Lewis B. Smedes,

81, a pioneer in forgiveness research and author of more than 15 books, died Thursday at Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, Calif., after a fall Tuesday while putting up Christmas lights at his home.

An evangelical Christian and professor emeritus of theology and ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., where he taught and wrote for 27 years, Dr. Smedes advocated a more nuanced understanding of homosexual relationships rather than uncompromising condemnation.

Florence Mahoney,

103, a health-care advocate who was instrumental in creating the National Institute on Aging and expanding the National Institutes of Health that contains it, died of natural causes at home in the Georgetown section of Washington on Nov. 29.