Ed Headrick; Inventor of Pro Model Frisbee

Ed Headrick, who turned a national fad into an enduring sports trend by designing the first professional model Frisbee, has died from complications resulting from two strokes. He was 78.

Headrick died in his sleep on Monday at his home in Santa Cruz, family members said. He was left partially paralyzed after suffering the strokes last month at a Frisbee golf tournament in Miami.

Headrick is credited with patenting the concentric, ridge-like rings that improved the aerodynamics of the discs first invented by Fred Morrison and marketed in the mid-1950s by Emeryville, Calif.-based toy manufacturer Wham-O.

Headrick is also credited with coming up with the idea for disc golf. He was co-founder of the International Frisbee Assn., the Professional Disc Golf Assn. and the Recreational Disc Golf Assn.

Frisbees, which took their inspiration from the metal pie pans thrown by Ivy League students starting in the 1930s, were introduced to the nation in 1957 as the “Pluto Platter.” The name was an effort to tap into the country’s fascination with space and unidentified flying objects.

When “Steady Ed” Headrick joined Wham-O in the 1960s, he created the “professional model” Frisbee disc design, which had better lift and could be thrown far greater distances than its flatter predecessors.

“When he did that, all of a sudden you had something that could fly with maximum height and distance,” said Peter Sgromo, marketing director for Wham-0. “And when kids got a hold of that, they had a great tool for legitimate sports.”

As sport combined with fad, the popularity of the Frisbee soared, and the discs could be spotted aloft in parks, beaches and college campuses. They also came to embody a freedom from the rigid rules of traditional American sports such as football.

Frisbees became, as Headrick told The Times in 1985, “the emblem of the unruly, something for people who were anti-everything to be pro-something.”

Ultimately, the popularity of the Frisbee transcended its anti-establishment appeal and Wham-O went on to sell more than 100 million of the professional model discs, which were first introduced in 1964.

Frisbee lovers created games like Ultimate Frisbee, in which teams faced off against one another with the object of scoring by passing to a teammate positioned in an end zone.

Headrick invented another popular sport, disc golf, that is played like regular golf except it uses a disc instead of a golf ball.

The first formal disc golf course was designed by Headrick and installed in 1975 in Oak Grove Park in La Canada-Flintridge. Headrick went on to design 200 more.

Born in South Pasadena, Headrick is survived by his wife Farina; three sons; a daughter; and 11 grandchildren.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, it was Headrick’s wish to have his ashes molded into memorial flying discs that would be given to select family and friends, and others who made donations to his memory.