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Beauford R. "Keno" Hatfield, 93, a prominent automobile dealer in northwest Ohio who officiated at high school and college football games throughout the 1950s and 1960s, died of heart failure Tuesday in Delray Community Hospital, Delray Beach, Fla.

He and his wife, Peggy, had been splitting time between their homes in West Toledo and Hillsboro Beach, Fla.

Until his retirement in 2000, Mr. Hatfield was owner of the former Hatfield Oldsmobile and Hatfield Honda in Maumee. He also had once owned area Isuzu and Renault automotive dealerships.

He was a past president of the Toledo Automobile Dealers Association and served as president in 1979 of the Ohio Automobile Dealers Association. In 1980, Time magazine named Mr. Hatfield a regional winner of its Quality Dealer Award.

Clay Hepler, Sr., longtime executive vice president of the Toledo dealers group, said Mr. Hatfield's reputation was "excellent" in the dealership community.

"Probably one of the finest [reputations] in Toledo," he said. "He was a very good dealer and a very solid citizen."

Mr. Hatfield was born in Defiance and moved with his family to Toledo as a young boy. He became a standout football player at Libbey High School, where he graduated in 1932 and picked up the nickname "Keno" from his admiring fans in the stadium stands, his son, Dr. Dennis Hatfield, said.

Mr. Hatfield went on to play for UT's football team. He graduated in 1937. In 1941 he married Peggy Deeds, his high school sweetheart.

After serving in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II as a member of the ground crew, Mr. Hatfield returned to Toledo and held a succession of jobs, including deputy auditor for Lucas County.

He was "getting a little bored" working for the Internal Revenue Service in the early 1950s and got his start in the automotive dealerships industry as general manager for Carl Schmidt Motor Sales in Maumee.

He soon gained partial ownership and acquired the dealership following Mr. Schmidt's death in 1965.

Mr. Hatfield later bought and sold the Isuzu and Renault franchises and, in 1979, built Hatfield Honda.

Mr. Hatfield was a past president of the Old Newsboys Goodfellow Association, a 32nd Degree Mason, and a longtime member of the Maumee Rotary Club. He took special pride in his 47 years of perfect Rotary attendance.

"He never missed a meeting and, if he did, he made them up wherever he was," Mr. Pizza said.

Surviving are his wife, Peggy Hatfield; daughter, Debbie Muratore; son, Dr. Dennis Hatfield; three grandchildren, and two great grandsons.

A memorial service in Toledo is being planned for May. The Kraeer-Becker Funeral Home, Deerfield Beach, Fla., is handling arrangements.

The family suggests tributes to the Old Newsboys Goodfellow Association, Rotary International, or a charity of the donor's choice.