I think the value in such a comment is placing it within a timeline of the person's life. It wouldn't make sense to relate a story from 1982 and mention it relative to Jobs' death, but discussing an event that occurred months prior seems appropriate. Imagine it in the same context as "prior to his second tenure with Apple".

No. That's why mentioning his death is significant. It wasn't just sometime during his life, but at the very end, days before he died.