James Winner | Inventor of the Club, 81

James Winner, 81, the inventor of the Club, a popular car antitheft device, died Tuesday in a crash in Western Pennsylvania.

State police said the accident on a rural road in Clarion County also took the lives of two other people when Mr. Winner's sport-utility vehicle crossed into oncoming traffic, striking their car.

He invented the Club after his car was stolen in the 1980s, and his Sharon-based company, Winner International, sold more than 10 million of them. He also was widely known for his philanthropy in Western Pennsylvania.

Mr. Winner also was interested in bettering the region. He said he wanted to make the area a tourist destination and create jobs after the loss of industry there. He bought and restored buildings, including the downtown Sharon home once owned by industrialist Frank Buhl, which Mr. Winner converted into a bed-and-breakfast. - AP