Ned C. Webb

Ned Conder Webb passed away early on the morning of August 7 in West Chester, Ohio. Born July 30, 1937, the eldest son of John “Luke” and Lydia Lorene (Conder) Webb of Linden, Tennessee, Ned graduated from Columbia Military Academy in Tennessee, and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree from Vanderbilt University and a PhD in Chemistry, specializing in X-ray Crystallography, from Caltech in 1963. From there he was employed by Proctor and Gamble at their Miami Valley Laboratories where he developed a key molecule for heat-released compounds. Long after leaving P&G, Ned met regularly with many of those he worked with at Miami Valley Labs to remember those times and set the world right.

Ned married his first wife Edith DePriest, also of Perry County in Tennessee, in 1957 before setting out for California, and had three children with her, Tim, Kalinde and Chris.

Ned married Marjorie Rohr of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1973. Upon leaving P&G in 1977, he found writing to be a truer calling. He wrote numerous articles for the Cincinnati Enquirer and local magazines in the 1970s. His book From Last to First, published in 1979, about the life of stock car racer Neil Bonnett, can still be found on Amazon. Ned himself, along with his brother H.G. Webb, raced stock cars throughout the South and Midwest. He also co-authored the young adult novel The Short-Legged Fisher Boy from the Land of Left with his daughter. His other works include A Tennessee Childhood and Reaching the Bazuft, about hiking in the American West.

Ned and Marge took great joy in the spectacular beauty and challenge of hiking and camping, especially out west. Ned climbed many of the highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains with his son, Tim of Cheyenne, Wyoming and friend Lonny Granston of Boulder, Colorado. He was also an accomplished runner, winning numerous races in his age group, and participating in marathons, often with his son Tim, the most prized being the 1992 Columbus marathon with his three children, and a 100 miler in Vermont.

Ned would not be a Southern man at heart if he did not have a fulfilling love for his family. He paid close attention to his three children’s college choices, and made certain to keep up with all six of his grandchildren’s lives, from their sports and academics to their widely varying careers. He made sure to call regularly to fill them in on his thoughts as well.

Following in the steps of his own parents’ appreciation of education, Ned and Marge set up college scholarships for writers, athletes of high academic standing and character, and nursing students at Talawanda High School in Oxford, Ohio, from which Kalinde and Chris graduated.

Ned is survived by his wife of 53 years, Marjorie (Rohr) Webb, brother Gil, sisters Bonnie Mae and Cheryl, sister-in-law Judy Matteoli, children Tim (Patty Nold), Kalinde (Bill Fisher) and Chris Webb along with grandchildren Gareth, Luke, Emma, Katya, Granston and Katelyn, and numerous nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his first wife Edie, his parents, and his siblings Joyce Webb and Holly Godwin Webb.

No service is planned at this time. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Ned to the Oxford Community Foundation (oxfordfdn.org) with funds directed to the Ned and Marjorie Webb Advised Fund.