Ford Cauffiel, a celebrated Toledo inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, died Aug. 16 in Hospice of Northwest Ohio Ebeid Hospice Center, Sylvania. He was 94.

He died of pulmonary infection, his wife of 49 years, Phyllis Cauffiel, said.

“He really was a rare person,” said U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo). “He was a very, very generous, creative talent. And he was a breakthrough thinker. He was truly someone who was imbued with the American spirit, and he was fascinated with invention.

“Interested in automotive manufacturing and automobiles and everything that had to do with propulsion, he wasn't the kind of guy to go buy it off the shelf. He was a make-it-here guy.”

Mr. Cauffiel never retired, remaining president and owner of American Steel Products until the day he died.

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