February 14, 2008

OBITUARIES

Kenneth Tregillus

Longtime Yellow Springs resident Ken Tregillus died of pneumonia on Feb. 13, in Yellow Springs as he recuperated from unrelated surgery which had hospitalized him at the start of the year. He was 91.

Born and raised in Canada, he was the eldest son of Cyril Tregillus and Muriel Eadie of Guelph, Ontario. Mr. Tregillus first came to Yellow Springs in 1935 to attend Antioch College where he majored in chemistry and worked as a co-op student for Sergius Vernet, who was developing the Vernet thermostat patents in the basement of the science building. Upon graduation in 1940, he married fellow Antiochian Elizabeth Porter.

During World War II, he worked briefly for Kelvinator in Detroit and was transferred to Lansing, Mich., to test military aircraft propellers. When the war ended, he was transferred back to Detroit.

Tregillus returned to Yellow Springs in 1947 to work again with Sergius Vernet. The company had incorporated as Vernay Laboratories, Inc., and the spelling of the Vernet name was changed to match pronunciation. Tregillus worked on developing new compounds for the company’s growing molded rubber product business, which included needle-tip valves for automobile carburetors, flow control valves used in the first Bendix automatic washing machines, the Thames Water Control Board in London, as well as drip-irrigation systems in Israel. Tregillus stayed with Vernay Laboratories until his retirement in 1981, by which time he had become chief chemist and a vice president of the company. He continued to serve as a consultant and member of the board of directors until 1993.

After the death of his wife in 1980, and his retirement the following year, Tregillus pursued his interests in music, travel, computers, investing and photography. An interest in videography developed from his beginning relationship with environmentalist Ruth Cowperthwaite. Under the auspices of the Columbus, Ohio’s public access station, the couple produced a national award-winning video tape for the seniors’ category.

Tregillus’ many contributions to the community include serving as scoutmaster for the local cub scout troop in the 1950s, 14 years as volunteer station manager for Yellow Springs' Cable Access Channel in its early years, board member of Chamber Music Yellow Springs, member and supporter of area cultural arts, especially classical music and opera. He had a keen interest in current events, and engaged recent visitors in discussions of how to use nuclear waste to generate electricity for entire communities.

His gentle, thoughtful ways along with his humor and grace have endeared him to many. Family and friends, both near and far, have loved, admired and appreciated this quiet man. He is deeply missed.

Tregillus is survived by his companion, Ruth Cowperthwaite; his son Craig Tregillus of Washington, D.C.; a granddaughter, Hillary Tregillus of Olympia, Wash.; a nephew, Peter Tregillus of Durango, Colo.; a niece, Kristin Tregillus of Seattle, Wash.; and a niece, Leslie Tregillus/Jones, also of Seattle.

An informal memorial gathering will be held at the Tregillus home at 110 Kurt Street on Friday, Feb. 29, 4–6 p.m. Instead of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Friends Care Community or the Yellow Springs Cable Access Capital Project, or a charity of your choosing.

Ellie Dale

Eleanor (Ellie) Dale died on Feb. 19 in Yellow Springs, after a 7-year struggle with dementia. She was 85.

Born Eleanor Margaret Shultz in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 15, 1923, Ellie met her first husband, Richard L. Duncan, at Antioch College before World War II. They consciously chose to live and raise their family in several different countries from 1948 to 1964; each of their four children was born in a different country. In 1964, the family moved to Syracuse, N.Y. In 1967, Ellie and Dick separated and later divorced.

Ellie moved to Maryland with the two younger boys. After graduating from the University of Maryland, she married William F. Dale in 1970 and lived in New Jersey, until his death from cancer in 1979. Choosing to live near Laurie, her eldest daughter, and family, Ellie moved to Michigan in 1980 and then followed when the family relocated to Yellow Springs in 1998.

Ellie was preceded in death by her beloved second husband, Bill Dale; and son, Richard Kim Duncan.

She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Peter and Mary Shultz (Denver, Colo.); her first husband, Richard Duncan; her children, Laurie Dreamspinner (Yellow Springs), Debbie Duncan and Jackie Reynolds (Northfield, N.J.), Tony Duncan and Jaki Reis (Brattleboro, Vt.); and her grandchildren, Leila and Tim Peterson, Eric and Becky Dimick-Eastman, Bryan Eastman and Robin Eastman, Seth Welty, Monica (Welty) and Danny Walker, Davisha Dadone and great-grandchildren, Joey, Pete and Harry Peterson, and Alex and Ted Dimick Eastman.

Ellie was loved and appreciated for her wicked sense of humor and flair for the dramatic; her lifelong commitment to her community; her dedication to social justice, which she acted on in local and global ways; and her unflagging interest in learning about her fellow human beings as individuals as well as their cultural context wherever she was, in spite of her struggle for over seven years with dementia.

A memorial service is being planned later in the spring in Yellow Springs. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in her name to Friends Care Community, her last home, where she received sensitive and loving care for the over five years she was in residence. Donations can be mailed to Friends Care Community, 150 E. Herman St., Yellow Springs, OH 45387.