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The Dayton Foundation Announces $13.9 Million Gift, Second-Largest Legacy Gift in Its History


The Dayton Foundation announced today that it has received a $13.9 million gift from the combined estates of longtime fund holders Robert C. Appenzeller and his wife, Phyllis J. (Joan) Appenzeller, for the R. C. Appenzeller Family Foundation. The gift represents the second-largest planned gift in the Foundation’s 103-year history and cements a treasured family’s legacy in Greater Dayton.

Said Michael M. Parks, CFRE, president of The Dayton Foundation, “This gift is a testament to Bob and Joann’s extraordinary generosity, their love of Greater Dayton and their commitment to our community’s future. The Dayton Foundation is honored to perpetuate the Appenzellers’ spirit of giving through their charitable funds, which will continue helping others for years to come.”

The Appenzellers both passed away in 2022, he at the age of 99 and she at the age of 95, but their estates were only recently realized.

A third-generation Daytonian, Bob Appenzeller served in the United States Navy in the Pacific Theatre during World War II, then earned a mechanical engineering degree in 1945 from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. He chose to return to Dayton in 1948 to start his career at Delco Products. In 1956, he founded and served as president and CEO of Machine Products Corporation, which distributes specialized equipment and technology worldwide to the electric motor industry. Joan Appenzeller was a devoted stay-at-home mother and wife of 68 years.

In 2004, the Appenzellers established the R. C. Appenzeller Family Foundation, a Family Foundation PlusSM fund through The Dayton Foundation to award grants to causes important to them, including youth and education. Now advised by the Appenzellers’ children, Bob Appenzeller, Jr., and Rebecca Cain, the fund has awarded nearly $1.3 million since its inception. Recent grants included $450,000 over three years to Crayons to Classrooms to provide free supplies for teachers of low-income students and $200,000 to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Association to construct a permanent memorial for local fallen deputies and officers.

The Appenzellers established their first Dayton Foundation charitable fund in 1997 to assist students who are majoring in engineering at an accredited college, university or trade school. More than 400 students have received over $600,000 in scholarship assistance to date. The Appenzellers’ annual scholarship was recently made renewable, offering 10 eligible students $3,000 per year for four years to help with rising educational costs.

“Dad felt giving to The Dayton Foundation was the best way to give back to the region that was so beneficial to multiple generations of Appenzellers, going back to family members who worked as basket weavers in the late 19th century,” Bob Appenzeller, Jr., said. “We are extremely proud of our family’s legacy of giving back to the community that nurtured our success. Thanks to our parents’ gift, the Appenzeller legacy will be projected far into Dayton’s future.”

As Robert C. Appenzeller said in a 2006 Dayton Foundation publication, “Dayton has been good to me and to my family. Caring about your fellow man and doing what’s right to help others who are less fortunate, that’s what makes a community. Giving to others simply is the right thing to do.”

About The Dayton Foundation

The Dayton Foundation has been the trusted charitable giving resource for thousands of individuals, families and organizations since 1921. Ranked among the oldest and largest community foundations in the nation, the Foundation has awarded more than $1.37 billion in grants since its founding, with current assets from all funds exceeding $1.12 billion. For more information about The Dayton Foundation, visit daytonfoundation.org or follow the Foundation on Facebook, X or LinkedIn.

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