In Memoriam (2006)

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Robert K. Hoffman, 59, co-founder of National Lampoon (AMEX:NLN) magazine, in Dallas. Along with two Harvard classmates, Hoffman turned a campus humor magazine into a national publication famous for its no-holds-barred comedy. The magazine spun off a series of records, a radio show, and movies, among them Animal House. After selling his interest, Hoffman partnered with his father to form the nation's fifth-largest bottler of Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO). A renowned art collector, Hoffman donated 224 pieces worth more than $150 million to the Dallas Museum of Art last year.

Doris Jones, 92, ballet school founder, in Washington, D.C. Jones started Washington's Jones-Haywood School of Ballet in 1941 to provide African American children with the chance to learn classical dance, something that wasn't available to her in her youth. As she put it, "I never want that door shut again in the face of any black youngster." Jones taught thousands of students, like Chita Rivera, who went on to have great success.

Bill Kirschner, 87, ski manufacturer, in Seattle. Working in his father's shed on Vashon Island, Washington, Kirschner developed a process of coating wood with fiberglass to make better skis. His family tested prototypes on nearby slopes. The first K2s hit the market in 1964 and within a decade the signature red, white, and blue skis were being worn by champion skiers. Kirschner sold the company in 1970, but he led a group of investors that bought it back six years later; he served as chairman until his retirement in 1982. Until the end of his life, he remained a constant tinkerer, working even recently on an idea to improve bicycle gears.

Sir Freddie Laker, 83, aviation pioneer, in Miami. Laker revolutionized the airline industry when he introduced low-cost transatlantic flights. Though Laker Airways went under in 1982, its influence in terms of branding and pricing lives on in the success of Laker's protégé, Richard Branson, who christened one of the first planes in Virgin's fleet the Spirit of Sir Freddie.

George Millay, 76, theme park founder, in San Diego. Millay co-founded SeaWorld in San Diego in 1964, and the following year he introduced the world to the park's most famous star, Shamu, the killer whale. A decade later, after a falling-out with the company's board of directors, Millay left SeaWorld and opened the first Wet 'n Wild water park in Orlando. Under his leadership, Wet 'n Wild expanded to seven locations. Millay and his partners sold the water parks in 1998 for an estimated $77 million.

Raymond Noorda, 82, computer pioneer, in Orem, Utah. Known as the Father of Network Computing, Noorda was a founder of Novell (NASDAQ:NOVL), and he served as president and CEO of the company from 1983 through 1995. Under his leadership, Novell emerged as a software powerhouse and grew from 17 employees to more than 12,000 at its peak. Noorda is credited with coining the term "coopetition," the concept by which rivals work together to create a larger overall market for their products. He also founded the Canopy Group, a VC firm that invested in more than 100 start-ups.

Hubert J.P. Schoemaker, 55, biotechnology pioneer, in Paoli, Pennsylvania. In 1979, the Dutch-born Schoemaker co-founded Centocor, a Philadelphia biotechnology company whose original focus was diagnostic work. The business almost folded in the early 1990s before it developed a drug called Remicade, which treats Crohn's disease. After Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) acquired Centocor for $4.9 billion in 1999, Schoemaker launched Neuronyx, a stem-cell research company. But he is perhaps best remembered for nurturing a number of early-stage companies, and for founding and serving on the boards of technology councils and industry groups. "He mentored an awful lot of us in the industry, and he was the driving force for a lot of companies," says Dennis Flynn, president of Pennsylvania Bio, a group that represents Pennsylvania's bioscience community. Though Schoemaker was diagnosed in 1994 with a form of brain cancer that is usually rapidly fatal, he maintained a busy work schedule for more than a decade.

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Kasey Wehrum

Staff writer Kasey Wehrum has written for Inc. magazine on subjects ranging from the businesses behind professional bull riding to gadget inventor and father of the infomercial, Ron Popeil. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Worth, Budget Travel, and on MSNBC.com. He lives in New York City.

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