Aramony’s Pension Is an Undeserved Benefit

To the Editor:

I was shocked to read that William Aramony, the disgraced former United Way president and imprisoned felon, will be receiving a pension fund of more than $2-million (“United Way Will Fight Order to Pay Ex-Chief $2.4-Million,” November 5). His scandalous actions have cost United Way agencies and their clients tens of millions of dollars in lost contributions.

Mr. Aramony’s assertion that he was responsible for the success of the United Way concept is false. United campaigns actually began prior to World War I with the beginning of “community chests.” The modern “united ways” really began in Detroit with the United Foundation’s Torch Drive, which was headed by my father, Walter C. Laidlaw. That campaign raised almost $12-million — almost double that raised by the local community chest the previous year.

Because of his success, Walter Laidlaw was hailed by many as the “father of the United Way.” By the time he retired, in 1969, this local United Way was raising over $50-million for 195 local, state, and national agencies. This was the most successful United Way in the country at that time.

My father earned less than $40,000 annually as the C.E.O. of that organization. After his death, in 1971, my mother lived on a modest pension, which has expired. Since then, she has existed on Social Security, a small inheritance, and support from her family and friends. The income Mr. Aramony will be receiving from his pension fund — over $100,000 annually — will permit him to live in a far more lavish manner than my mother is currently experiencing.

Duncan M. Laidlaw
Hot Springs Village, Ariz.