updated February 15, 2008

Steven R. McCracken, a 1975 mechanical engineering alumnus who was put in charge of the Fortune 500 corporation, Owens-Illinois Inc., in 2004 after a long career at DuPont, died on Feb. 7 from complications of cancer. He was 54.

A memorial service is being conducted at 7 p.m. on Feb. 15 in the Flinn & Maguire Funeral Home, Franklin, Ind., where the family will receive friends after 3 p.m. that day.

McCracken, who helped begin a turnaround of Owens-Illinois, stepped down as O-I chief executive officer and chairman in November, 2006. That was nearly four months after he told industry analysts during a conference call that he was to undergo surgery for a cancerous stomach tumor.

His wife, Judy, told The Toledo Blade that McCracken "continued to fight and try to always put the family first . . . He had so much hope, as we all did, that we would have as much time as we possibly could," she said.

McCracken was succeeded by Albert Stroucken, who last year told The Blade that a turnaround at the glass-container company came more quickly than he expected. He credited McCracken.

McCracken "had tremendous charisma," said Mike Paparone, who retired as president of O-I's former plastics business.

"He was an out-of-the-box thinker. He really empowered people . . . and got people excited and motivated about what they were doing.

"The people [at O-I] responded," Paparone said. "He came in as an outsider, and they related to him."

Carol Gee, O-I chief communications officer, said the company last year had its best revenue performance in 16 years, the result of "Steve's vision and (Mr. Stroucken's) discipline."

Born in Tacoma, McCracken grew up in Franklin, Ind., and graduated from Rose-Hulman before working at DuPont for nearly 30 years. Before he began at O-I in April, 2004, he was president of Invista, which at the time was DuPont's textile fibers business and home of Lycra and Stainmaster.

"He helped establish (Lycra) as a global brand," said Gee, who worked with McCracken at DuPont.

With Lycra, McCracken was able to show his marketing savvy, his wife said.

"He loved life, (and) that's the key to being a marketing person, too," his wife said.

Gee added: "He was magic in a bottle. He knew human nature like no other person I have met. He knew how to make things work. He knew how to spin a story. He knew how to position something inside that would help people see it and go with it."

Surviving are his wife, Judy, whom he married May 6, 1995; daughters, Morgan, Kelsey, and Molly; son, Conner; mother, Dixie McCracken, and sister, Julie Stephenson.

The family suggests tributes to the Steve McCracken Fund in care of the Toledo Community Foundation.