Donald Leo Elbert, Sr., age 82, passed away peacefully September 8, 2021. Don was born in Louisville, Kentucky, son of Herbert Leo and Lena Elbert. He graduated from Flaget High School in 1956 and the University of Louisville with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1960 and a M.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1962. He began working for IBM in Lexington, Kentucky in 1962, transitioning to Lexmark in 1991 and retiring in 2009. At IBM, he developed a typewriter ribbon ink that produced typed letters that could be wholly removed using sticky tape (US Patent 3,825,479). This invention led to the introduction of the IBM Correcting Selectric II typewriter in 1973. For this work, he received the IBM Corporate Recognition Award in 1974. From 1981 to 1983, he worked for IBM in White Plains, New York. Don was a fan of Notre Dame football, spring and fall days at Keeneland Race Track in Lexington, and enjoyed visiting his son and daughter-in-law in Switzerland. He lived in Chesterfield, Missouri from 2011 to 2017, and in Austin, Texas from 2017 until his death.
Don was a loving husband to his wife Ann, who resides in Lakeway, Texas. They were married in 1966 in Lexington, Kentucky. He is survived by his son, Donald Leo Elbert, Jr, daughter-in-law Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert, grandsons Alex and Ryan Elbert, and his sister Nancy Jackubiak.
A funeral mass will be held at 10 am on September 15 at Emmaus Catholic Church in Lakeway, Texas. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Alzheimer’s Association.
