Raymond B. Preston, philanthropist, dies

Published 12:00 am Sunday, August 19, 2007

HENDERSON – Raymond Bart Preston, 86, a Henderson, Kentucky, businessman and philanthropist, died at 4:40 p.m. August 17, 2007, at his home.

The Johnson County native was born Aug. 25, 1920. He served as a Lt. Senior Grade in the Navy in the Pacific during World War II and worked briefly for General Chemical Company. In 1947, he and two partners founded PB&S Chemical Company on North Adams Street. In 1951, he was called back into active service in the Korean War. After his discharge in 1953, he returned to Henderson and grew the business into the 10th largest chemical distributor in the nation by 1989, when he sold it to Brenntag.

Preston became chairman and majority owner of Ohio Valley Bank in 1987 and was an owner of several other small businesses in Henderson and Palmyra, Indiana.

Preston was involved in many community organizations, including Chamber of Commerce, United Way, Rotary Club, Community Methodist Hospital, Western Kentucky University’s Board of Regents, Henderson Community College, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Henderson Air Board, where he served for 26 years, and Louisville Orchestra Board.

In 1990, Preston formed the Raymond B. Preston Family Foundation, which has given away more than $6 million to worthwhile organizations, primarily in the Henderson and Western Kentucky region.

Preston attended Alice B. Lloyd College in Pippa Passes and the University of Tennessee before graduating from Western State Teachers College – now Western Kentucky University – in 1940 with a bachelor of science degree in chemistry.

A building on the campus of Western bears his name – the Raymond B. Preston Health and Activities Center – after his foundation contributed $800,000 towards its construction in 1990.

He was the son of Forest Jack and Maxie Sherman Preston, who preceded him in death, as did one brother, five sisters, and one great-grandson.

Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with burial in Fernwood Cemetery, with full military rites performed by American Legion Worsham Post No. 40.

Visitation is from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. today, from noon to 8 p.m. Monday, and until 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at Rudy-Rowland Funeral Home.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to St. Anthony’s Hospice, Riverview School, or St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

Survivors include his wife, Henderson native Hattie Louise Paff; four daughters, Vivian Brigham and husband, Richard Daniel, of Madison, Wisc., Connie Walaskay and husband, Dave, of Henderson, Charlotte Critser and husband, Gary, of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Leigh Anne Preston and husband, Jeff, of Louisville; a son, Kent Preston and wife, Jennifer, of Henderson; 10 grandchildren, Viki, David, Sarah, Phillip, Peter, Bart, Logan, Corey, Molly, and Kylie; and six great-grandchildren, Forrest, Clayton, Eva, Miles, Charlie, and Virginia.