For five decades – while Virginia Kettering was helping to build the area's most treasured landmarks, showpieces and programs – she was quietly building something else.

"She helped create community pride that says, 'Don't downplay Dayton. It's a great place to be,'" said Al Leland, financial advisor to Mrs. Kettering, who died in February at 95.

The contributions of Virginia Kettering – the generous and gracious, warm and vivacious daughter-in-law of famed Dayton inventor and Delco founder Charles F. Kettering and widow of his only son, Eugene – are well known.

"The breadth of community activities and projects that Mrs. Kettering supported has been spectacular," said Mike Parks, president of The Dayton Foundation. "There isn't a sector of our community that hasn't been touched by her generous hand."

Mrs. Kettering knew how to make things happen. She was the force behind Dayton's revitalization in the 1970s, beginning with $15 million for Winters Bank Tower, now Kettering Tower, according to Fred Bartenstein, a former president of The Dayton Foundation. Legend has it that she thought Dayton needed a skyscraper, so she built one.

"How did Dayton's downtown survive and flourish? The truth is that Virginia Kettering had more to do with it than anyone else," he said.

The social pressures to support the arts by attending performances, giving money and serving on boards also can be traced to Mrs. Kettering.

"It was hard for the men and women of Dayton to ignore the performing arts when Jinny Kettering was there, having a good time. She was setting the pace," Bartenstein said.

Mrs. Kettering did more than support good causes; she had a hand in crafting their design. She would ask, "'Is it duplicative? If not, is it necessary? And if it is necessary, what makes this idea better than someone else's?'" Leland said.

Total gifts from Mrs. Kettering throughout her lifetime have been estimated very conservatively at $150 million. She routinely used her Charitable Checking Account, established through The Dayton Foundation, to give to community causes.

"Mrs. Kettering cared deeply about the Miami Valley and gave generously of her time, talent and treasure, so that our community could remain a great place to live, work and raise a family," Parks said.

In 1989 she created the Virginia W. Kettering Dayton Holiday Festival Fund through The Dayton Foundation.

Her fund has awarded more than $284,000 since 1990 to promote cultural activities in connection with holiday celebrations downtown. "She knew the Foundation would provide the ultimate oversight if the makeup of the festival had to change to keep pace with the times," Leland said.

In 2000 Mrs. Kettering gave $5 million to establish the Virginia W. Kettering Fund for projects that furthered the public good. Since 2001 this Dayton Foundation fund has awarded $221,000.

She inspired many. On numerous occasions, even in later years, Mrs. Kettering agreed to attend certain events or make calls, if she had been told that her presence or association with a particular cause was the leverage needed to inspire another potential philanthropist in town.

"There are many other people who've had the opportunity to follow in her footsteps, many other people who were influenced by her behavior," Leland said.

In some way Mrs. Kettering has touched each of us and perhaps even left us with her philanthropic spirit. Will members of this community take the seeds that have been handed to us by Mrs. Kettering and others who are now departed, plant them and continue to improve the community's lot and sustain the community's pride?

"Taxes alone cannot support all the services we have in our community," Leland said. "It takes personal dollars, infused on a regular basis, if we are going to have a nice place to live." "Remember your community," said Darrell Murphy, former president of The Dayton Foundation. "That is what Mrs. Kettering has taught us."

On her impact:
It's difficult to talk about the life of Virginia Kettering without also talking about Kettering Memorial Hospital, Kettering Tower and the Victoria Theatre; the University of Dayton, Wright State University and Sinclair Community College; the U.S. Air Force Museum, Dayton Art Institute and the Dayton Museum of Natural History, now the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery; and the Dayton Holiday Festival and Children's Parade, Courthouse Plaza, the Kettering Family Education Center at Carillon Park and the Dayton Performing Arts Fund, now Culture Works.

"Many people looked at her as a benefactress, and indeed she was," said Al Leland, financial advisor to Mrs. Kettering. "By virtue of the seeds that germinated and the projects that became a reality, people in Dayton began to see that great things can be accomplished if you work together."

On Mrs. Kettering's charitable intent:
"Boss Kett made the money. When her husband Eugene died, and the time came to step up to the plate, Mrs. Kettering made sure the money supported the things she felt Boss Kett would have wanted to support. He made his fortune here and contributed generously to the community, and she felt she needed to continue in that vein. That's what she perceived to be her obligation, out of respect for her father-in-law.

"There are a lot of us today who can learn something from her commitment. While no one of us may have the same financial impact that Mrs. Kettering had, collectively we can continue making significant things happen in our community."
– Al Leland, financial advisor to Mrs. Kettering

On her support of downtown in the 1970s, beginning with the construction of what became Kettering Tower:
"She made a beachhead investment – a visible, symbolic execution of her belief in downtown. Were it not for Jinny Kettering, her support of the Downtown Dayton Association and her willingness to harangue politicians in support of downtown, the economic fundamentals would have Dayton's downtown being far less attractive and vital than it is today. At that time, there were a lot of other wealthy and powerful people sitting on the sidelines, giving up, twiddling their thumbs."
– Fred Bartenstein, a former president of The Dayton Foundation

On her love of the arts:
"I can remember watching Mrs. Kettering sweep into the Victoria Theatre to her favorite seat and seeing in her eyes the true excitement she was feeling. She set an example for people who, at the time, would have been thinking that the performing arts were something boring or passé."
– Fred Bartenstein, a former president of The Dayton Foundation

On how she inspired others:
"You couldn't work with Mrs. Kettering and not develop a real sense of philanthropy and the role that each of us needs to play in supporting our community and all the things required to make a community whole."
– Al Leland, financial advisor to Mrs. Kettering

On her upfront involvement in community projects:
Before deciding whether to participate or invest her money, Mrs. Kettering often turned a project inside out, depending on her gut feelings and words of wisdom from advisors. She had to trust the organization leading the charge. Could this organization get the job done? Her philosophy was simple: Do it right – otherwise, don't bother.

Often she attached strings to a project or politely nudged others to see her point of view, all in an attempt to make a project succeed. For example, Mrs. Kettering tied the $7 million Kettering family donation to the Victoria Theatre renovation and expansion in the 1980s to the creation of a performing arts center in the block surrounding the theatre. Less than two weeks after Mrs. Kettering's death, the owner/operator of the Victoria unveiled the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center at Second and Main.

People respected her opinion. Project leaders, often before putting pen to paper, would run an idea past Mrs. Kettering first to see what she thought of it. "People didn't always like what she had to say, but they took her comments to heart," said Al Leland, financial advisor to Mrs. Kettering.

In later years, when her age stopped her from getting around as much in the business world, Leland would assess the pros and cons of a project of interest and then take it to her for comments and suggestions. "I was the eyes and ears of these projects for Mrs. Kettering," he said. "I did the legwork; she brought the history to the table."

On her legacy – and the community's future:
"We benefited for 50 solid years from the random selection of Dayton as the place where the Kettering family fortune would land," said Fred Bartenstein, a former president of The Dayton Foundation. "What will make this community great in the future is not our luck in attracting another Mrs. Kettering to town. The community philanthropists of the future will more likely be the unknowns – the teacher who leaves an estate or the foreman in the factory who creates something – who will be inspired to give back to their community, like so many have already done through The Dayton Foundation. The impulse that leads someone to be a philanthropist is not limited to the rich and powerful."

"By working through The Dayton Foundation, these yet-to-be discovered philanthropists can create a permanent, predictable source of local philanthropy. "If community matters, luckily there's a community foundation that can guarantee this permanent, long-range vision," he said.