Even 60 years after his death in a tragic plane crash, there are some who recognize and appreciate the contributions to amateur electronics made by Dowagiac businessman Howard Anthony.

On a chilly and rainy Thursday morning, one of these individuals — ham radio enthusiast and amateur historian Dave Ellison — stopped by Riverside Cemetery to pay tribute to the late entrepreneur. Ellison, who hails from across the country in Tacoma, Washington, spent an hour that morning cleaning and polishing Anthony’s headstone before placing a commemorative plaque on it, which reads “Mr. Heathkit.”

The name is quite fitting for Anthony, who owned the Heath Company, an aircraft and electronics manufacturer based out of the Twin Cities. Anthony ran the company from 1935 until his death in 1954.

It was the businessman who devised the term and concept behind the Heathkit, which were sets people could purchase to build their own small appliances. Anthony came up with the idea after purchasing a large stock of surplus radar and other electronic equipment following the end of World War II, Ellison said.

“He thought he could add value to the products by selling them as kits,” Ellison said. “They would allow people to get their hands on some high-quality electronic equipment for about half the price if they purchased them preassembled.”

The company produced its first Heathkit — allowing people to build their own oscilloscope — in July 1947. The kits cost $39, and were an immediate success, with the company selling out its first run by October, Ellison said.

Even after Anthony’s death, the idea of the Heathkit lived on. On top of producing kits for devices such as guitar amps, modems and even computers, the company became known for its transmitters and receivers, which established the Heath Company as a fixture of the ham radio community, Ellison said.

Speaking with a few of Anthony’s relatives Thursday, Ellison showed off the Heathkit radio he had built in 1975. The device catapulted him into the world of ham radio — today, he is the president of the Amateur Radio Club of Tacoma.

As an amateur historian of the Heath Company and ham radio in general, Ellison has spent the last several months doing research for a massive Heathkit tribute he plans to broadcast this summer.

As part of that research, he discovered that “Mr. Heathkit” was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Dowagiac. Having already planned a visit to Michigan to visit his daughter, Jennifer, this month, Ellison decided to stop by the Grand Old City and pay tribute to the man whose vision of providing affordable appliances helped countless others across the globe chase their own dreams, Ellison said.

“I don’t think anyone else would have put two and two together to begin selling these kits,” Ellison said. “If he had not succeeded with his first oscilloscope, I would not be here right now, with all this equipment in my trunk.”

One of the business owner’s distant relatives, Jonathan Anthony, stopped by the cemetery Thursday for Ellison’s visit. It was a photograph Jonathan took and posted online months earlier of his ancestor’s headstone that allowed Ellison to find the gravesite.

“I have learned a lot of about him [Howard Anthony] recently myself,” Jonathan said. “I’m glad his name and legacy continues to live on.”

Another of Anthony’s distant cousins, Mark Thomas, also attended the ceremony.

“When I told people I was related to Howard Anthony, no one knew who I was talking about,” Thomas said. “If this is a way to create more awareness about a native son, who contributed so much to the economy in our area, it is a great thing.”