed to be last Civil War widow dies
Helen Viola Jackson married a 93-year-old Civil War veteran when she was 17 in 1936
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@boomzilla said in The official 2020 death pool:
Helen Viola Jackson married a 93-year-old Civil War veteran when she was 17 in 1936
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She had been his caregiver and he wanted to marry her so she would receive his soldier's pension. But after he died in 1939, Jackson never applied for the pension.
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Waaaaiiit ... she marries a Civil War veteran decades after the war ended, and when he dies that makes her a Civil War widow? Is that how it works? You can be a Civil War widow even when your widowhood has nothing to do with the Civil War? I've seen a few premises stretched in my time.
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@Watson The bit quoted by @HardwareGeek says "soldier's pension" not "Civil War widow pension" (or whatever the name of that was), which IMO makes sense. Most pension systems allow for the surviving spouse to get some fraction of the deceased spouse's pension, at least for "normal" pensions, so I don't see why that wouldn't be the same for a soldier's pension. You might debate as to whether someone who marries a dying person should be entitled to that fraction, but that's an issue with all pension systems.
Then by virtue of being the widow of a Civil War veteran, she's (was...) a Civil War widow, but I don't think anyone claimed she might have been entitled to a pension due to that specific status (as opposed to the widow of someone who actually died due to the Civil War).
ETA: also, given how governments usually are stingy and unable to plan for future inflation, I'd wager that the soldier's pension was at some point set to a fixed amount of money (i.e. not inflation-linked) so even if she'd claimed it she would have ended up with $2.42/yr or something similar...
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@remi said in The official 2020 death pool:
Then by virtue of being the widow of a Civil War veteran, she's (was...) a Civil War widow,
Yes. That's the bit I'm talking about.
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@Watson One could define "Civil War widow" to mean either "widow of a soldier who fought in the Civil War" or "widow of a soldier who was killed in the Civil War." Although the latter definition is sometimes used, the widow (and other dependents) of a soldier is eligible for pension benefits even if the soldier's death is unrelated to a war. (The amount of the benefit might differ; I don't know anything about that.) Since she was (potentially — don't know for sure, since she never applied for it) eligible for a pension due to his service in the Civil War, it makes sense, at least in a broad sense, to use the former definition.
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@Watson said in The official 2020 death pool:
@remi said in The official 2020 death pool:
Then by virtue of being the widow of a Civil War veteran, she's (was...) a Civil War widow,
Yes. That's the bit I'm talking about.
It's a common-speech shortcut for "widow of someone who fought in the Civil War." Sounds cromulent to me
Would you prefer "widow of a Civil War veteran"? That would be
but longer, so when using language informally (i.e. in this specific instance it's not a status with a precise definition, just a way to describe her late husband) I'm not really shocked by "Civil War widow."
Star Wars Tragedy: Boba Fett Actor Jeremy Bulloch Dies at 75
No Longer Available
