Evelyn McPhail; Ex-GOP Committee Co-Chairwoman

Evelyn McPhail, 68, former co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. Reared in an orphanage, McPhail grew up to be a kind but determined political party worker. She headed the Republican Party in her native Mississippi from 1987 to 1993 and then joined the national party leadership as director of political education. McPhail was elected national co-chairwoman, the second in command, in 1995 and served for two years with fellow Mississippian Haley Barbour as national chairman. Former President George Bush and other national Republican leaders had helped raise funds to pay for McPhail’s medical care. On Thursday in Jackson, Miss., of complications from injuries in an automobile accident.

Elmer H. Wavering; Developed Car Radio

Elmer H. Wavering, 91, who developed the first commercial car radio. Born in Quincy, Mo., Wavering was fascinated with early radio as a youngster. He built his own homemade radio set, worked in a radio parts store as a teenager and tinkered with a radio that could withstand bumpy roads to operate in a moving car. His work established him in Motorola Inc., which became the leading maker of car radios in the 1940s, and he was named its president and chief administrative officer in 1964. Wavering also helped Motorola develop a mass-produced automotive alternator in the 1950s that provided steady, reliable electrical current. That invention prompted development of power steering, brakes, windows and seats and even air conditioning. On Nov. 20 in Naples, Fla.