Deaths from pneumonia in Missouri

Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano. His best-known compositions, "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999. Waller copyrighted over 400 songs, many of them co-written with his closest collaborator, Andy Razaf. Razaf described his partner as "the soul of melody... a man who made the piano sing... both big in body and in mind... known for his generosity... a bubbling bundle of joy". It is possible financial circumstances caused him to compose many more popular songs and sell them to other performers.

Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953, succeeding upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt after serving as the 34th vice president. He implemented the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, and established the Truman Doctrine and NATO to contain communist expansion. He proposed numerous liberal domestic reforms, but few were enacted by the Conservative Coalition that dominated Congress.

Robert Rayford (February 3, 1953 – May 15 or May 16, 1969), sometimes identified as Robert R. due to his age, was an American teenager from Missouri who is thought to have had the earliest case of HIV/AIDS in North America. Rayford's death was a mystery to doctors who could not account for his symptoms. The cause of his death remained unidentified until 1987.

August Anheuser "Gussie" Busch Jr. (March 28, 1899 – September 29, 1989) was an American brewing magnate who built the Anheuser-Busch Companies into the largest brewery in the world by 1957 as company chairman from 1946 to 1975.

Charley Jordan (January 1, 1890 – November 15, 1954) was an American, St. Louis blues singer, songwriter and guitarist, as well as a talent scout, originally from Mabelvale, Arkansas. He was known for a unique style that drew on his rural roots.

Lyle Joseph Bouck, Jr. (December 17, 1923 – December 2, 2016) enlisted in the Missouri National Guard at age 14. During World War II, he was a 20-year-old lieutenant in charge of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division. On the first morning of the Germans' advance during the Battle of the Bulge, his 18-man unit along with four forward artillery observers held off an entire German battalion of more than 500 men for nearly an entire day, killing or wounding 92, and significantly delayed the German advance in a vital sector of the northern front. Every single member of the platoon was later decorated, making it one of the most decorated platoons in all of World War II. Bouck was one of the youngest commissioned officers in the U.S. Army.

Willis Kirby (December 14, 1939 – March 18, 2019), better known as Roger Kirby, was an American professional wrestler who competed throughout the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico. He primarily competed within the National Wrestling Alliance, where he is a former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, and also competed in promotions such as the World Wrestling Association, the WWE and Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre. Fellow wrestlers have called Kirby "one of the greatest performers to ever work in the squared circle".

Annie White Baxter (March 2, 1864 – June 28, 1944) was a Missouri politician. At her election as county clerk of Jasper County, Missouri, in 1890, she became the first elected female office-holder in the state, as well as the first female county clerk in the United States.

John Marshall Clemens (August 11, 1798 – March 24, 1847) was the father of author Mark Twain.

Miles Dewey Davis Jr. (March 1, 1898—May 21, 1962) was an affluent American dentist and father of jazz legend Miles Davis.