Charles Seidel "Charlie" Biehn

News Death Notice

BIEHN, Charles "Charlie" Seidel age 76, of Centerville, Ohio, died Monday morning, August 10, 2009 after a brief stay at Miami Valley Hospital. Charlie is survived by his loving children, daughter, Darlene Biehn Southern, and her husband Jim; son, Charles Seidel Biehn Jr., and his wife, Dana; and his youngest son, Joseph John Biehn. He was also grandfather to Jimmy, Joey, Nikki, Charlie, Stephanie, Amanda and her new husband, Augustine, and Angie and her husband, Bryan, as well as new great-grandson, Pierce. At his side was his dear companion of three years, Connie. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of twenty five years, Lillie Ruth Strider Biehn, and his devoted partner of twenty years, Linda Petitt. He held in great affection his "outlaw girls", Kim and Mary. Charlie was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CB Manufacturing & Sales Co., Inc. in West Carrollton, Ohio. Charlie founded CB Manufacturing back in 1965 in the garage of his home as a small printing supply company and under Charlies stewardship it grew to a full-service manufacturer of industrial knives and blades sold throughout the United States and around the world. The growth and success of CB Manufacturing was one of Charlies proudest accomplishments. Charlie was an entrepreneur, an innovator, and an inventor. Besides being a successful businessman, Charlie was a man of many and varied interests. He was an avid snow skier and skied all over the world including heli-skiing in British Columbia and was one of the co-founders of the Ohio Ski Patrol. He rock-climbed most of the peaks in the Tetons, he was a certified scuba-diver and dove in the Caribbean, Mexico, and southern United States, and hiked and camped in almost every US National Park. He visited each of the fifty United States at least once. He spelunked in Kentucky and kayaked the Gulley River. He was a marathoner. He was a golfer. Since his retirement from daily business, Charlie became a nearly full-time RVer, calling the road his home. During the winter months, he based himself out of Apache Junction, AZ and traveled all over the western states. In the past few years he took up with great fervor the hobby of geo-caching and accumulated a count of over 4,000 caches in four years and in the last two years he took up X-treme Jeep rock-crawling. He was a member of the FMCA Four-Wheelers of Moab, Utah and a recent member of the Miami Valley Muddy Buddies. A few days before his death, he was making plans for a sky-diving trip. But most of all, Mr. Biehn was an avid pilot, soloing in 1956 and continuing to pilot both single and twin engine airplanes for the past fifty years. In the period of one month, he flew his personal aircraft south of the Tropic of Cancer in the Cayman Islands and north of the Artic Circle in Point Barrow, Alaska. He was a member of the Dayton Pilots Club for many years. His pride and joy was his 1946 J3 Piper Cub. Charlie also served in the 82nd Airborne from 1953 through 1956 and he was very proud of his service to his country. Through all of his adventures, Charlie touched the lives of many, many people who loved him and cherished his friendship. A brief funeral service will take place at Presidential Banquet Center, 4548 Presidential Way, Kettering on Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 3:00 PM, followed by Visitation and Celebration of Charlies Life. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Dayton, 324 Wilmington Ave., Dayton, OH 45401. Condolences and other tributes may be sent to the family at www.routsong.com