As we looked back on 2012, we thought we would get a jump on those articles that totally or largely ignore Latinos in the end-of-the year lists of notable deaths. These lists not only imply that there are no or very few notable Latinos, but also that not many of us die at all (which could be a good thing if it were true). We were also motivated by the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars where I spend most of the time yelling out, “Holy shit, I didn’t know he (or she) died this year!”

For Latinos, we witnessed the high profile deaths of Mexican-American singer-actress “la diva de la banda” Jenni Rivera and legendary Puerto Rican boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho. As the year came to a close, the horrific school shootings in the Newtown, Connecticut brought to the nation a deep sadness and focused Latinos on the deaths of two Puerto Ricans, 6-year-old Ana Marquez-Greene and 27-year-old heroic teacher Victoria Soto. The world of letters lost the frighteningly talented writer Carlos Fuentes, as well as pioneers in the making of the Chicano Movement like Juan Valdez, Ben Lujan and Frank P. Hernandez. Mexican-American actress and artistic institution, Lupe Ontiveros, along with Puerto Rico’s path breaking politician and singer, Ruth Fernandez, also died. In the Puerto Rican community, the deaths of amazing guitarist and longtime NiLP friend Yomo Toro, community leader Raquel Creitoff, and the “Puerto Rican Beyoncé,” Lorena Escalera, were heartfelt by many. Religious pioneers like Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez and Cardinal Luis Aponte Martinez also left us in 2012.

As you review the list below, you will observe the simple truth that there are many notable Latinos in many fields where they have achieved excellence. Hey, we even threw in a few drug lords as well as some “honorary” Latinos like the guy who played Epstein, the Puerto Rican Jew, in the TV sitcom, “Welcome Back Kotter.”

(Editor’s Note: the original list of Notables was much longer but due to space constraints we had to leave off some very important people, or people you may be wondering why they are not listed, it could very well be they were listed it is just that we didn’t have the space to list all of them.)

Academics
Roy Bryce-Laporte, 78, American sociologist.
Leopoldo García-Colín, 81, Mexican physicist.
Mara Negrón, 51, professor at University of Puerto Rico’s Women and Gender Studies Program.
Alejandro Rodriguez, 93, American psychiatrist and academic.
Arturo Andrés Roig, 89, Argentine philosopher.

Actors and Entertainers
Regina Dourado, 59, Brazilian actress, breast cancer.
Lorena Escalera (aka La’reina Xtravaganza), 25, New York entertainer know as the “Puerto Rican Beyoncé.”
Silvana Gallardo, 58, American actress.
Robert Hegyes, 60, New Jersey-born actor who played Jewish Puerto-Rican wheeler-dealer Juan Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos Epstein on the 1970s classic TV sitcom Welcome Back Kotter.
Joaquín Martínez, 81, Mexican-born American actor (Jeemiah Johnson, Die Another Day), pancreatic cancer.
Yolanda Mérida, 82, Mexican actress.
Lupe Ontiveros, 69, American actress (Desperate Housewives, Selena, The Goonies), liver cancer
Manola Saavedra, 76, Spanish-born Mexican actress.

Artists
Gerardo Chavez, 94, Peruvian artist.
Pedro E. Guerrero, 95, American photographer, cancer.
Nicolás Moreno, 88, Mexican landscape painter.
Spain Rodriguez, 72, American underground cartoonist, cancer.

Athletes
Alex Alves, 37, Brazilian footballer (Hertha BSC), leukemia.
Miguel Calero, 41, Colombian footballer, cerebral thrombosis.
Félix, 74, Brazilian footballer, 1970 FIFA World Cup winner, cardiac arrest.
Fidélis, 68, Brazilian footballer (Bangu Atlético Clube), cancer.
Diego Mendieta, 32, Paraguayan footballer, viral infection.
Juan Francisco Lombardo, 86, Argentine football player.
Alfonso Montemayor, 90, Mexican footballer (Club León).
Ladislao Nerio, 35, Salvadoran football player (C.D. Águila), strangled.
Salvador Reyes Monteón, 76, Mexican footballer *Club Deportivo Guadalajara Salvador Reyes), colon cancer
Azumir Veríssimo, 77, Brazilian footballer.
Paulo Rodrigues da Silva, 25, Brazilian footballer, car crash.
MS-1, 55, Mexican professional wrestler, car accident.
Felipe Fernández, 74, Argentine basketball player.
Rogelio Álvarez, 74, Cuban-born American baseball player (Cincinnati Reds), complications of kidney disease.
Pedro Borbón, 65, Dominican Republic-born American baseball player (Cincinnati Reds), cancer.
Héctor Camacho, 50, Puerto Rican boxer, injuries from gunshot.
Tom Martinez, 66, American football coach, heart attack.
Sergio Oliva, 71, Cuban-born American bodybuilder, Mr. Olympia (1967-1969).
Pascual Pérez, 55, Dominican baseball player (Atlanta Braves, Montreal Expos, New York Yankees), bludgeoning.
Eusebio Razo, Jr., 46, Mexican-born American jockey, explosion.
Roberto Rodríguez, 70, Venezuelan baseball player (Kansas City/Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs), heart attack.
Raul Rojas, 70, American boxer.
Johnny Tapia, 45, American boxer.

