Gino Santi,81, who led the design and development of the...

Gino Santi,81, who led the design and development of the first U.S. ejection seat for military aircraft, died of cancer Thursday in Dayton, Ohio.

Mr. Santi served in the Army Air Forces during World War II and later became project engineer on the team that developed the ejection seat in 1949. He also is credited with inventing a prototype for air bags used in automobiles and an automatic-opening lap belt used in military aircraft.

Travis Bogard,79, one of the foremost experts on the life and works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, died Saturday in Berkeley, Calif., after a short illness. Among his many articles and books on O'Neill are "Contour in Time, the Plays of Eugene O'Neill" and "The Complete Plays of Eugene O'Neill," recognized as the authoritative collection of the playwright's works.

W. T. Brotherton Jr.,70, a former state Supreme Court chief justice who ran two branches of government, died Sunday in Charleston, W.Va., after a heart attack and three open-heart surgeries.

Lyn Crost,80, a World War II correspondent who brought to light the role of Japanese-American soldiers in the Pacific, died of a brain tumor Monday in Washington.

Georgia Davidson,89, who helped start Idaho's first commercial radio and television stations, died Sunday in Boise.

Pub Date: 4/09/97