From the morning Journal in Ohio when Don passed away froom the plane wreck
Published: Tuesday, January 19, 2010
SCOT ALLYN and RICHARD PAYERCHIN
news@MorningJournal.com
VERMILION TOWNSHIP — Donald A. Brown, the inventor of the drop ceiling, had a mind that never stopped inventing, a long-time friend said yesterday.
Brown, 89, his wife, Shirley, 87, and two pilots died yesterday when the plane bringing the couple home from a trip to Florida to visit family nose-dived into a field at the Lorain County Regional Airport.
The plane was flown by Wesley Roemer, 30, of Gainesville, Fla., and John Mengelson, 46, of Florahome, Fla., believed to the co-pilot.
Avon Mayor Jim Smith said he knew Brown for more than 20 years, since Brown owned property in Avon and was interested in how the city would develop. Smith recalled Brown as a very wealthy man, but also soft-spoken and still a dazzling thinker into his later years.
"He was a very dry person, but very serious," Smith said. "He was always thinking, always working to invent something like a new type of theater seating or bomb survival shelter. But you'd see him at Wal-Mart and probably think he was just another guy."
Brown's home, on Lake Erie in Vermilion, was a multi-million dollar showplace with its own marina, barber shop and helicopter pad, Smith said.
"When you walked into his house it felt like you were walking into the 22nd century," Smith said. "He'd push a button and walls would disappear. His wife didn't like to back up her car, so he had a turntable installed in the garage floor to turn the car around."
Brown swam every day and had an impressive stream of ideas, Smith said.
"One time, when I spent about three or four hours with him, he bounced about 15 ideas off me," Smith said. "He was a brilliant human being. His death is tragic, just tragic."
Brown was extremely talented and a great person, said Larry Bettcher, president of Bettcher Industries in Birmingham. Continued...
"He was a friend, and we'll miss him greatly," Bettcher said.
Brown became known for "Accessible Suspended Ceiling Construction," patent No. 2,984,946, filed Sept. 8, 1958, and awarded May 23, 1961.
"This invention relates to a suspended tile ceiling," his patent summary said.
Earlier tile ceilings had interlocking panels that required the removal of many contiguous tiles to get to conduits, ducts and pipes hidden above the hanging panels.
"Obviously, this is a time-consuming job, especially where the ceiling spans a large room and the desired point of access is in the center of the ceiling," Brown's patent summary said. "The primary object of the present invention is to provide a suspended ceiling construction in which access may be obtained at any desired location which may be predetermined before the ceiling is erected."
Brown also started Donn Products Inc. in Westlake, a ceiling tile maker that in the 1980s was purchased by USG Corp.
"The Donn Products Corporation built its large facility on the west side of Bassett Road just south of the railroad adding to that manufacturing plant in 1963," according to "You've Come a Long Way Westlake," William M. Robishaw's history of Westlake, published in 1993 by the Westlake Historical Society. "The Donn corporation is a recognized world leader in its field, the manufacture of interior building products, such as ceilings and movable wall systems. The ceilings of the original Bassett Elementary School building were manufactured right here in Westlake in the Donn Products plant. In 1982, the corporation had over 1,500 employees worldwide."
Brown and his family occasionally appeared in news reports. In 2008, Brown sold 103 acres in Avon on the north side of Chester Road between Seton Road and an area near the western end of Schneider Court. The buyer was the Westlake-based Richard E. Jacobs Group, which in 2008 also bought 54 acres on the south side of Chester fronting I-90, according to a news report from the time.
Brown's palatial home in Vermilion Township, invisible from US 6 behind earthen mounds, became a nautical landmark sometimes called the Castle by anglers and boaters who could see it from the water.
The sea also was the scene of tragedy for Brown's family. In 1989, Brown's son, Kevin Brown, 37, died instantly when his boat, "Team Skater," rolled during competition in the Trump Castle World Championships of Powerboat Racing off Atlantic City, N.J.
The younger Brown had been a top competitor with the Great Lakes Offshore Powerboat Racing Association. He and racing partner, Jim Dyke, won two national races, several divisional events and a national championship.