Community Leaders
Ruben Acosta, 52, Cuban-born Michigan attorney and community leader, malignant brain tumor
Nilda Alvarez, 79, Puerto Rican community leader in Brentwood, New York, longime coordinator of Pronto of Long Island, massive stroke she suffered after dancing at a wedding
Eva Calderon, 65, Mexican parent leader in Chicago, breast cancer
Alice Cardona, 81, Puerto Rican community actisist and feminist in NYC
Pedro Juan Herrera, 89, known as “Mr. Baseball,” co-founded the Roberto Clemente Baseball League in Buffalo, NY.
Nélida Gómez de Navajas, 76, Argentine human rights activist (Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo).
Esther Medina, 76, San Jose, California community leader of Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA).
Juan Valdez, 74, land grant activist who fired first shot during 1967 New Mexico courthouse raid that grabbed international attention and helped spark the Chicano Movement.
Vidal Vega, 48, Paraguayan peasant leader, shooting.

Musicians
Carmélia Alves, 89, Brazilian baião singer, multiple organ seizure.
Luisito Ayala, 60, Puerto Rican vocalist and percussionist, cerebral hemorrhage.
José Roberto Bertrami, 66, Brazilian pianist and keyboardist (Azymuth).
Roland Bautista, 60, American guitarist (Earth, Wind & Fire).
Augusto Bracca, 94, Venezuelan songwriter, respiratory arrest.
Cali Carranza, 59, American Tejano musician, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Federico A. Cordero, 84, Puerto Rican classical guitarist.
Charles Flores, 41, Cuban-born American jazz bassist, throat cancer.
Junior Gonzalez, 63, Puerto Rican salsa singer.
Zenaida Manfugás, 90, Cuban-born American pianist.
Rafael Rincón González, 89, Venezuelan musician.
Jenni Rivera, 43, American-born Mexican banda and norteño singer, plane crash.
Yomo Toro, 78, legendary Puerto Rican cuatro guitarist.
Chavela Vargas, Costa Rican-born Mexican singer

Public Officials
Ruben Ayala, 89, American politician, California State Senator (1974-1998), first elected Mayor of Chino, California (1964-1966).
Juan H. Cintrón García, 93, Puerto Rican politician.
Ruth Fernández, 92, Puerto Rican singer and politician, Senator (1973-1981).
Tom Fuentes, 63, American political leader, Orange County Republican Party chairman (1985-2004), liver cancer.
Mario Gallegos, Jr., 62, American politician, Texas State Senator (since 1995), complications of liver disease.
Frank P. Hernandez, 73, the first Hispanic to be appointed a judge in Dallas County, Texas, part of the Commission on Mexican-American Affairs (“the Dirty Dozen”).
Ben Luján, 77, American politician, member of the New Mexico House of Representatives (since 1975), Speaker (since 2001), lung cancer.
Samuel B. Nunez, Jr., 81, American politician, President of the Louisiana State Senate (1983-1988; 1990-1996).
Mercedes Otero, Puerto Rican politician, member of Senate (1993 to 2001).
Roberto Rexach Benítez, 82, Puerto Rican politician, President of the Senate (1993-1996).

Writers
Miguel Arteche, 86, Chilean poet and novelist.
Antonio Cisneros, 69, Peruvian poet, lung cancer.
Jayne Cortez, 76, American poet and performance artist.
Millôr Fernandes, 87, Brazilian cartoonist, humorist, and playwright, multiple organ failure.
Carlos Fuentes, 83, Panamanian-born Mexican novelist, internal hemorrhage.
Claude-Anne Lopez, 92, American author and scholar, Alzheimer’s disease.
Pedro Medina Avendaño, 96, Colombian poet.
Carmen Naranjo, 83, Costa Rican novelist, poet and essayist, cancer.
Décio Pignatari, 85, Brazilian poet, essayist and translator, respiratory failure.
Horacio Vázquez-Rial, 65, Argentine-born Spanish writer, cancer.

Other
Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, 37, Mexican drug lord (Los Zetas), shooting.
Ana Marquez-Greene, 6, killed in Newtown, Connecticut school shooting.
Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo, 77, Spanish-born Cuban dissident (Alpha 66), heart attack.
Warren Morrow, 34, an Mexico-born advocate for Latino businesses, CEO and Founder of Coopera in Iowa.
Oswaldo Payá, 60, Cuban dissident, recipient of the 2002 Sakharov Prize, traffic collision.
Victoria Soto, 27, Puerto Rican teacher who died as a hero in the tragic shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Manuel Torres Félix, 58, Mexican drug trafficker for the Sinaloa Cartel, shooting.
Griselda Blanco, 69, Colombian drug trafficker known as The Cocaine Godmother, notorious in the 1970s and 1980s for her substantial cocaine business in Queens, New York, and drug-related brutality in Miami known as the Cocaine Cowboy Wars, shot twice in the head in a motorcycle assassination.