Tuesday, March 02, 1999
Loebs' legacy lifts Warren County
Fund helps out fire units, elderly
BY SHEILA McLAUGHLIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — In a busy life filled with self-made success and money, Justus and Margaret Loeb had their pet peeves.
They despised the flow of trespassers on their Turtlecreek Township farm. They bristled when their barn was set ablaze and burned to the ground before firefighters could get to it.
They lamented that elderly people often were forced into nursing homes because they couldn't take care of their property.
So, years before their deaths, the Loebs, a doctor-nurse team who spent much of their lives treating the sick in Dayton, set out to improve rural fire and police protection in Warren County, and help the county's elderly poor.
Since 1992, when Dr. Loeb died at age 81, the foundation he and his wife established has contributed more than $1 million in grants to those causes. Mrs. Loeb died in 1987; the couple's only child died shortly after birth in the 1930s.
Much of the grant money has gone to fire departments to buy gear, equipment, pumpers and life squads. About $64,000 was distributed in 1998 to help indigent senior citizens fix up their homes; $42,426 went to police; and $204,500 was spent on fire departments.
The trust fund, which started at about $4.5 million, has grown to more than $6 million today.
“It's the intent that it go on forever,” said Bernard Wright, a foundation trustee and vice president of Lebanon Citizen's National Bank. The bank manages the foundation's money.
In a county where volunteers bear the brunt of fire protection, these grants are seen as a way to buy things firefighters would otherwise have to do without.
“It is designed to give them things they wouldn't have been able to get but for the Loeb Foundation,” said Michael Foley of Waynesville, a longtime friend of the Loebs who also is on the foundation's board.
That's exactly the case in Union Township, where the fire department's annual budget, until this year, was less than $90,000.
The volunteer department was able to pay for half of a new life squad by stockpiling $60,000 in combined Loeb grants from 1997 and 1998. Previous grants helped the department buy a new pumper in 1995, Chief Gary Arnold said.
“It does make a significant difference when you have a budget such as we have in Union Township,” he said.
Hamilton Township police have applied for grants since 1996. A $21,000 grant last year is helping the department buy and equip a new cruiser.
“It's great. If you put in for something reasonable, and don't ask for the world, they will give you something,” Lt. Frank Richardson said.
The elderly who apply for grant money are referred and screened through Warren County Community Services. The Loebs decided the money should be spent on repairs and maintenance of homes.
“Dr. Loeb and Mrs. Loeb believed in helping people who help themselves. They didn't want the trust to supplant the responsibility of the taxpayers,” said Mr. Foley, who as a young boy was a patient of Dr. Loeb.
Allowing the elderly to remain at home was something Dr. Loeb felt strongly about. He cared for Mrs. Loeb at home for the last six years of her life, when she was sick and bedridden.
“It was just her, the dog and him,” Mr. Foley said. “Doc was an excellent man.”
For information on grant applications to the Loeb Foundation, call Bernard Wright at Lebanon Citizen's National Bank, 932-1414.
What does the latest road hog say about us?
Boy on bike critically injured by hit-skip truck
How can we stop drunken drivers?
Two Clermont drivers charged in deaths
How states punish drunken drivers
Health care plans ranked
Miami president's daughter eludes kidnappers
Professor sues Miami U to keep thong swimsuit
Concerns raised for Justin
Saving cats is her calling
Spaying and neutering services
Greater Tri-State Animal Rescue and Shelter Network
Aquarium nets sponsors to support largest exhibits
Voters face blitz on mayor-reform plan
How mayor's role would change
Blighted buildings tear at town
Ex-jailer denies he exposed himself
Forums let people weigh in on light rail
Hit-run driver gets three years
Jury out in minister's sex-abuse retrial
Public computer puts Middletown online
Voice-mail defense countered
Web site, hot line devoted to missing woman
Xavier resolves toilet paper revolt
4 in running for Butler bench
Car phones' role in wrecks queried
Edgewood huddles to stop jail
Grilling, wait nearly over for new police chief
Lawsuit claims cemetery lost remains
Loebs' legacy lifts Warren County
Lucas faces tough audiences
Newport water rates rise by a third
Paper plant accidents raise fears in Franklin
Pictoria Island plan to be shown
Restaurant tax hard to swallow
TRISTATE DIGEST
Turfway sale should close mid-month
