PHOTOS: 2021 local deaths of note

Dennis Owens of WGMS died in Naples, Florida, at 87. (Courtesy Scott Thureen)

Musician Johnny Artis, who spent decades performing in the D.C. area, died Nov. 3, 2021 at his home of complications from COVID-19. He was two weeks shy of his 64th birthday. (Courtesy Stacy Brooks)

Prolific D.C. hip-hop producer Chucky Thompson has died at age 53. (Getty Images/Kris Connor)

Former Sen. John Warner, R-Va., died May 25, 2021 at his home in Alexandria. He was 94.  He is seen here in 2008 file listening to testimony while on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Warner was a former Navy secretary and one of the Senate’s ,ost influential military experts. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

D.C.-area news anchor Joe Krebs has died after a battle with cancer. (left)

Robert Pascal, former Anne Arundel County Executive, died March 12, 2021. The Republican would go on to work in the administration of Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer, a Democrat. Pascal was well known for his charitable giving. (Courtesy University of Maryland Medical System Foundation/Gary Jackson)

The original pitmaster of the Red Hot & Blue restaurant chain, Ernest “Sonny” McKnight of Baltimore, died Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 74. Sonny McKnight is seen in this photo with singer Rufus Thomas at the original Red Hot & Blue in Rosslyn, Virginia. (Courtesy Red & Blue)

Former Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a longtime fixture in state politics, has died at age 78 on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. In this file photo, Miller listens as Gov. Larry Hogan, not pictured, delivers his annual State of the State address to a joint session of the legislature in Annapolis, Md., Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

Virginia state Sen. Ben Chafin has died from COVID-19 complications on Jan. 1. In this Friday, Feb. 28, 2020 file photo, Chafin, R-Russell, listens to debate on the floor of the Senate during the session at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. Virginia Sen. Ben Chafin has died due to coronavirus, Senate Republicans said Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. Chafin represented southwest Virginia and was from Russell County. A Republican, he was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2013 and then moved to the state Senate in 2014. He was 60. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)