Longtime Butler County educator who also worked at Reds and Bengals games dies at 81

A Butler County educator, farmer and avid sports fan has died.

Donald “Don” Eberwine, of Ross Twp., died Tuesday. He was 81.

A lifelong educator, Eberwine taught vocational agriculture and served as the school chapter FFA adviser at Miami Trace High School, Rutherford B. Hayes High School and Talawanda High School.

In 1971, he joined the Great Oaks School District at its inception, helping establish vocational agriculture programs at its various branch campuses. In 1975, he joined the Butler County Vocational School District as the director of adult education and was instrumental in establishing the Adult Education program at D. Russel Lee Vocational School, now Butler Tech.

In this position, he led year-round learning opportunities for the residents of Butler County and worked with area employers in providing job training.

He was “a motivated and talented individual” and had a number of pursuits he enjoyed, according to his obituary.

Eberwine was a longtime member of the Oxford Farm Market where he sold fruits and vegetables from his garden, worked as a security guard at the Cincinnati Reds and Bengals games and worked for 15 years at the Ohio State University Butler County Extension Office, where many knew him for his weekly horticulture articles in the Journal-News.

He was a tax adviser at H&R Block for nearly 20 years. He was serving on the boards of the Southwest Regional Water District where he served on the Board of Trustees since 1996 and Friends of Butler County Metro Parks. He was a past member of the boards for the Hamilton Area Red Cross, Butler County Republican Central Committee and the Selective Service System. He was a member and past trustee of the Oxford United Methodist Church where he also enjoyed serving as an usher. He also attended Venice Presbyterian Church in Ross Twp.

He married Marcella K. Huprich on July 16, 1961, and she preceded him in death on April 16, 2007. He married Emily Belle Young on Jan. 2, 2010.

He is survived by his wife; his four children: Dr. Julia (Robert Mallory) Eberwine of Mason; Capt. Scott (Melissa) Eberwine of Oxford; Stephanie (Greg) Bass of Greenville, S.C.; and Dr. Stephen (Amy) Eberwine of Indianapolis; and three stepchildren: Greg (Kim) Young of Ross Twp.; Dan (Gayla) Young of Ross Twp. and Becky (Pete) Berling of Fairfield.

Visitation will be from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Charles C. Young Funeral Home, 4032 Hamilton Cleves Road, Ross Twp. Services will be held at 1 p.m. Monday with the Revs. Arun Paul and Fred Shaw officiating.

Another visitation will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Zion United Church of Christ in Baltic until the time of the funeral service at 2 p.m. Graveside services will follow at West Lawn Cemetery in Baltic.

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