Hugh O’Neill III, owner of Newbury, Ohio-based DistTech, died Nov. 3 at his home, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. He was 84.
O’Neill formerly was board chairman and chief executive officer of Leaseway Transportation Corp., a company founded by his family in 1960; it was a consolidation of various family-operated companies. O’Neill became board chairman in 1975; he resigned three years later to start his own business, but remained a director of Leaseway until the company was sold in 1985. He purchased the Manfredi Motor Transit Co. in Newbury; the company changed its name to Distribution Technologies in 2004, then became DistTech.
O’Neill was a lifetime philanthropist and civic activist; among the many boards he served on were those of Catholic Charities, Actron Manufacturing, Boy Scouts, John Carroll University, F.J. O’Neill Charitable Corp., O’Neill Brothers Foundation and the Parkview Federal Savings Bank. He also was a member of numerous civic organizations.
During World War II, O’Neill served in the Army Air Forces as a navigator on a B-17 Flying Fortress. He flew 64 missions over Europe, and was the recipient of six air medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross, his family told the Plain Dealer.
