Wednesday, October 8th, 2025
Donald Bair
Donald Dwight Bair died as a result of a traffic accident October 3rd.
Dwight was born April 23, 1928 to Gifford and Lucille (Elder) Bair in Center Township. He was the last surviving member of the 1946 graduating class of Neptune (Center Township) High School.
Dwight married Virginia McGee on February 12, 1950 in the Parsonage of Celina First Church of God. They raised three children: Bruce (Rita) Bair of Cincinnati, David (Wayne Winters) of Seattle, Washington and Glenna, who preceded him in death in 2020. Virginia also preceded him on October 18, 2021.
In addition to Bruce and David, Dwight is survived by sister Dorothy Garwick of Mendon, six grandchildren: Rachel (Ben) Levien, Ryan (Caitlin) Bair, Laura Denning, Philip (Katelyn) Denning, Megan (Kemp) Lyons, and Andrew (Rebecca) Bair, and nine great grandchildren: Sky, Frances, Tilda, Henry, Darcy, Wyatt, Magnus, Cyrus and Vivienne.
He was also preceded in death by a daughter-in-law Carolyn Bair and brother-in-law Clifford "Howdy" Garwick.
Dwight loved growing things, making things and fixing things. While the farm was central to his world, he also spent many years running a gun repair shop, before branching out into die building and repair during the early days of Pax Machine. He was always working, whether it was milking the dairy herd or planting and harvesting with Gifford, fabricating a replacement for a broken gun part, or building and repairing stamping dies.
Dwight was born into a relationship with the Neptune Church of God, where he served much of his adult life as a leading member, from salvaging the contents of the burning structure of the first building, through the design and construction of its replacement, to cleaning up after multiple flooding events in the basement of that new church. If the monitor detected rising water, the alarm went off at his house.
The decision to close it hit him hard, even though his practical farmer side knew it was the right decision. But, his faith went beyond building management and rituals. The same intellect that drove him to look for ways to understand how to create and repair farm equipment, guns, and stamping dies, led him to exploration of theology and ideas that he would not encounter on Sunday.
While home best suited his introverted nature, Dwight had fond memories of motorcycle camping trips to North Carolina, Florida, Colorado and Canada, sometimes to visit and sometimes just to see new things. Dwight would deeply regret any pain and loss suffered by those involved in the crash, and his family and friends who will miss his ornery sly sense of humor and generosity of spirit.
At a future date, Private Graveside Services will be held at Elm Grove Cemetery in St. Marys to honor Dwight, Virginia and Glenna.
Condolences may be expressed to Dwight's family at: dickandsonshellwarthfh.com.
Arrangements are under the direction of: W.H. Dick & Sons-Hellwarth Funeral Home, of Celina.
