On July 6th, several members of the Firestone family visited Columbiana to mark the 150th anniversary of Harvey S. Firestone’s birth.

Firestone was born in Columbiana on December 20, 1868 and as leading industrialist became the area’s most famous citizen. His granddaughter, Lendy F. Brown of Lexington, Ky., spoke to honor her grandfather’s legacy as well as expressing support for the improvement projects at Firestone Park. The updates to the park are spearheaded by Restoration and Beautification Committee of Columbiana.

Today is such a happy experience…thank you so much for welcoming us in this lovely area – with all of Columbiana behind us. – Lendy S. Brown

The wreath laying ceremony was held at the Firestone Memorial in the Columbiana Cemetery at 12:30 p.m. The event was was well represented by the Firestone family, city officials, R&B committee members, and area residents.

Firestone family members at the event included:

• Kimball Firestone of Middletown, Md., who is a grandson of Harvey Firestone and son of Leonard K. Firestone, chairman of the trustees of the Firestone Foundation.
• Layton L. Register of Lexington, Ky., a son of Lendy S. Brown, grandson of Leonard K. Firestone, and great-grandson of Harvey Firestone.
• Jeff Firestone (and his wife Heather) of Houston, Texas, who is a great-grandson of Harvey Firestone and grandson of Russell Firestone, son of Morgan Firestone.