Improving on a pie plate that people were flying around, in the 1960s Headrick designed the first “professional model” of the Frisbee flying disk for Wham-O, which had been selling the toy for a couple of years by the time he joined the company.
The main complaint was the disk was “wobbly” in flight. By adding ridges to the top, he gave the Frisbee better lift and a straighter, more stable flight. The improvements were enough to earn Wham-O a patent on the toy. “It’s not just like playing catch with a ball,” Headrick once said. “The beautiful flight [gives it] some kind of a spirit.”
Headrick also invented Frisbee golf, and founded the International Frisbee Association and the Disc Golf Association. He died August 12 at home from the effects of two strokes in July. He was 78. His ashes will be mixed with plastic to be made into a special edition Frisbee for family and friends.