Entrepreneurs, business owners, Master Pilot awardees, dance instructors. Committed citizens, generous neighbors, and mentors. These are just a few of the hats that SVCF Founding Donors Keith and Debra Houghton have worn for over 40 years, serving the Tipton community. Beyond the many hats they wear, Keith and Debra also have permanent endowed funds at the community foundation that will forever benefit the people, communities, and professions that have been so meaningful to them.
Keith, a Tipton native, and Debra from Alton Illinois, met in 1979 on a blind date in St. Louis. As Keith puts it, "he was lucky to have met Debra just as fat cowboys were going out of style."
The couple married in 1985 and later returned to Keith's hometown of Tipton, Kansas. There, they built a successful business, pursued airline careers, and became impactful members of their communities.
AN OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE BACK
When the Solomon Valley Community Foundation was formed in 2013, Debra happily accepted a position as one of its first board members. She and Keith also decided to become Founding Donors and established two Donor Advised Funds- The Ringneck Ranch Foundation Fund and the Keith & Debra Houghton Fund.
Keith and Debra founded Ringneck Ranch on their family's 5th generation homestead in 1983. The ranch is located on the land that the Houghton family homesteaded in 1872 overlooking the Blue Hills range where herds of buffalo once roamed. The ranch offers pheasant, quail, prairie chicken, and dove hunting, but its specialty is ringneck pheasants (hence the name Ringneck Ranch). Keith and Debra are quick to credit the success of the ranch to the participation and support of local communities. Because of the community their business has flourished, and creating a donor-advised fund at the community foundation was their way of giving back.
Through the Ringneck Ranch Foundation Fund, the Houghtons' have been able to support various projects throughout the years including grants to Tipton Schools, the Tipton Fire Department, and the Mitchell County Trap & Skeet Range. The grant to the Tipton Fire Department helped purchase thermal imagining equipment that eventually played a vital role in stopping the 2021 Four County Fire from reaching and potentially destroying the ranch.
The Keith and Debra Houghton Fund was established after Debra realized the importance of expanding the children of Tipton's experience outside of their small community. Debra shared, "I was visiting with a high school student one evening and said 'The International Space Station flies over us tonight! Let's go see!" To which the student replied, "What space station?" Debra was astounded that the kids didn't know of the STEM advancements of our international space community, which had been around for 20 years. Debra explained, "We started a fund with the idea that kids would go to the Cosmosphere and learn about space technology every two or three years, with other field trips interspersed to help round out their experience and explore outside our community." Since 2015, the school has received annual grants for student field trips.
A PASSION FOR AVIATION
In 2021, Keith and Debra established the Keith Houghton Family Aviation Fund which supports students interested in studying aerospace and technology at Kansas State University Salina. Keith, who studied Animal Science at Kansas State University, took his first airplane ride the week he graduated, and the rest is history!
Keith went on to receive his professional pilot license and even spent two years teaching people to fly at their ranch in the early '70s. Keith later took a job as an instructor and chief pilot in Salina at Aircraft Services, Inc., and flew Learjets out of Wichita. He spent over 30 years flying commercial aircraft, working for Ozark, TWA, and American Airlines, and in 2022 he was honored with the prestigious FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award.
Debra also made a career in aviation and spent many years traveling the world as a flight attendant and is also a licensed pilot.
For years, Keith has served as a mentor to youth who are looking to get into aviation. "The professional aviation industry is not something that the rural population is exposed to," said Keith. "It's a wonderful opportunity if you are willing to make the commitment." However, the investment can be expensive, which is why the Houghton's decided to establish the Scholarship Fund- to reduce financial barriers and provide opportunities for future generations.
A LEGACY OF GIVING
In addition to having their funds at the Solomon Valley Community Foundation, the Houghton's, along with Keith's sister, Dr. Paty Houghton, PhD Animal Science, established their own Houghton Family Foundation. The Family Foundation will ensure that the Houghton family homestead ground will remain intact while giving back to support local communities.
The story of the Houghton's- their passions, love for their community, and desire to give back- will live on forever through these permanent funds. the "seeds have been planted," and because of their generosity community projects will be funded, aviation dreams will be realized, and the memory of Keith and Debra will be there supporting these causes every step of the way.
If you are interested in learning more about Solomon Valley Community Foundation and how we may be able to assist you with your charitable giving contact us today!