 LOFINO,
Charles Joseph 84, passed away peacefully Sunday,
March 2 of natural causes surrounded by his family and dear friends
overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Born in Dayton, Ohio on March 6, 1923 to
Dominick and Josephine Lofino and served as a paratrooper in the US Army
82nd Airborne 508 Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II.
Following the war, he returned to Dayton, Ohio to work in his father's
produce business. In 1953 Charlie established his first storefront in
the grocery business. Besides a successful career in retail groceries,
he was always seeking new frontiers and became very successful in real
estate development and banking in both Ohio and Florida. Very active in
the Beavercreek community, he donated the land of his family farm to the
YMCA to build their new complex, the Beavercreek YMCA and the Dominick
Lofino Park. He also donated the building of one of his grocery stores
for the construction of the Beavercreek Senior Center and Community
Theatre. He also received the Beavercreek Chamber of Commerce's E.G.
Shaw award for community service.
Charlie's philanthropy also extended to Sarasota, Florida his new home,
where he developed several complexes on Siesta Key, which included
Siesta Gulf View, Boca Siesta, Tivoli, Anchorage and Boca Bayside. His
generosity made it possible to build the Charles J. Lofino Family
Complex at the Sarasota YMCA including the Josephine Lofino Splash Park
located on Potter Park Drive in South Sarasota. He recently received the
2007 YMCA First Citizens award in honor of his generosity. Charlie never
retired from business and recently purchased the largest office in
Siesta Village which now bears his name. In his spare time he loved
boating to Marathon, Key West, and other sponsored trips by the Venice
Yacht Club of which he was a member. In his younger days he enjoyed
tennis, motorcycling, and he was a licensed pilot who owned his own
airplane. Charlie is survived by his wife, Anna Mae (Moorman) Lofino;
his son Michael and daughter Barbara (Lofino) Gigante; daughter-in-law
Christine Lofino, son-in-law Honorable Robert Gigante of Staten Island,
New York; and six grandchildren, Michael Lofino, Michelle (Lofino) Pala,
Robert, Giana, Chad and Christian Gigante. He is survived by his two
sisters, Beb Marks of Kansas City, Missouri and Anna Marie De Priest of
Dayton, Ohio; and close friends Katie, Eddie, and Connor Citron and
Eileen Ishmael. He is preceded in death by his brothers Tom and Joe and
sister Mary.
A mass of remembrance will be held at St. Luke's
church in Beavercreek on Saturday, March 8th, 2008 at 11:00 am. The
family will receive guests between 9:30-11:00 a.m. at the St. Dominic
Lofino Chapel at St. Lukes. At the conclusion of the mass, entombment
will follow in Woodland Cemetery, Dayton. In lieu of flowers,
contributions can be made to: Charles and Anna Mae Lofino Senior Center,
3868 Dayton-Xenia Road, Beavercreek, Ohio 45430. Beavercreek YMCA, 560
Grange Hall Road Beavercreek, Ohio 45430.
(Dayton Daily News - Dayton, OH, 6 March 2008)
|
(courtesy of Denise
Aper Lunsford)
Crypt marker for Charles J. Lofino in Woodland
Cemetery and Arboretum, Dayton (Montgomery), Ohio.
Charles was a member of Company E during WW-II |
