Prior to his death in 2007, Chester E. Finn, Sr. was a Trustee Emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, both of which boards he chaired for many years. Prior to retiring in 1999, Mr. Finn was an attorney. He served as an associate and later partner with the Dayton, Ohio-based firm of Estabrook, Finn & McKee from 1947 until 1983. Upon that firm's merger with Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, Finn served as a partner there until 1990 and as counsel until 1999.
Mr. Finn graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1936, and received his Bachelors degree from Yale University in 1940. He entered Harvard Law School in September 1940, and studied there until February 1942, when he left to volunteer for the U.S. Navy, in which he served for three and a half years as a deck officer in the Pacific. He returned to Harvard Law School in September 1945, graduating in October 1946.
As a long-time member of the Dayton community, Finn was a trustee, director, or member of numerous organizations. He was president of the Dayton Bar Association and a member of the Ohio and American Bar Associations. He was a founding trustee of the Miami Valley Health Foundation, Wright State University Foundation, Cox Arboretum Foundation, and Miami Valley School. Mr. Finn was a trustee and President of the United Way of Dayton, trustee of the Dayton Art Institute, Buckeye Trails Girl Scout Council, Community Research, Inc., Dayton-Miami Valley Consortium, and the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. Former directorships include The First National Bank of Dayton, Cassano's Inc., Dimco-Gray Company, Neff Folding Box Company, and others. Mr. Finn was a long-time member of the Area Progress Council in Dayton.
Mr. Finn's three children and six grandchildren carry on his memory.