Dallas lost many great figures in 2025, including a number of beloved names in the business, media, and entertainment worlds.

Here are some of the folks from Dallas and Texas who passed away this year, in chronological order:

Dallas lawyer and one-time club owner Ray Balestri
Dallas lawyer and investor Ray Balestri, who circulated through Dallas' media and entertainment world, died on January 4; he was 64. Balestri, who co-founded '90s Deep Ellum bar The Bone, became a multimillionaire after investing early in Broadcast.com, the company founded by Mark Cuban.

Women's rights activist and Texas native Cecile Richards
Cecile Richards, a national leader for abortion access and women’s rights who led Planned Parenthood for 12 years, died on January 20; she was 67. The daughter of the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2023, five years after she left Planned Parenthood.

Dallas DJ and record store owner Chris Penn
Christopher Todd Penn, a DJ and co-founder of music store Good Records, passed away on April 23; he was 54. Penn succumbed to injuries sustained in a tragic fall in March which caused paralysis from the neck down.

Dallas Caramel Company founder Rain McDermott
Dallas entrepreneur Rain McDermott, who founded artisan caramel maker Dallas Caramel Company when she was only 34 years old, died on June 11 after a battle with breast cancer; she was 52.

Dallas philanthropist and business leader Morton Meyerson
Business leader and philanthropist Morton Meyerson, for whom the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas' Arts District was named, died on August 4. He was 87. A native of Fort Worth, the one-time president and vice chair at Electronic Data Systems was a big supporter of the arts who helped open the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in September 1989.

Dallas public relations mogul Stan Levenson
Stan Levenson, a beloved figure in the Dallas media world, died on August 27 from natural causes in his home; he was 91. With his advertising-savvy wife, Barbara, Levenson spent more than 50 years representing clients such as American Airlines, Zales, Chili’s, and Papa John’s, creating campaigns such as the one that launched Chili’s iconic “Baby Back Ribs” jingle.

Dallas businessman and sports mogul Tom Hicks
Prominent businessman Thomas O. Hicks died in Dallas on December 6, surrounded by his family; he was 79. Hicks co-founded private equity platform Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst in 1989, and also owned the Dallas Stars from 1995–2011, and the Texas Rangers from 1998–2010.

Texas country music singer-songwriter Joe Ely
Joe Ely, the songwriter, singer, and storyteller whose career spanned more than five decades, died on December 15 from complications related to Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and pneumonia. He was 78. Ely died at his home in Taos, New Mexico, with his wife Sharon, and daughter Marie, at his side.