Ron Dawson

Ron Dawson

Lifelong Generosity

Ron Dawson is a life-long Londoner, growing up on Richmond Street North across from the old Richmond Dairy during the Great Depression.

“It was a pretty tough time – lots of people suffered immensely during the Depression,” recalls Ron. “People would go up and down the street, begging for food, or work, or anything at all really. It wasn’t easy for most people, but luckily we managed to get by.”

Ron’s parents instilled in him from an early age the importance of generosity and gratitude.

“My Dad would take a bushel basket and we would go down to the supermarket in Broughdale, fill it up with groceries, and take it over to a family my parents knew in east London who were having a tough time,” remembers Ron. “My parents always said – you eke out your living from the community, so you should always give back to it.”

Ron held on to these lessons as he started his career and eventually, along with his father, took over his uncle’s furniture manufacturing business. It was through this business that he would meet LCF’s founder, J. Allyn Taylor, when he furnished Mr. Taylor’s office in the new Canada Trust building on the corner of Wellington and Dundas.

When J. Allyn Taylor made the Foundation his primary retirement project in 1979, he called on Ron for a favour.

“They didn’t have anything to put in their new office, so they asked me if I had any used furniture,” says Ron, who had by now sold his manufacturing business and had become an office furniture retailer. “By hook or by crook we managed to put enough furniture together to get them off the ground and away they went.”

Years later LCF came back into Ron’s life when his financial advisor suggested he attend a seminar on leaving a legacy. After giving to LCF for a few years, Ron and his late wife June established the June and Ronald Dawson Family Fund in 2000.

Like Ron, June had a generous soul and was always ready to give her time to those that needed it. Volunteering at a school for disadvantaged children and eventually the Victoria Hospital cancer centre, June’s kindness now lives on through their fund.

“It was our financial advisor who really got things going and recommended that we start thinking about leaving a legacy,” says Ron. “We were tickled with the results and I still look forward to the reports on where the money goes every year.”

The decision to make their fund a Community Fund was a deliberate one – based on a trust in the knowledge and expertise of the Foundation.

“I try to deal with people, companies, and firms that I trust, and trust is the key word,” says Ron. “LCF has a much better handle on the needs of our little city than I do, so June and I decided to let LCF take care of where the money goes.”

Ron Dawson was there for the Foundation in 1979, and with a gift of life insurance, and decades of building up the June and Ronald Dawson Family Fund – he’ll be there for his community forever.

“I try to deal with people, companies, and firms that I trust, and trust is the key word...LCF has a much better handle on the needs of our little city than I do, so June and I decided to let LCF take care of where the money goes."

– Ron Dawson

Legacy Giving: Through a gift of life insurance, a gift in will or another planned gift, you can create a fund in your name, gain tax benefits, and drive community change forever.