Notes:
Data source is Douglas Mumma, 2123 Farmington Place, Livermore, CA 94550, email = doug@mumma.org
1900 Census, OH, Montgomery Co., City of Dayton, ED 48
Mumma, R.A. , head, Sept 1849, 50, m. 4 yrs, b: OH/OH/PA, not in active business
" , Florence, wife, Nov 1872, 27, b. OH/Ireland/OH
" , Marvin, son, June 1899, 11/12m b, OH/OH/OH
1910 Census, OH, Montgomery Co., Dayton Twp., Prec. B, ED 52, p. 68
Mumma, Raymond A., head, 60, m3, 14 yrs. b: OH/OH/MD, retired liveryman
" , Florence E., wife, 35, m1, 14 yrs, 1 child, 1 living, b: OH/Ireland/OH
" , Marvin, son, 10, b. OH/OH/OH
1920 Census, OH, Montgomery Co., Harrison Twp., Prec. North B, ED215
Mumma, Raymond A., head, owns, 70, widowed, b. OH/MD/PA, no occupation
" , Marvin A., son, 20, single, b: OH/OH/OH repairman Delco
Cannot find Florence in the 1920 census so don't know why Marvin is not living with her. She is found in the 1930 census living in an apartment house in the city of Dayton. I suspect she and Raymond are separated, but both of them claim to be "widowed".
1930 census OH, Montgomery Co.,
Mumma, Marvin, head, owns $6000, has radio, 29, m @ age 21, b. OH/OH/OH, collector - real estate,
" , Retha, wife, 28, 1st m: @ age 20, b: OH/OH/OH
" , Raymond, father, 80, widowed, b. OH/OH/OH
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BYLINE: Benjamin Kline STAFF WRITER
DATE: September 6, 1991
PUBLICATION: Dayton Daily News (OH)
EDITION: CITY
SECTION: NEWS
PAGE: 3A
"To tell the truth," Retha Mumma said, "I didn't know how much Marvin left me. When I found out, I wanted to get rid of some of it and I thought of helping young people because we had no children."
When her husband Marvin died in 1988, he left Mrs. Mumma, 90, enough money to be comfortable and enough love to share it with others. Mrs. Mumma, a resident of the Trinity Community, 3218 Indian Ripple Rd., Beavercreek, has given the University of Dayton a $1.2 million endowment for the benefit of outstanding students in electrical engineering.
Electronics was one of her husband's favorite subjects, even though he didn't graduate from high school.
"Marvin forgot more about radios than most people ever learn," said Robert K. Corwin, Mrs. Mumma's attorney. Corwin said he and Mrs. Mumma decided her gift might have more benefit in one place than if they had spread it around among several local institutions.
Mr. Mumma had taken a radio course at UD during World War II, after many years repairing radios. In 1945 when he needed a job reference, the university's electrical engineering chairman, Louis H. Rose, gave him a glowing recommendation.
Although not a college-educated man, Rose wrote, Mr. Mumma was "a capable technician whose knowledge of electrical circuits is based on an extensive practice over many years' experience that has since been augmented by formal courses in radio and electronics at this university."
Marvin treasured that letter, his widow said.
Radio started out for her husband as a "natural interest, an aptitude," she said. But during the Depression, people could not afford new radios, so they got their old ones repaired. Slowly, his hobby became a thriving business.
Mrs. Mumma wanted to make sure she and Marvin were not portrayed as an eccentric, bread-and-water couple with $1,000 bills stashed under the mattress.
"We weren't starving or anything," she said. "We liked to go to the theaters downtown, especially Keith's. And I played the piano and taught. We just kept putting money in the building and loan."
So far, UD has helped two dozen electrical engineering students pay for their education with income from the Mumma endowment. The university also established a place where Mrs. Mumma said she knows Marvin would love to tinker around if he could - the Mumma Radio Laboratory for amateur radio operators.
They put up a plaque honoring the man "whose lifelong interest in and love of electronics will continue to live through his generous endowment gift."
Mrs. Mumma said she's "really impressed."