By Mark Waite

Matthew Bates, 94, a World War II prisoner of war captured in the Battle of the Bulge and member of the 1st Army 28th Infantry unit known as “The Bloody Bucket,” died Feb. 19, one of the more prominent Pahrump deaths of 2012.

In January, residents mourned the death of Cpl. John Luke Bateman, 22, a 2007 Pahrump Valley High School graduate who died in Afghanistan.

On Oct. 10, James Choyce, 26, a member of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne, died after suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, his mother Denise Choyce, organized the Wall of Heroes photo display at Walmart.

Amargosa Valley Town Board Chairman Joe DeLee, 47, died after he was ejected from a vehicle Nov. 24.

Debbie Rivenbaugh, 55, manager of the Chicken Ranch Brothel and local resident for over 25 years, died Feb. 21.

Joni Wines, 85, a former sheriff during the brothel wars of the 1970s who was recalled by voters, died last February on the shores of Lake Tahoe at 85.

Donna Marie Jasperson, a 19-year officer with the Nye County Sheriff’s Department and wife of Pahrump Justice of the Peace Kent Jasperson, died March 9.

Lt. Alejandro Gomez, 42, an officer at the Nevada Southern Detention Center, died after being struck by a Chevrolet Blazer in a freak accident at the Pahrump Nugget Hotel and Casino parking lot.

Ed Sepulveda, 77, a former treasurer and president of Friends of the Pahrump Community Library, died Jan. 2.

Beatty High School graduate Ana Dimas, 19, was killed in a car crash in May.