In remembrance: Telling the stories of notable Butler County lives lost in 2019

The Butler County region is remembering some of its notable lives lost in 2019.

Here are some of those stories>

‘Family most important thing in his life’

Dan Cox, a longtime freshman football coach at Badin High School, died suddenly of a heart attack Feb. 3 while exercising at his home. He was 57.

Larry Cox remembers a conversation he had with his brother, who said the world would keep spinning when he died.

“Damn, the world stopped spinning,” Larry Cox said. “At least it did in my life.”

MORE: Longtime Butler County football coach dies at 57

Larry Cox said his brother coached football for more than 20 years at Badin and the CYO. His goal always was “to make people better. He was the best of the Cox brothers.”

Dan Cox, a 1979 Badin graduate, is survived by his wife, Debbie; children, Chris, Annie and Vince; grandchildren Ben, Sam, Will and Cecelia; andbrothers Larry, Tommy and Billy; and mother Mary Lou. He was preceded in death by his father, Bill, and brother, Johnny.

"His family was the most important thing in his life," Cox said.

‘He was an active man’

David Scotford, a Miami University professor, World War II veteran and world traveler, died Jan. 31 in hospice care. He was 98.

Scotford taught at Miami University for 38 years, retiring in 1987. He was chairman of the geology department from 1960-1979.

MORE: World War II fighter pilot and longtime Miami University professor dies at 98

He entered Dartmouth College in 1940, but he left in January of1943 to train as a pilot in the Army Air Forces. Two years later, he joined the 21st fighter, 531st squadron of the 7th Air Force, shipping off to Iwo Jima in the Pacific Theater. His squadron was only able to land on Iwo after some 6,800 marines and sailors gave their lives.

Like a lot of veterans, Scotford rarely talked about his military service, said Barbara Scotford, one of his daughters.

“He was pretty quiet about it,” Scotford said from her Minnesota home. “He thought he didn’t do much. We said, ‘Hello, dad, you actually did.’”

One of Scotford’s passions was sailing. In the early 1960s, he built a 14-foot sail boat in his basement, and he spent many weekends racing this and ensuing sailboats on Acton Lake with his wife, children, and students as crew. Later he upgraded to a small cruising boat and sailed on the Great Lakes, off the coast of Maine and in southern Florida. At retirement and after the death of his first wife, he bought a 39-foot allied ketch that he sailed throughout the Bahamas each winter.

“It was just his thing,” she said. “He was an active man.”

Inwood was ‘happy, smiling, personable and loving’

A Middletown businessman who loved his hometown, his college alma mater and his family has died.

Charles “Dudley” Inwood, a successful businessman who served on City Commission for eight years, died after battling dementia, his family said. He was 91.

MORE: ‘Loving’ former Middletown city commissioner, business owner dies at 91

Inwood, a Marine and World War II veteran, was president of Office Outfitters, a Middletown business founded by his father in 1927.

He was a Middletown City Commissioner from 1968-75 and chairman of the commission from 1969-1975, his family said. A Resolution of Appreciation, which was presented to him at his last commission meeting, thanked him for his many years of “unselfish service” to the city.

Inwood graduated from Middletown High School in 1945 and Miami University in 1950. He was a large supporter of Miami University’s athletic teams, especially the football and men’s basketball teams.

Sally Jo Inwood, his wife for 40 years, said her husband loved rooting for Charlie Coles, a former Miami men’s basketball coach, and Ben Roethlisberger, who quarterbacked Miami before his long and illustrious career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

She described her husband as “happy, smiling, personable and loving.”

‘You never replace someone with a heart’ like hers

Janet Niederman, the matriarch of the family behind Niederman Family Farm, is being remembered for her generosity that she passed down to her children.

“You never replace someone with a heart like Janet’s,” said Christine Matacic, a Liberty Twp. trustee. “And you know how the saying goes, ‘And it doesn’t fall far from the tree.’”

MORE: Matriarch of Liberty Twp.’s Niederman Farm had ‘wonderful, caring heart’

Niederman died Jan. 11 at home. She was 84.

The Niederman Christmas Walk, which started on the Niederman Family Farm on Lesourdsville-West Chester Road in Liberty Twp. in 2001, was not open this year “due to family health issues,” the family recently posted on its Facebook page.

One of Niederman’s 16 grandchildren, Brian Garver, who serves as farm manager, said the family spent “some sweet times” together during the holidays.

“It was a no-regrets decision,” he said of closing the Christmas Walk.

He said his grandmother always taught him to respect others and appreciate customers.

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