Donald L. "Don" Schmidt, age 84 of Beavercreek, passed away on Tuesday, August 12, 2014 at Kettering Memorial Hospital. He was born on January 29, 1930 in Park Falls, Wisconsin to the late John and Anna Schmidt.

Don was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Superior with Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1952 and attained a Masters of Science in Chemistry form Oklahoma State University in 1954. From 1952-54 he was a Project Engineer, Transparent Materials, Nonmetallic Materials Division of the Air Force Materials Laboratory. In 1954 he became a Technical Manager for Ablative Materials, Plastics and Composites Branch, Nonmetallic Materials Division. He was a retired Major in the United States Air Force and wrote seven U.S. Patents. He was a Fellow in the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering and received multiple awards for his distinguished service in the field of science, specifically in the area of research for materials engineering. He is probably best known as a co-inventor of carbon-carbon.

He is survived by his wife of 51 years Johnerea Schmidt; his two sons: John of South Riding, Virginia and Jeff of San Ramon, California; his four grandchildren; multiple nieces and nephews; and many friends who were all very special to him. He was preceded in death by his brothers Richard, John, Gerald, Lawrence, Robert, and James. He was also preceded in death by his sisters Marian Newell, Margaret Rybak, Rose Marie Hoth, and Angeline LaRose.