Dr. B. Dale Trott

Dr. Beverly “Dale” Trott aged 89 was born in Topeka Kansas and went home to be with the Lord Monday, February 6, 2023, after battling congestive heart failure. Dale was born the youngest of 7 growing up in Topeka. He graduated from the University of Kansas with an engineering degree. He went on to get his Masters degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. He married Betty Joyce Rice on June 21, 1958 in Schenectady, New York. They moved to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois where he earned his Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering. While attending graduate school, his two daughters were born. In 1965, the family moved to Columbus, Ohio where Dale began his work at Battelle Memorial Institute. While Dale softly retired around 2003 he continued to work for roughly a decade. No one really knows when he actually stopped working at Battelle.

Dale worked at Battelle close to 45 years. He was a Senior Research Scientist for many and varied defense projects and developed a large volume of technological innovations leading to numerous patents. Most people do not know that his work has been used in nearly, if not every, arm of the government; Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Special Forces, FBI, etc. The technology he developed was mostly focused on protecting human life, both civilian and military. While his research and development spanned metallurgic, chemical, high energy, armor and anti-armor advancements, perhaps his most notable patents include the design, development and fabrication of an ammunition containment chamber for the M1 Abrams Tank to preclude the internal detonation of stored ammunition within the tank and a spherical blast containment vessel designed to safely contain and transport improvised explosive devices (IED). Both had a special remotely operated door that would keep people safe (and not fly off) if the round or IED would explode within the chamber. This blast containment vessel is still in use today by the FBI in Washington DC and at the White House. Dale was known to spend long hours (all nighters) on any particularly challenging development and was always very driven. Some might say that 24 hours in a day was not enough for him.

Dale and Betty sailed and raced Thistle sailboats locally and at the national level, and were quite involved at Hoover Sailing Club. Dale was the Commodore of the club and a very competitive racer over the years. He enjoyed sailing with his family, teaching three generations to sail. He accompanied a grandson to Thistle Nationals in 2005 as a great mentor and coach.

One of his hobbies was building stained glass 3-D structures. This hobby evolved to building beautiful stained glass sail boats and he was proud to tell you they were “built to scale.”

In his younger years when he was not sailing, Dale was a handball enthusiast, teaching his daughters to play and becoming a very competitive player himself. He even wrote a program to model the motion of the handball, predicting the motion, trajectory, action and reaction. He used the program to enhance his game play.

He supported the performing arts and Betty with the construction of many theater sets and props for her plays. The plays included plays for the grandchildren and plays for senior player groups. He could make a prop out of miscellaneous items from his workshop. He was very handy around the house to the point where his daughters would often say “Daddy fix it.” Dale participated in 22 plays that were directed by Betty. It was in the aftermath of one of these plays that Dale learned the finer points of dyeing hair and more importantly how to not end up with pink hair.

Dale was also a member of the Columbus/Goodale Lodge of the Free & Accepted Masons. Dale’s mother had worked for a Masonic Lodge in Kansas when he was a child.

He loved his family, and was so proud of the successes of his children and grandchildren. He was a full-time caregiver for his wife Betty for a number of years. He was lucky to find a second love of his life after Betty died. The company of Pat White brought him much joy.

His never-ending inquisitive mind continued throughout his life. His love for learning and science drove him to much exploration. He also enjoyed tutoring his grandchildren and other students.

Dale is survived by two daughters Nancy (Mike) Deakins, Cindy (Mitch) Friel, his dear friend Pat White, seven grandchildren; Ross Friel, Burk Friel, Tim (Heidi) Deakins, James Deakins (Mackenzie Wren), Sarah (Will) Spaulding, Mike Stiff, and Heather Stiff; five great grandchildren Peter, Logan, and Kaylee Spaulding, and Eloise and Emilia Deakins; and his two West Highland Terriers, Max and Stickeen, who were recently adopted by their new mom Cindy Schrader. He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty, parents Maynard and Helen, brothers Bud, Stinson, Dick, and Don, his sisters Dorothy and Lucy, and seven collies.