Businessman Leland Dale Dorney (see video), a native and longtime resident of Findlay, Ohio, turned over his life savings to the Cleveland Foundation upon his death in 1976. The disposition, as well as the size, of Dorney’s $5 million estate — the equivalent of $20 million today — no doubt surprised those of his neighbors and associates who mistook for stinginess this bachelor’s frugality.

Dorney, who was born in 1866, had no television or refrigerator. He preferred to spend his free time gardening and canning the fruits of his labor for storage in his root cellar. He racked up only 5,000 miles on his one and only car, a 1951 Buick, opting to walk to the Hancock Brick and Tile, a company founded by his father, where L. Dale worked as an accountant after he left his position as the comptroller of an abrasives manufacturing company in Worcester, Massachusetts. Dorney’s first career, in combination with his inheritance, had left him financially secure, and his thrift and wise money management turned these resources into a fortune.

Dorney already knew about the benefits of giving back through a community foundation when he showed up unannounced at the Cleveland Foundation’s offices in the early 1970s. Lacking an appointment, Dorney was nonetheless seen by foundation director Homer Wadsworth, who enjoyed their initial chat and subsequent discussions about law, finance and philanthropy. As a result, Dorney decided to establish a fund at the foundation whose purposes would be to improve the quality of life in his hometown of Findlay and to strengthen business education programs at Ohio colleges and universities.

The Cleveland Foundation set up a Findlay Distribution Committee, which awarded nearly $3 million in grants from the L. Dale Dorney Fund and its successor supporting organization, the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation, between 1977 and 1999. Forty-five percent of these monies went to support projects in Hancock County, located 40 miles south of Toledo, and Findlay (pop. 41,000), the county seat. The Cleveland Foundation ultimately recognized that the supporting organization that had been created in 1992 could be of even greater benefit to the Findlay area if it were granted independence. In 1999, the Cleveland Foundation spun off the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation and approved a one-time distribution of $18 million from Dorney principal to the new trust.

Since its inception, the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation has awarded $25 million in grants. The cumulative impact of its grantmaking can be seen in Findlay’s 2012 ranking by Site Selection magazine as the second-best “micropolitan” area for business expansion. Just as important, the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation has fanned the flame of philanthropy, receiving donations from literally thousands of individuals. The foundation’s endowment now exceeds $70 million. Leland Dale Dorney would be thrilled by the realization of his dream—that his estate might one day form the nucleus of an ever-growing endowment dedicated to the good of his hometown.