It has been fun putting together the history of the Dayton Chapter of ASHRAE. A large book has been assembled covering all the history we have to date. This includes at least one sheet with data, covering each year that the Dayton Chapter of ASHRAE has existed. The first year the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (ASHVE) and the American Society of Refrigeration Engineers (ASRE) combined to form The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) was in 1959. The history sheets include, in some cases only the names of the four officers. In some cases, they also include a list of the members of the BOD, all committee members and a list of the meeting dates along with all programs including he names of the speakers.
Yearly rosters are included with the history sheets when available. Much of the old information prior to 1959 was obtained during interviews with Charlie Doudican, Cecil York and Bob Perkins. It appears that the Dayton Chapter of ASHVE was chartered on June 19, 1950. We were extremely lucky to find that Bob Perkins retained the original 1950 charter, still framed under glass and in great condition. Needless to say exact details of our early existence is sketchy. But it appears that Bob was the first president in 1950-51 and Buck Weaver was the second in 1951-52. We understand that Buck Weaver covered both of the first years since Bob Perkins was called back to the service in Korea. We are still unable to fill in the president's name for the next 7 years but suspect that Dick Tullis, Dick Kimmel, Fred Ostenberg, Charles Vehorn and Fred Kroger may have been involved.
The very early planning meetings were held in the back room of Sutmiller's Grocery Store. This was prior to the opening of the once famous Sutmillers Restaurant on North Main Street. The Early Chapter Meetings were held at Benham's, then a small restaurant across the street from the Oakwood Club. During the same period, the ASRE group was also forming. Various Dayton members, after attending numerous meetings in Cincinnati, founded the Dayton Chapter in 1953.
Again, there is no record of the early Dayton members or presidents but Cecil York was a charter member. Actually, Dayton had a very strong ASRE Chapter with the presence of the three big refrigeration and air conditioning companies: Chrysler Airtemp, Frigidaire and Copeland. Per Cecil, the early meetings were held at Annerio's on Keowee Street and a typical meeting attendance included over 40 people. The two groups combined to form ASHRAE in 1959.
The first three local presidents were Norm Mitchell of Honeywell, followed by Thomas Lutz of Airtemp and Frank Doench of Helmig and Lienesch. We are continuing to update our history and we need your input.
Please contact me with your information on history items including old rosters.
Tom Ferdelman - Committee Chair - History