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 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.

At the conclusion of the mass, entombment will follow in Woodland Cemetery, Dayton. Published in the Dayton Daily News on 3/6/2008. parents provided by Marty 47900220; plot provided by 49659419