The Dayton Foundation has received $3.7 million from a Charitable Remainder Trust that creates the Edward L. and Esther B. Kohnle Fund to meet the broad needs of the Greater Dayton community. The gift represents the Foundation’s largest realized, unrestricted legacy gift to date.

Edward Kohnle is the former chairman and president of Monarch Marking Systems, later merged with Pitney Bowes Inc., and was one of Dayton’s most honored civic leaders. Esther Kohnle likewise was very civic-minded, serving in such roles as president of The League of Women Voters, the College Women’s Club and Dayton Woman’s Club. Edward Kohnle passed away in 1987; Esther Kohnle in 1982.

“This is such a wonderful, generous gift that comes when the need for such giving is especially great,” said Mike Parks, president of The Dayton Foundation. “As a former member of the Foundation’s Governing Board from 1957 to 1973, then known as the Distribution Committee, Edward Kohnle understood better than most the importance of unrestricted giving. The lack of restrictions on the gift will enable us the flexibility to address the greatest community needs at any point in time. We couldn’t be more grateful and humbled by Esther and Ed’s trust in the Foundation. Their permanent endowment will have a very real and significant impact on the Greater Dayton community that they loved—today and for generations to come.”

Edward and Esther Kohnle have been described by many as devoted citizens of this community, and their grandson, Tom Kohnle, described them as highly regarded “people persons.” Former Foundation Chair Robert S. Neff said, “Ed was always very well dressed, very proper and good at communication. He was cheerful, fun to be with, just a great person—a cordial, pleasant person who was very generous with his time in helping others.”

Said former Foundation Chair Frederick C. Smith, “Ed believed in giving to the community, as well as to his business. I had the greatest respect for him. He believed in service—and he did it, taking on a number of community leadership roles. If he was approached with a problem, he would sit down and give you the time to talk it out. He had very high standards, was a very respected leader and a real contributor to the quality of life in this community.”

Likewise, former Foundation Chair John E. Moore, Sr., remembers him as devoted, both to The Dayton Foundation and to Dayton. His dedication to organizations like the YMCA of Metropolitan Dayton is evident in such honors as naming their highest award to a YMCA volunteer after Edward Kohnle. He was a major contributor, volunteer and philanthropic, to not only the YMCA, but to the Boy Scouts of America, Junior Achievement and other organizations.

Esther Kohnle is described by Tom Kohnle as remarkably bright, had very strong views, and was very proper and kind. She earned a master’s degree, “basically unheard of for women at the time,” according to her grandson Bob Kohnle, and coauthored a book, Never Dies the Dream, the story of the Monarch Marking System Company and its founder, Frederick Kohnle, father of Edward Kohnle.

In addition to her leadership role with a number of local organizations, she was active with First Baptist Church, as was Ed. When she disagreed with someone on an issue of importance, Tom Kohnle said, “she would let you know it.” An example was her opposition to then-Ohio Gov. James A. Rhodes for his position on the fluoridation of water. An example of her kindness and concern for others was exhibited in her service as a “Gray Lady” at the Veterans’ Hospital during World War II.

One could say that service to others was part of the Kohnles’ DNA. Their unrestricted legacy gift to The Dayton Foundation to continue to help their community long past their lifetimes is a fitting last chapter in their devotion to Greater Dayton and its citizens.

Since 1921 The Dayton Foundation has been helping people help others in the Dayton community and beyond. The Dayton Foundation helps donors find the best and most tax-wise ways to achieve their charitable objectives, invests and manages donors’ charitable funds, and provides grants and leadership to grow philanthropy and help meet present and future community needs. More information about The Dayton Foundation and its services is available at www.daytonfoundation.org.