Mr. Westerheide had served as director of the University of Dayton Research Center, later renamed as the Research Institute. He retired in 1983 after serving as director for 27 years.
The research center was established Sept. 1, 1956, seven years after the university secured its first research contract from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Mr. Westerheide had been hired to lead the university’s first full-time research team on the classified project, UD officials said. He wrote a seven-page proposal to establish a research organization at the university that is now a multimillion-dollar operation.
Visitation for Mr. Westerheide will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Tobias Funeral Home, 5471 Far Hills Ave., in Kettering. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church, 4500 Ackerman Blvd., Kettering.
Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Dayton.
He is survived by a daughter, Donna Merrill; son, Paul Wilson, nine grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and three sisters.