David Lloyd was a respected member of the Butler County business community for more than 50 years.

Lloyd worked as a bank director and owned businesses selling office supplies, stationery and real estate.

He served charitable and civic organizations, believed in civil rights and was a World War II combat veteran.

Lloyd, who raised three children with his wife, Jean, during their 67-year marriage, died on Dec. 11. He was 94.

The importance of community service was one of the lessons he taught his children, said his oldest child, David Lloyd Jr., of New York City.

“Community service was a big deal for the family. He urged me to get involved in the community and be grateful for everything we had,” Lloyd Jr. said. “It humbles me. I try to make an impact in the way I can, but he set the bar pretty high. He really accomplished a lot for Butler.”

Lloyd Sr. worked several jobs after his discharge from the Army in 1946 before becoming president of Lloyd-Johnson Inc., an office supply and furniture store, and a partner and manager of D-J Realty in 1950.

In the 1970s, he became director of Friendship Federal Savings and Loan Association and, in 1982, he became director of Landmark Savings Association.

“He had a store Lloyd-Johnson Company on Main Street from 1950 to 1984. He was very active in the community. He was in charge of the United Way campaign one year,” Lloyd Jr. said.

His father's extensive history of civic activities includes serving on several committees for the Butler County Chamber of Commerce and as president in 1961 when he was 37 years old.

Lloyd was director of the Community Development Corporation of Butler County in the 1990s and a member of the board of directors for the Butler Transit Authority and the Butler Renaissance Commission.

In the 1980s, he served as president of the United Way for two years and as president of the Butler Business Association. He was on the board of the Rotary Club, Butler Blind Association, American Cancer Society, Red Cross and the Lutheran Service Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Lloyd also was executive director of the Moraine Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America, director of the Butler County Symphony Association, vice president of the Butler Travel and Convention Bureau and co-founder of the Butler Area Landlords Association.

Before receiving a bachelor's degree in business administration and economics from Westminster College in 1948, Lloyd studied civil engineering at the Citadel Military Academy in 1943 and studied marketing at the University of Biarritz in France in 1946.

In Europe during World War II, he was a staff sergeant who worked as a field observer in an artillery unit from 1943 to 1946, including one of the most famous battles of the war.

“At 20, he was in World War II — the Battle of the Bulge,” Lloyd Jr. said. “He was in charge of an artillery unit. Toward the end of the battle, he crossed the enemy line and found a counterpart. He told the German, 'We both have families as the rest of our men do and I know we can't stop fighting, but I'll tell you how far to shoot to miss us if you tell me how far we have to shoot to miss you guys.' For a couple weeks, they deliberately shot over each other and tried not to kill each other. He was 20 yeas old.

“He was a quiet guy, but when he saw something that was morally right he would, in that case, put his life on the line. He always did what was right, regardless of the consequences,” Lloyd Jr. added.

His father's moral courage remained strong during the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

“He showed a lot of courage during the civil rights movement. He had reservations about what government dictated about what people could and couldn't do. He and my mom were active in civil rights. He was libertarian politically. He worried about too much government, but when it came to civil rights, he thought it was an appropriate role for the government to make sure people are treated equally and fairly. That's common today, but it was controversial in the 1960s,” Lloyd Jr. said.

He said his mother died in January 2017, but it didn't feel like she was gone until his father's death.

“It didn't really seem like mom died until dad died. They did everything together, community service-wise, in the church. It was an incredible marriage and an incredible team. They were an egg that couldn't be unscrambled as a team,” Lloyd Jr. said.

David and Jean Lloyd were honored as Westminster alumni in 2011. Jean was a history major who taught at Butler County Community College.

Until his health began to fail over the last couple years, Lloyd continued attending and participating in the chamber's past presidents advisory council meetings.

“Past presidents get together three or four times a year,” said Larry Berg, 1980s chamber president. “Lloyd was always really wise and knowledgeable about the community and always participated in chamber functions and always had a real good handle on what was good for business in Butler.”

He said Lloyd was a respected businessman but a quiet person.

“There were a handful of people who were the nucleus of Butler and he was one of those people. He was active in the community until recently, when his health began to fail. He was kind of part of the backbone of the businesses community. He was well respected and well liked. He was a terrific guy. He was really low key,” Berg said.

Jocelyn Howard Sinopoli, CEO of C.W. Howard Insurance Agency, who was chamber president in 2009, said Lloyd was the oldest living member of the chamber's past presidents council.

“He was just great, He showed up to give his input,” said Howard Sinopoli. “He was kind, considerate and respectful. Just a true gentleman and he had a great sense of humor. He really cared for the Butler business community as evidenced by his commitment to the CDC and chamber. Everybody valued his opinion.”She said she used to buy office supplies from Lloyd's store, but really got to know him when he became involved with the chamber.“I used to go his store for supplies when I was younger. He was so highly regarded by everybody. You can't say a bad thing about him. He's just a great guy,” she said.Stan Kosciuszko, chamber president, said Lloyd made an impact on the business community at an early age.“David Lloyd was one of the founding directors of the Community Development Corporation in 1959. In 1961, he was the youngest chamber board chairman in the state of Pennsylvania. So, he had an impact early in his life in the community. He was 35 when he started the CDC,” Kosciuszko said.Kosciuszko said he started working for the chamber in 2002 and formed the past presidents advisory council the following year to learn about the business community in the county — and he learned a lot from Lloyd and other former presidents.“They have that old school finesse and a lot of community knowledge and when it's gone, it's gone.” Kosciuszko said.He said he liked Lloyd, who seemed to always have a joke to tell, and respected him as a businessman.“He was a top notch businessman. Smart as a whip. He never lost his curiosity,” Kosciuszko said. “I did have a fondness for him. Almost like a grandfather-grandson kind of fondness.”In 2009, the chamber gave Lloyd the William A. Morgan Jr. Entrepreneur of the Year award.Butler engineer and property owner Joe Gray also won the award.“It's an honor to win the same award as David Lloyd. It's humbling to be in the same level as him,” Gray said.He said he and Lloyd became friends after he bought some property from him.“He was kind of a mentor as a property owner,” he said. “He was one of my favorite people, a man I looked up to. He was a hard worker, but he had a great dry sense of humor. Quite a wit about him. I'll miss him. Butler is losing quite a businessman.”An obituary appears on Page B5.