RAY LOUGHMAN FUND

Ray Loughman, who passed away at age 93, was a decorated World War II veteran, long-time employee of NCR Corporation, responsible family member who cared for years for relatives until they died, dedicated resident of downtown Dayton and, in the end, a philanthropist.

Ray Loughman worked for 44 years for NCR, helping employees obtain licenses and notary services. He was intensely loyal to the company and to the memory of John H. Patterson.

He was extremely conservative financially and invested heavily in U.S. Savings Bonds. He refused to waste money and lived simply, splurging on few things.

Loughman always was very proud of his service to his country in World War II. He served in Europe during the war and lived through 73 air raids over London. He fought on the beaches of Normandy and in the Battle of the Bulge. For his part in the war, Loughman earned four Bronze Stars as an Army staff sergeant, but he rarely talked about that.

What he did in the armed forces was community service. What he set up during his lifetime, from his carefully saved fortune that he earned a dollar at a time, is another kind of community service. Over his latter years, he established a series of gift annuities with The Dayton Foundation to fund his retirement and leave what has become a nearly $500,000 endowment fund, making unrestricted dollars available to the Foundation to use where community need is greatest. It is the legacy that he left us, a final statement of the meaning of his life.

Loughman once wrote: "One of the many proverbs inscribed on the buildings at the NCR Corporation was one that said: 'A man dies. His institution lives on.' The Dayton Foundation, which began with a contribution from the John H. Patterson family, gives us all an opportunity to leave a fund that will generate income for the betterment of the city or for your favorite charity or religion."

In his final years, Loughman followed Patterson's example and left a monument of his own: the Ray Loughman Fund in The Dayton Foundation. To date, more than $400,000 has been awarded. This endowment fund will live on and keep giving, year after year.

^ top of page