Died too soon, but with affection (6)
I believe the answer is:
dearly
'with affection' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'died too soon' is the wordplay.
'died' becomes 'd' (abbreviation next to the year of someone's death).
'too soon' becomes 'early' (I've seen this before).
'd'+'early'='DEARLY'
'but' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for dearly that I've seen before include "Very much; at great cost" , "At a high price - with fondness" , "At high cost" , "with much suffering" , "How I love my wife" .)