List of Famous people who died at 61

Viktor Petrovich Makeyev was the founder of the Soviet-Russian school of sea missiles production.

Norbert Kricke was a German sculptor.

Dorothea Bennett born 1914 in Ireland as Dorothea Alice Bennett was a novelist and screenwriter married to Terence Young in 1942.

Robert Paul Holdstock was an English novelist and author best known for his works of Celtic, Nordic, Gothic and Pictish fantasy literature, predominantly in the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction.

Dora Emilia Mora de Retana was a noted Costa Rican botanist, known primarily for her work with orchids. She compiled an extensive catalogue of the variations of the flower found in Costa Rica which became the seminal reference work on the family Orchidaceae in the country for over a decade. There are at least five species of orchids named in her honor and in 2011, a plaque bearing her name was installed at the Lankester Botanical Garden to recognize her contributions to its development.