LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The Louisville community grieved the loss of many notable figures in 2025, including a local soul food restaurateur, a basketball legend and philanthropist, and a Derby-winning and Hall of Fame trainer and jockey.
Here is a list of Louisville or southern Indiana natives who passed away in 2025, listed in order of their deaths:
Carl Huber Sr.
Carl Huber Sr., co-founder of Huber's Orchard & Winery in Starlight, Indiana, died Saturday, Jan. 4 at his home surrounded by family, according to a post on the company's Facebook page. He was 84.
Huber was a fifth-generation farmer who worked with his older brother Gerald, building one of southern Indiana's most notable family businesses, according to his obituary.
The farm remains a hub for the Huber family, with Huber's grandchildren, Allie, Marcella and AJ, all working for the family business.
Shirley Mae Beard
Shirley Mae Beard was the owner and face of Shirley Mae's Café on South Clay Street. She died at the age of 84 in the morning of Saturday, Jan. 11, according to her family.
For nearly 40 years, Beard was the soul of the Smoketown neighborhood. She fed community members, politicians, and celebrities, including Bruno Mars at her restaurant. She also held an annual community Thanksgiving for years.
Beard had her hands full with running the restaurant and a juke joint but somehow had enough time to cook up "Salute to Black Jockeys, Inc."
It's an annual event to celebrate the history of Black jockeys in the Kentucky Derby. She even drained her retirement funds to keep this celebration free for the whole community.
Beard laid in repose at the Kentucky Derby Museum after her death to honor her legacy and impact on the city.
Junior Bridgeman
Junior Bridgeman, a University of Louisville basketball star who became a prominent civic and business leader after his NBA career ended, died Tuesday, March 11, after he suffered a medical emergency at the Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville during a luncheon for the Lincoln Heritage Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
Ulysses Lee Bridgeman, 71, was born in East Chicago, Indiana, and starred for Denny Crum at Louisville. The NCAA didn't allow freshmen to play for the varsity until the 1972-73 season, so Bridgeman excelled on a freshman team that Crum persistently insisted was more talented than the freshman class Adolph Rupp brought to Kentucky that included Mr. Basketballs from Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois.
He led the team to the 1975 Final Four, where they lost a close game to UCLA in overtime in San Diego, California.
Bridgeman's career continued as he was the No. 8 pick in 1975, drafted to the Lakers. Over a dozen seasons, he scored 11,517 points, crediting the coaching he received from Crum and his staff for his successful career.
Bridgeman played for the Bucks from 1975-84 and then spent two years with the Los Angeles Clippers before coming back to Milwaukee for his final NBA season in 1986-87.
Bridgeman was also a successful businessman, having been ranked as one of the wealthiest former athletes in the United States by Forbes magazine.
He was active in community affairs in Louisville, serving as chairman of U of L's Board of Trustees from 2003 to 2005. He also served on numerous other boards, including Fifth Third Bank, the Louisville Free Public Library, West End School, Crusade for Children Foundation, and most recently, a member of the board of Churchill Downs Inc.
Bridgeman was on the original board of the Louisville Arena Authority, which secured financing for what became the KFC Yum! Center during a period of sharp community debate and the national financial crisis in 2008 that roiled the project's funding plan.
Charles Miller
Charles Miller, former Kentucky state representative and longtime educator in southwest Jefferson County died Sunday, June 8, 2025 at the age of 85.
Miller represented District 28 in the Kentucky House of Representatives from Jan 1998 to Jan. 2023. He also served for decades as principal at Pleasure Ridge Park High School for Jefferson County Public Schools.
According to Ballotpedia, Miller also served as a member of Columbia Hospital Board of Directors, Humana Hospital Board of Directors and Norton Hospital Board of Directors.
Charles Miller, a former Kentucky State representative and retired JCPS educator. (Photo courtesy of Louisville Democratic Party)
D. Wayne Lukas
D. Wayne Lukas, the cowboy-hatted former schoolteacher who revolutionized horse training and helped redefine thoroughbred racing in the modern era, died Saturday, June 28, 2025, in Louisville after a brief illness. He was 89.
A four-time Kentucky Derby winner and 20-time Breeders’ Cup champion, Lukas didn’t just train champions — he trained the sport itself, reshaping everything from barn management to the way top horses are scouted, shipped, and prepared.
He was the oldest trainer ever to win a Triple Crown race, claiming the 2024 Preakness Stakes at age 88 with Seize the Grey. But as recently as this past Derby, Lukas was still climbing into the saddle — with a little help — to get a look at his Justify colt, Just Steel.
Born Sept. 2, 1935, in Antigo, Wisconsin, Lukas didn’t begin his professional life in the racing world. He earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and spent nine years as a high school basketball coach in La Crosse.
