Obituaries in the news

Bruce Dal Canton

CARNEGIE, Pa. (AP) — Bruce Dal Canton, a former high school teacher who turned a good showing at a tryout camp into a lengthy career as a major league pitcher and coach, died Tuesday. He was 66.

Dal Canton died of esophageal cancer. A Carnegie funeral home confirmed his death.

Born and raised near Pittsburgh, Dal Canton starred at California University of Pennsylvania. However, he didn't attract a lot of attention from big league scouts and went to work as a high school teacher and coach.

In the mid-1960s, Dal Canton went to a Pirates' tryout camp, hoping for one last chance at a baseball career. The Pirates signed him and he made his major league debut with them in 1967.

Dal Canton went 8-2 with Pittsburgh in 1969 and then 9-4 with the 1970 NL East champions. After that season, the Pirates traded him with Freddie Patek to Kansas City. He was 8-10 for the Royals in 1974 and pitched his only two career shutouts.

Dal Canton went 51-49 with a 3.67 ERA from 1967-77 with Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Atlanta and the Chicago White Sox.

He spent more than 25 years in the Atlanta system as a pitching coach, most recently at Class A Myrtle Beach in the Carolina League, where he coached until mid-May.

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Richard Stephen Heyser

APALACHICOLA, Florida (AP) — Richard Stephen Heyser, a U-2 spy plane pilot who took the first photos of ballistic missile launch sites during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, died Monday. He was 81.

Heyser, who lived in Apalachicola, died at a nursing home in nearby Port St. Joe. An Apalachicola funeral home confirmed his death.

The retired Air Force lieutenant colonel said in a 2005 interview with The Associated Press that no one was more relieved than he that the crisis ended peacefully. He said he did not want to go down in history as the man who started World War III.

President John F. Kennedy announced to the world that the photos proved the Soviet Union was building secret sites for nuclear-tipped missiles 90 miles south of Key West. Kennedy then summoned Heyser to the White House after he made five flights over Cuba in nine days.

Heyser later served two combat tours during the Vietnam War. He retired in 1974 after 30 years of service and returned to Apalachicola, where he was born and raised.

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