Helping Donors Like You Help Others

Helping others in our community is what The Dayton Foundation and its donors are all about. Here are some examples of people like you who have set up charitable funds through The Dayton Foundation to make a difference in the lives of others.

Orlando V. and Leanora D. Brown Endowment Fund

William T. Bryan Fund

Lena Cantor Family Fund

Hampden W. and Erma Catterton Fund

Children's Charitable and Educational Trust Fund

Frank Crosthwaite Fund

Gretchen W. “Jinx” Fensel Fund

Henry Garcia Scholarship Fund

Golden Thirteen Navel Scholarship Fund

Mary E. Gundersen Endowment Fund

The Clark J. Haines Musical Scholarship Fund

Robert and Helen Harmony Fund for Needy Children

Lester L. Haubach Fund for The Foodbank, Inc.

Dorothy M. Herbst Fund and Isabel Herbst Fund

Harry H. and Hilda M. Imboden Fund

The Jennie A. Irie Scholarship Fund

John P. Kalaman Memorial Scholarship Fund

Robert H. and Enis N. Kissinger Fund

Robert E. and Gwen Kline Scholarship Fund

Ray Loughman Fund

Irma D. Lucas Memorial Scholarship Fund

The Mattie Lyle Fund to Benefit Bethel Baptist Church and The Mattie W. Lyle Fund to Benefit Mary Scott Nursing Center

W.W. Owen Memorial Fund

Carol Ann Schneider Memorial Fund

Donald M. and Dorothea Hunt Spindler Endowment Fund

Taryl and Viola Swigart Scholarship Fund

Dave and Jane Thomas Fund

Weisenborn Family Fund

Zorniger Family Fund

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Orlando V. and Leanora D. Brown Endowment Fund

Deep-rooted in the values of Christianity, Orlando and Leonora Brown believe that giving is a part of practicing their faith. Feeling it is their responsibility to help others become successful, contributing members of society and to support their place of worship, the Browns established an endowment fund through the African-American Community Fund of The Dayton Foundation in 2000. The Orlando V. and Leanora D. Brown Endowment Fund provides financial assistance to The Piney Woods School for troubled and at-risk students and to Central Chapel AME Church, where the Browns have been tithing members for more than 45 years.

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William T. Bryan Fund

A metallurgist, William “Bucky” Bryan worked for the DuPont Company and retired from the Duriron Company in Dayton. In his later years, Bryan devoted his time to volunteering and assisting elderly and disabled individuals. His named endowment fund established at The Dayton Foundation in 1998 through a trust agreement helps the Greater Dayton community where he lived, worked and volunteered, by distributing more than $15,000 in unrestricted grants since 2002.

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Lena Cantor Family Fund

Longtime Daytonian Lena Cantor was known as a kind, caring person during her lifetime. An avid lover of the arts and lifelong member of Beth Jacob Congregation, Cantor never married, and cared for both of her parents for many years. After her passing in 2002, it was only natural that her legacy included a bequest in memory of her brother, Samuel, and their parents, Louis S. and Rose S. Cantor. The Lena Cantor Family Fund assists homeless individuals and has distributed $115,000 in grants since 2005 to the American Red Cross, Daybreak and St. Vincent Hotel.

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Hampden W. and Erma Catterton Fund

In the 1940s, Hampden and Erma Catterton moved to Dayton from Springfield, Illinois, so that Hampden could take a position with a local insurance company. Years later, when the agency again asked him to relocate, the Cattertons declined, citing their attachment to Dayton and the community they had grown to love. Their fondness of Dayton and its cultural life and performing arts community inspired them to donate during their lifetime to the Victoria Theatre Association’s Discovery Series. Their support helped more than 20,000 underprivileged school children to experience theatrical performances on full scholarship. To continue their support of the organizations they loved long after their lifetime, they established an endowment fund with The Dayton Foundation. Thanks to the Hampden W. and Erma Catterton Fund, more than $536,000 in grants has been awarded to Dayton area arts and cultural organizations since 1991.

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Children's Charitable and Educational Trust Fund

With strict instructions that his name be kept secret during his lifetime, William Henry Zwiesler, a photoengraver at Dayton Process Engravers, established his field-of-interest charitable fund in 1967 at The Dayton Foundation to benefit youth. The Foundation kept his secret during his lifetime, as he helped Dayton-area young people. Today the fund has awarded more than $100,000 to youth causes, and his name now can be known to those he has helped.