But horses were always part of his life — first quarter horses, which he trained with national success in California, then thoroughbreds, to which he switched full-time in the late 1970s. In both arenas, he introduced a level of professionalism, intensity, and innovation that hadn’t been seen before.
Ron Turcotte
Jockey Ron Turcotte, who was aboard the great Secretariat for his 1973 Triple Crown, died Friday, Aug. 22, 2025 at the age of 84 in his native New Brunswick, Canada, according to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
Turcotte rode Secretariat to all but one of his stakes wins and he was also the primary rider on 1972 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, Riva Ridge.
Secretariat's 31-length win in the 1973 Belmont Stakes produced one of the most memorable finishes in thoroughbred racing. Turcotte remembered peeking under his arm with a quarter-mile to go and seeing the other horses as mere dots behind him. The racing world had never seen anything like it before or since.
Turcotte's racing career, spanning 1961-78, ended when he was left with a spinal cord injury after a spill from a horse during a race at Belmont Park. He was 36 when he was paralyzed from the waist down. He used a wheelchair for the remainder of his life.
Bobbie Holsclaw
Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw died Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025 at the age of 81 surrounded by family.
Holsclaw, who was first elected as county clerk in 1998, last won reelection in November 2022. She was one of the longest-serving clerks in the state and one of the longest-serving Republicans elected to office in Jefferson County.
A graduate of Assumption High School, Holsclaw studied at both the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville. The daughter of a state representative, she grew up around politics but began her career as a stay-at-home mom before joining the clerk’s office as a manager. She later ran for clerk and won, eventually overseeing elections and modernizing the office with what she called "VIP Service" — Value, Integrity and Performance.
But family always came first for Holsclaw.
John Aubrey
Sheriff John Aubrey, the longest-serving sheriff in Jefferson County history, died Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, at the age of 86, months after announcing plans to retire.
Aubrey was a retired U.S. Army colonel and former acting chief of police with the Louisville Police Department, where he served 28 years.
In February, he was selected to receive the 2025 Ferris E. Lucas Sheriff of the Year award from the National Sheriffs’ Association, recognizing his contributions during more than 55 years of public service. He is credited with strengthening community partnerships, enhancing law enforcement training, and expanding services, including establishing additional vehicle inspection stations and creating specialized units such as the River Patrol, Motorcycle Escort, and Honor Guard.
Aubrey’s career began after he graduated from Shawnee High School in 1956 and joined the Army Reserve, where he served for 32 years before retiring as a colonel in 1988. While in the Reserve, he joined the Louisville Police Department in 1962, eventually retiring as acting chief in 1990. He was first elected Jefferson County sheriff in 1998.
Longtime Jefferson County Sheriff John Aubrey announces in retirement in Louisville, Ky. (WDRB Image by Angelica Robinson) March 20, 2025
Glen Stuckel
Former Louisville Metro Councilman Glen Stuckel died Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at the age of 90.
Stuckel served as an inaugural member of the Louisville Metro Council, taking office in January 2003 and serving the residents of District 17 in eastern Jefferson County until 2019.
Stuckel was an advocate for parks, libraries and improving the community's infrastructure.
In addition to a councilman, Stuckel was a national building industry leader and a Kosair Shriner.
Martha Layne Collins
Martha Layne Collins, Kentucky's first and only female governor, died on Saturday, Nov. 1 at the age of 88.
Collins served as the 56th governor of Kentucky from 1983 to 1987 and brought Toyota to the state as its first U.S. site.
At the Toyota plant’s groundbreaking in 1986, Collins said Kentucky had “entered a new age where we’ll be tied more closely to the global economy.”
Kentucky had won a bidding war against other states for the plant, which at the time cost $800 million and employed 2,500 people to assemble Camry sedans. Parts suppliers and other car makers then sprouted in the state.
Kentucky Gov. Martha Layne Collins enjoys a laugh as she prepared to meet privately with Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale, Friday, July 6, 1984 in North Oaks, to be interviewed for the vice presidential spot on Mondale's ticket. (AP Photo/JimMone)
Fuzzy Zoeller
Fuzzy Zoeller, a two-time major champion and one of golf's most gregarious characters whose career was tainted by a racially insensitive joke about Tiger Woods, has died, according to a longtime colleague. He was 74.
Zoeller was the last player to win the Masters on his first attempt, a three-man playoff in 1979. He famously waved a white towel at Winged Foot in 1984 when he thought Greg Norman had beat him, only to defeat Norman in an 18-hole playoff the next day.
Zoeller's career was filled with two famous major titles, eight other PGA Tour titles and a Senior PGA Championship among his two PGA Tour Champions titles.
He was born Frank Urban Zoeller Jr. in New Albany, Indiana. Zoeller said his father was known only as “Fuzzy” and he was given the same name. He played at a junior college in Florida before joining the powerful Houston golf team before turning pro.
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