Two active community members have joined the board of the Tipp City Foundation.
Richard Bender and Julie Taylor were welcomed to the board during its September meeting.
Bender is chief financial officer of the United Way of Miami County.
Julie Taylor is a substitute clerk at the Tipp City Public Library and previously worked for 10 years as a medical technologist for CompuNet Clinical Laboratories. “My biggest and best job is mom!” Taylor said
Richard Bender
Bender was born in Bryan, Ohio, and grew up in Edgerton, Ohio. After graduating from Edgerton High School, he graduated from Columbus Business University.
“After graduation I took a job with a finance company which transferred me to Troy and the rest is history!” he said. He moved to Miami County in 1976 and to Tipp City/ Monroe Township in 1982.
Bender and his wife, Cheryl, have been married since 1989 and will observe their 32nd anniversary in December.
“I consider Tipp my home. I’ve been involved in many aspects of the community. I enjoy this community. There are so many people who contribute to making it great,” Bender said.
He served as branch manager of Beneficial Finance System in Troy from April 1976 to July 1982 before joining Star Bank, N.A., Troy, in roles including branch manager and consumer loan manager.
Bender worked at MainSource Bank, formerly known as Peoples Savings Bank, in Troy from November 1993 to September 2010 in roles including vice president/director of technology and market president.
He joined the United Way of Troy in September 2010, serving as executive director, until summer 2018 when the county United Ways merged into one organization known as the United Way of Miami County.
Serving on the Tipp City Foundation board will be a way to continue his involvement in the community, Bender said.
“I love working with nonprofit agencies and I’m looking forward to learning more about all the foundation does in the community,” he said.
Bender said he thinks his range of community involvement will help him as a foundation board member.
He is a member of Ginghamsburg Church, serving as a youth ministry leader since 1989; member of Troy and Tipp City Rotary clubs; and served on Habitat for Humanity, the Troy Area Chamber of Commerce and the Troy Dollars for Scholars Board. He served as a Future Begins Today lunch buddy from 1999 to 2020.
“I believe this diverse involvement gives me a broad knowledge of needs / services in the area. My career in banking and the United Way provide me with financial analysis skills and how the process of funding agencies works,” Bender said.
Julie Taylor
Taylor has lived in Tipp City for 22 years.
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., she has lived in New York, Colorado, Michigan and Ohio. She attended high school in Urbana and college at Bowling Green State University. Following college, she moved to Dayton and worked as a medical technologist. This is where she met her husband, Dan. He is a general surgeon with Miami County Surgeons.
The couple came to Tipp City after a search for a community in which to raise their children with quality schools, a community feel and still be close to grandparents.
Her community involvement began with the schools and her children. She was involved with P
ALS (Parents Actively Linked with the Schools) at Broadway Elementary and served as volunteer coordinator of the Broadway Fun Fair. Taylor also was a member of the Tippecanoe Athletic Boosters and with the Parents Who Care. She is a trustee on the Tippecanoe Educational Endowment. The family attends Christian Life Center where they have helped the Hands Against Hunger effort.
Taylor said she was interested in the Tipp City Foundation because she was raised in a family that encouraged service and volunteering.
“I have followed their example. The Tipp City Foundation is a wonderful foundation that supports the local community,” she said.
“I consider myself the ‘worker bee.’ Tell me a project, what needs to be done and I will be there to help accomplish that goal. I will be continuing with the social media presence that the Foundation has by helping with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter”
The Taylors have been married 27 years. They have three children,
Michael (24), Alex (22) and Katie (20). All attended Tipp City Schools.
Today, Michael is a DPT with Steppin' Up Physical Therapy in Fort Wayne, Alex will graduate in December from the University of Dayton in mechanical engineering and Katie is a junior at High Point University, N.C., majoring in interior design and participating in cross country and track.
Julie and Dan Taylor enjoy traveling, currently attending Katie's cross country meets around the south.