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Frank Crosthwaite Fund

When retired railroad worker Frank Crosthwaite died in 1998, his possessions included one set of clothes, a box of photographs, and some letters and investment statements. On the surface, some may have thought him to be a street person. Certainly no one would have guessed that he was a millionaire several times over. Born in 1930 during the Great Depression, Frank’s frugal life allowed him to create a rather large investment portfolio that eventually enabled him to leave something of significance behind to help others. Because of his love of children, his endowment fund with The Dayton Foundation has distributed more than $540,000 since 2000 to local organizations that serve children.

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Gretchen W. “Jinx” Fensel Fund

Gretchen W. “Jinx” Fensel was described by her family as an “art form.” Her creativity brought happiness and fun to those lucky enough to be around her. During her lifetime she supported many Dayton-area arts and civic organizations. Following her death in 1992, an unrestricted endowment fund was established at The Dayton Foundation through her estate to assure her continued support for the community she cared so much about during her lifetime. More than $13,500 in grants has been distributed from her fund to area organizations since 1997.

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Henry Garcia Scholarship Fund

As a young African-American man in the 1940s, Henry overcame many of the educational barriers of the time and earned an education degree from The Ohio State University. He then became the first African-American student to graduate from an Ohio music conservatory. The Dayton Foundation helped Mr. Garcia carry on his legacy by setting up a scholarship fund through the African-American Community Fund to encourage students enrolled in Wilberforce University’s music program.

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Golden Thirteen Navel Scholarship Fund

In early 1944, 16 young black men gathered at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center as the first African-American officer candidates in the history of the U.S. Navy. Thirteen of the 16 men were commissioned and went on to successful careers in the Navy and civilian life. In 1994, at the 50th Anniversary of the Golden Thirteen, those in attendance decided to establish a scholarship fund as part of the African-American Community Fund of The Dayton Foundation. The fund honors the groundbreaking accomplishments of the Golden Thirteen by helping African-Americans to pursue a career in the Navy.

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Mary E. Gundersen Endowment Fund

Mary E. Gundersen worked at Huffy Corporation for 49 years and was the company’s first employee. A very frugal person, Mary was not one to spend money on any extravagance. In fact, she was given a retirement gift of visiting her native land in Scandinavia, but chose to cash in the ticket instead. Upon her death in 1994, she left the majority of her estate, nearly $680,000, to The Dayton Foundation to establish a discretionary fund to help the community. Grants from her fund have made a difference to such organizations as Daybreak, Dayton Theatre Guild and Aullwood Audubon Center & Farm, among others.

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The Clark J. Haines Musical Scholarship Fund

Though he didn’t know him, Charles Mayer appreciated the work and music of Clark Haines, who was a strong musical influence and a teacher in the Greater Dayton Region. When he learned that no fund had been set up at The Dayton Foundation to honor Mr. Haines, he promptly opened the Clark J. Haines Musical Scholarship Fund. The fund carries on Clark Haines’s legacy by helping area children to attain band, orchestral and vocal instruction. Since 2001, $15,129 in music scholarships has been awarded.

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Robert and Helen Harmony Fund for Needy Children

When Robert and Helen Harmony retired after 40 years as production workers, they came to The Dayton Foundation for help. The Harmonys had worked hard all of their lives and wanted to do something meaningful with the remainder of their hard-earned money after they passed away. They decided to establish a legacy fund with The Dayton Foundation to provide underprivileged children with an opportunity they themselves did not have as children. More than a decade has passed since their deaths, yet the Harmonys to date have awarded more than $543,000 to resident and health-related camps, providing more than 4,500 children in need with the joy of going to camp and enjoying their childhood, thanks to their Dayton Foundation fund.

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Lester L. Haubach Fund for The Foodbank, Inc.

After his father was killed in an accident, Lester L. Haubach, then age 24, took over the responsibility of supporting his family. He started as a delivery man for a Dayton grocer but eventually landed a job with National Cash Register where he worked for 30 years as an assembly line inspector. Never married, he bequeathed his entire estate upon his death to The Dayton Foundation to establish a designated fund to then support the American Red Cross Emergency Resource Bank, now The Foodbank. To date, nearly $47,000 has been granted to help others in need in the Greater Dayton Region.

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Dorothy M. Herbst Fund and Isabel Herbst Fund

The two Herbst sisters, Dorothy and Isabel, loved music and the arts, and they made sure that the funds they established at The Dayton Foundation would carry on their passion. Dorothy, an English, humanities and drama teacher, wanted her fund to be used to further the dramatic and theatrical arts in Dayton. Isabel, a piano teacher, wanted her fund to further music in Dayton, with an emphasis on piano. Through their Dayton Foundation funds, they have provided more than $95,000 in grants to ensure a legacy of arts and music for others to enjoy in Dayton for years to come.

