Engineer worked at pair of NASA installations

12/29/2006

SANDUSKY - Dean W. Sheibley, 71, a retired engineer who was a NASA project manager here and in Cleveland, died of cancer Sunday at his Sandusky home after a 10-month bout with the disease.

In 1994, Mr. Sheibley retired from NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, where he was the project manager on the power generation and energy storage system of the International Space Station from 1973.

Before working in Cleveland, Mr. Sheibley was employed at NASA's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky from 1959 to 1973.

In retirement, Mr. Sheibley was hired as a consultant for NASA to work on the decommissioning project for the Plum Brook Station reactor. He did it part-time for the last 10 years.

He holds 13 U.S. patents related to batteries and energy storage systems, which he received while working for NASA.

"Both professionally and socially, he knew how to carry himself," his son, Francis Sheibley, said.

"He was a man of few words but he taught me through his actions. I learned how to treat and respect others by watching my father," he said.

A native of Fostoria, the elder Mr. Sheibley graduated in 1953 from St. Wendelin Catholic High School, Fostoria, and later from the University of Detroit in 1959, with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, and from Oberlin College in 1964, with a master's degree, also in chemistry.

In his free time, Mr. Sheibley enjoyed being with family and friends, traveling, and water skiing on Lake Erie.

Mr. Sheibley was a member of Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, Sandusky, where he had served on the elementary school board and the parish finance committees.

His other local memberships included the Knights of Columbus and the St. Vincent de Paul Society, where he was a past northeast district president and the 2001 recipient of the Top Hat Award.

Surviving are his wife of 46 years, Mary Louise; son, Francis; daughter, Anita Bausch; sisters, Carol Sheibley and Jeannine Sheibley, and five grandchildren.

Services will be at 10 a.m. today at Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, Sandusky, following prayers set for 9:40 a.m. today at the David F. Koch Funeral Home, Sandusky.

The family suggests tributes to the church or to the Sandusky Conference of St. Vincent de Paul Society, care of the church.