Frisbee man's ashes to take a spin

Frisbee pioneer Steady Ed Headrick used to joke that when he died, he would like to live on as a Frisbee - even if it meant his final resting place was a neighbouring roof. Now his family are to make his wish come true.

The Californian inventor, who died on Monday at 78, was cremated that night along with a few of his favourite Frisbees. His ashes are now to be moulded into limited-edition plastic "memorial flying discs" which will be sold off to fund a museum in his memory.

His son Dr Daniel Headrick said: "For years, Dad used to joke about saying he wanted to live on as a Frisbee. In the weeks before his death he made it clear he was serious. He wanted us to use his ashes in making some Frisbees.

"My father would be really happy if we actually played Frisbee with his remains. He said he wanted to end up in a Frisbee that accidentally lands on someone's roof."

Mr Headrick, known for his sense of humour, once said: "We used to say that Frisbee is really a religion - Frisbyterians we would call ourselves. When we die, we don't go to purgatory. We just land on the roof and lie there."

Hailed as the father of the modern Frisbee, Mr Headrick also invented "disc golf" - a Frisbeebased sport played by millions that involves throwing the discs into metal cages. It was at the sport's world championships in Miami last month that he fell ill, suffering two strokes. He returned home to California where he died in his sleep. He is survived by his wife, Farina, three sons, a daughter and 11 grandchildren - all of whom play Frisbee.

Mr Headrick's association with the Frisbee began in the Fifties when he started working with Wham-O, Inc., the California toy maker famous for the Hula Hoop .

He looked at the design of the Frisbee, named after the Frisbie Pie Company of Connecticut, whose tins students at Yale used as toys. After the Second World War, an inventor named Fred Morrison worked on a plastic version of the toy, the first of which was sold in 1957. However, it was a wobbly throw.

Mr Headrick added aerodynamic ridges on the top of the disc, making it more flight-worthy. His "pro model," launched in 1964, swiftly became the company's-best seller. Awarded the patent for a "flying saucer" model in 1967, Mr Headrick left Wham-O in 1982 to concentrate on promoting Frisbee-related sports.

In tribute, the Disc Golf Association said: "We all wished for a miracle that would have had him up and out of bed throwing discs and joking around once again. That miracle that was Ed will have to live on in our hearts and souls now."

In an interview last year, Mr Headrick said of the Frisbee: "I felt the Frisbee had some kind of a spirit involved. It's not just like playing catch with a ball. It's the beautiful flight."