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Harry H. and Hilda M. Imboden Fund

Harry and Hilda Imboden loved downtown Dayton. For many years Harry Imboden was the director of the Downtown Dayton Association, and Hilda was active in many Dayton activities, especially the Holiday Festival. Their Dayton Foundation fund perpetuates this legacy of devotion and involvement by providing unrestricted grants that help to make Dayton a better place to live.

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The Jennie A. Irie Scholarship Fund

On the eve of her 101st birthday, Jennie Irie, a member of the first 4-H Club in America, established The Jennie A. Irie Scholarship Fund through The Dayton Foundation. Since it was opened in 1993, her Dayton Foundation fund has awarded some $50,000 in scholarships to help 4-H students further their education.

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John P. Kalaman Memorial Scholarship Fund

Not yet 30 years of age, John P. Kalaman, a five-year officer for the Centerville Police Department, was struck and killed by a car as he was responding to a traffic accident on Interstate 675 on January 12, 1998. Not letting his tragic death overcome all the good that he accomplished and stood for, his family and fellow officers established the John P. Kalaman Memorial Scholarship Fund through The Dayton Foundation. Each year the Centerville community and police force rally together to host the Officer John P. Kalaman Memorial Golf Tournament, raising nearly $250,000 for the scholarship fund to date.

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Robert H. and Enis N. Kissinger Fund

Robert and Enis Kissinger had a strong desire to put their charitable funds where the community would need them the most. With the establishment of the Robert H. and Enis N. Kissinger Fund, the couple’s wishes are preserved, as conveyed to the Foundation through a letter written in 1987. They wrote, "...we know changes will continue [in Dayton] long after we are gone. We therefore wish to leave you a free hand in using the income...where it can do the most good. The health and happiness of future Daytonians is a goal worthy of all our best efforts." Since 1998, $443,700 has been awarded from the Kissinger’s fund to help support local charities and Dayton Foundation leadership initiatives.

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Robert E. and Gwen Kline Scholarship Fund

For 51 years, Robert Kline’s music inspired high school graduates when he played the Deeds Carillon or the NCR auditorium organ for commencement exercises. Both Mr. Kline and his wife, Gwen, gave unselfishly of their time for the betterment of the community and upon their deaths, they directed that a fund be established at The Dayton Foundation to encourage Montgomery County high school seniors in need to further their education. Since 1994, $235,000 in scholarships has been awarded.

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Ray Loughman Fund

Ray Loughman refused to waste money and lived simply. A decorated World War II veteran who lived through 73 air raids over London and fought on the beaches of Normandy and in the Battle of the Bulge, Mr. Loughman worked for 44 years for NCR Corporation. He also was a philanthropist, although he or others might not have expected that description of him given the extreme modesty of his lifestyle. His dedication to duty and his love of Dayton live on through the Ray Loughman Fund, an unrestricted fund of The Dayton Foundation. To date, his fund has awarded nearly $350,000 to help such organizations as the Humane Society of Greater Dayton, Culture Works and the Community Blood Center.

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Irma D. Lucas Memorial Scholarship Fund

Though born in 1910 to Mississippi sharecroppers, Irma Lucas, the youngest of 10 children, was taught early about the importance of a good education. But when it came time for her to go to college, her parents couldn’t afford to send her to school. Instead, her older siblings pitched in and paid for her education to help her become a librarian.

After her death in 2006, Mrs. Lucas’s niece, Caye Elmore, decided that the best way to carry on her legacy and her love for learning was to create a scholarship through the African-American Community Fund of The Dayton Foundation. The Irma D. Lucas Memorial Scholarship Fund will help African-American women like Irma to further their studies at an accredited, four-year, historically black college or university.

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The Mattie Lyle Fund to Benefit Bethel Baptist Church and The Mattie W. Lyle Fund to Benefit Mary Scott Nursing Center

A longtime Dayton Public Schools teacher and YWCA volunteer, Mattie Lyle believed in the importance of giving back to her community and church. In honor of her 100th birthday in 2005, she established a fund with The Dayton Foundation to continue to support Bethel Baptist Church, of which she was chairperson of the Deaconess Board for over 60 years. In addition, she established a deferred endowment fund for Mary Scott Nursing Center that will meet pressing needs for the home for years to come. Though she recently passed away at age 103, Mattie Lyle will continue to support the causes she cared about most in her lifetime through her Dayton Foundation fund.

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W.W. Owen Memorial Fund

William Wendel Owen, former president of City Transit Company, had a passion for the Dayton community. Though he had no children of his own, Bill organized special youth-oriented events each December, including the Sertoma Club’s Christmas luncheon. Now in its 53rd year, the luncheon continues to delight area schoolchildren through the W.W. Owen Memorial Fund of The Dayton Foundation, which was established at his death in 1990. This year, 32 third-grade students from Blairwood Elementary School in Dayton joined Sertoma Club members at the Engineer’s Club and performed a Christmas program for their hosts, saw a magic show, and visited with Santa Claus. More than 2,000 third-grade students from Dayton Public Schools have been a part of the Christmas program since 1955.

