Raymond C. Firestone, 86; Former Head of Tire Firm

Raymond C. Firestone, former chairman of the tire company founded by his father, Harvey S. Firestone, in 1900, died Friday at age 86.

Raymond Firestone served as chairman of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. in Akron from 1963 to 1976. He retired as a company director in 1977.

Firestone went to work for his father’s tire company in 1933 in a Los Angeles sales office. He became a company director in 1942 and its chief executive officer in 1963.

Japan’s Bridgestone Corp. acquired the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. in 1988 in a $2.6-billion deal.