William and Martha Buckingham were married on January 28, 1956. They have one son and two grandchildren. Bill’s career consisted of 27 years with The Mead Corporation and Warner and Swasey. After 10 relocations, the Buckinghams found their permanent home in Ashland in 1978 and purchased Lake Erie Frozen Foods in 1986.

Martha is well known in the community, in part from 15 years as a sales agent for Ward Real Estate, Inc. Bill has provided community-wide service to include more than 10 years with United Way as Campaign Chair and President of the Board. He has also served on the Boards of Trinity Lutheran Church, co-chairing the Church’s building fund, Hospice of North Central Ohio, as well as the YMCA Endowment Committee.

In 2001, the Buckinghams desired to distribute dollars to charitable organizations from the sale of a house. The Ashland County Community Foundation provided a vehicle whereby the Buckinghams gifted the house to the Foundation (with tax credit for the gift) with subsequent distribution made as designated by the donors. Portions of the asset value were distributed to their church and university of choice, with the residual dollars creating a William and Martha Buckingham Donor Advised Fund. Each year, the Buckinghams advise as to the charitable organization(s) to receive the annual distribution from their Fund. Bill and Martha’s gift illustrates the opportunity for an individual to work with the Foundation for multiple charitable purposes by using real estate, rather than more traditional gifts of cash and securities.

Prepared 2005