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Carol Ann Schneider Memorial Fund

A nurturing caregiver who always thought of others, Carol Ann Schneider and her husband Al adopted the first child they brought into their home after becoming foster parents in the 1970s. While what she loved most in life was tending to the needs of her family, Mrs. Schneider was a surrogate mother to many and was known for hosting foreign exchange students and taking in stray dogs. When she passed away in 2001, her husband Al Schneider and their three sons, Steven, Doug and Joe, established the Carol Ann Schneider Memorial Fund through The Dayton Foundation that same year in order to carry on her legacy. To date, grants totaling $23,500 have been awarded to organizations that were important to her.

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Donald M. and Dorothea Hunt Spindler Endowment Fund

Dorothea “Dottie” and Donald Spindler traveled to New York City, San Francisco, China and practically all over the world during their 54 years of marriage. But despite their world travels, these longtime local residents chose to leave their combined estates to benefit Dayton, where they often could be seen in the past dining at the Dayton Country Club and attending shows at Victoria Theatre and dances at The Dayton Art institute. Recently the Foundation received a $3.3 million legacy gift to establish the Donald M. and Dorothea Hunt Spindler Endowment Fund of The Dayton Foundation. The fund will benefit 15 local charitable organizations, including the Foundation’s community leadership initiatives and competitive grantmaking program.

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Taryl and Viola Swigart Scholarship Fund

Married for 56 years with no children of their own, Taryl and Viola Swigart were longtime Butler Township residents who, upon their deaths, wanted to help needy and worthy graduates of Butler High School by awarding them college scholarships through The Dayton Foundation. Taryl Swigart was a 40-year employee of Frigidaire and devoted public servant who served on the Butler Township Board of Trustees from 1956 to 1984. Viola Swigart was a constant companion to her husband in his service as a trustee. Established in 1993, this fund has granted more than $173,000 in scholarships to Vandalia-Butler students.

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Dave and Jane Thomas Fund

Lifelong residents of Greater Dayton and longtime parishioners of College Hill Community Church, Dave and Jane Thomas firmly believed that one of the greatest losses individuals can have is to not reach their full potential. And giving children the help they need to achieve their goal through educational, medical, emotional or religious support, was the Thomases’ dream. As Dave Thomas said numerous times, “We need to be a neighbor to the neighbor next door.” In their honor, their children, David Thomas III and Sue Thomas Thayer, established the Dave and Jane Thomas Fund through The Dayton Foundation. They did it as a Christmas gift in 1999 to their 83-year-old mother, whose health had been declining. Since 2000, more than $12,000 in grants from the fund have been awarded to College Hill Community Church to support programs or initiatives that will encourage youth to become fulfilled human beings, responsible members of society and children of God.

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Weisenborn Family Fund

Born in 1907, Clara Weisenborn left school in the eighth grade to help her parents raise her 10 younger siblings. She later married insurance agent Herbert Weisenborn in 1923 and raised two sons. Soon she became active in her community as president of the local PTA and as a Sunday school teacher at her church. She also found time to write a weekly newspaper column for the Journal Herald titled, “About Home and Garden,” which ran for 42 years. It wasn’t until her sons were grown that Mrs. Weisenborn embarked on a political career as a state representative and senator from 1952 to 1975. During this time, she became one of the first female committee chairs in the Ohio legislture, serving as chair of the Senate Education Committee. To celebrate her legacy and commitment to community, her loved ones established the Weisenborn Family Fund in 1989 through the Vandalia-Butler Foundation of The Dayton Foundation. To date, more than $31,000 in grants have been awarded to support causes important to the Weisenborn family.

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Zorniger Family Fund

When Frank Zorniger passed away in 2008, he was remembered not only as the owner of Frank Z Chevrolet, but also as a passionate local philanthropist who gave back to the community that he loved. After a European trip in the early 1970s, Frank and his wife, Nancy, were inspired to bring the beauty of Holland back to Dayton and became passionate gardeners. Among the many charitable organizations the Zornigers have helped to support through the Zorniger Family Fund at The Dayton Foundation, they have funded a bulb-planting project at Cox Arboretum Gardens and Metroparks, creating spectacular tulip and daffodil displays. With the assistance of nearly $68,500 in grants from the Zornigers’ fund, hundreds of thousands of bulbs have been planted over the years, bringing in thousands of visitors to the park each spring.

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