BY ANDREA TORTORA and JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dr. Paul Hammond
Joan Hammond
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A prominent former Cincinnati couple were among the victims of Wednesday's crash of Swissair Flight 111.
Dr. Paul Hammond had worked at the University of Cincinnati researching the effects of lead poisoning in children, work that led to major industry changes. His wife, Joan, was an aide to former Gov. Richard F. Celeste, a bank executive and, most recently, a deputy county auditor in suburban Seattle.
"What a tragedy," said Mary Ann Christie of Anderson Township, who knew the couple well. "What wonderful people to lose."
The Hammonds were on their way to visit Dr. Hammond's brother in Geneva -- the first vacation Mrs. Hammond had taken in more than four years. The plane, with 229 passengers, went down off Nova Scotia. There were no survivors.
The Hammonds leave three children, sons Jim and David, both of Seattle, and Ashley, who lives in Sacramento, Calif.
Dr. Hammond, 75, originally a veterinarian, was director of the toxicology division at UC Medical Center's Department of Environmental Health. He had also directed the school's toxicology training program, the oldest in the country, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
His research resulted in the removal of lead from gasoline, the end of lead soldering on tin cans, the removal of lead in household paint and the reduction of lead in food, said Dr. Robert Bornschein, a UC environmental health professor who worked with Dr. Hammond for 20 years.
The Hammonds moved to Edmonds, Wash., several years ago, when Dr. Hammond retired. Mrs. Hammond, 65, became deputy auditor in Snohomish County, north of Seattle, about 4 1/2 years ago.
Mrs. Hammond was well-known in Ohio politics as an aide to Mr. Celeste. He appointed her in 1983 to lead a then-new position, administering the federal Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). In 1987, she became a special assistant in Gov. Celeste's office. She left that job in 1989 amid scandal, after allegations arose about her handling of some of the federal job-training grants.
In Cincinnati, Mrs. Hammond was a member of the board of directors of the United Way from 1979 to 1983; a member of the Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana Regional Council of Governments from 1975 to 1983; and was one of the first two women, in 1979, to be invited into the exclusive Cincinnatus Association.
"She was a very active activist," said Jerry Ransohoff, who lives on Lafayette Lane in Clifton, where the Hammonds lived about 15 years.
Friends and colleagues are planning a local memorial service.
Tim Bonfield, John Hopkins and Anne Michaud contributed to this report.
