Milestones

By Harriet Barovick, ELIZABETH L. BLAND, Logan Orlando, Elspeth Reeve

RETIRED. JERRY RICE, 42, the greatest wide receiver in the history of U.S. football; after a storied 20 years in the NFL--16 with the San Francisco 49ers--during which he set records, which he still holds, for most career receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895) and receiving touchdowns (197); in Denver. The three-time Super Bowl winner opted to leave when he was no longer assured primary status with the Broncos. "This is a happy day," he said, fighting tears. "I have really enjoyed this ride."

FREED. ROY HALLUMS, 57, U.S. contractor, formerly of Newport Beach, Calif., kidnapped at gunpoint last November while working for a Saudi catering company that provided food to the Iraqi army and last seen publicly in January in a video, pleading for his life; by U.S. forces, acting on a tip from a recent detainee, in a raid on an Iraqi farmhouse, where he had been held, bound and gagged; near Baghdad.

ASSASSINATED. MOUSSA ARAFAT, 65, security adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and a nephew of Yasser Arafat; after gunmen stormed his house, dragged him into the street in his pajamas and shot him 23 times; in Gaza City. The hit on Arafat--a military strongman widely suspected of corruption--was tied to power struggles within the ruling Fatah Party. Facing near anarchy in Gaza, Abbas ordered security forces to find the killers, who also abducted Arafat's son during the assault but released him two days later.

DIED. BOB DENVER, 70, perennially goofy sitcom star, most famously of the critically panned but ceaselessly popular Gilligan's Island, which aired from 1964 to 1967 and is still in reruns; of cancer; in Winston-Salem, N.C. He won over teenagers in the late 1950s as the goateed, bongo-playing beatnik Maynard G. Krebs ("Wooork?!?") on TV's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, but the deft physical comedian found a cult following as Gilligan, a well-intentioned but inept first mate on the wrecked S.S. Minnow.

DIED. ROBERT FUNK, 79, biblical scholar who founded the controversial Jesus Seminar--a twice-yearly meeting that eventually attracted some 200 fellows--which, in its search for the historical Jesus, outraged conservative Christians by questioning the authenticity of miracles and sayings attributed to Jesus in the New Testament; in Santa Rosa, Calif.

DIED. HENRY LUCE III, 80, elder son of TIME co-founder Henry R. Luce and a Time Inc. executive, whose posts at the company over 29 years included serving as publisher of TIME; on Fishers Island, N.Y. Before arriving at Time Inc.'s flagship magazine in 1951, Hank, as he was known, served in the wartime U.S. Navy and as a reporter for the Cleveland Press. A fierce defender of editorial freedom, Luce sat on the company's board of directors from 1967 to 1996 and, as head of the Luce Foundation for more than 30 years, oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in grants, primarily to museums and educational organizations. "My father was a great role model," he said. "He was convinced that America had a destiny to spread good throughout the world, and I guess some of that rubbed off on me."

DIED. EUGENIA CHARLES, 86, Dominica's no-nonsense leader from 1980 to 1995, nicknamed "Iron Lady" for her independence and for surviving two coup attempts; at a hospital on Martinique. The first female Prime Minister in the Caribbean, she won global attention in 1983 for supporting the unpopular U.S. invasion of Dominica's neighbor, Grenada.

By Harriet Barovick, Elizabeth L. Bland, Logan Orlando and Elspeth Reeve