By Daily Press staff
Jim Cayton, a philanthropist who supported Santa Monica College, died May 24. He was 88.
The Cayton Associated Students Center was named in honor of Jim and his wife, Lucille, for their donation of $100,000 that went toward building the second floor of the center. In addition, the James and Lucille Cayton Award for Leadership is one of the largest scholarship endowments managed by the SMC Foundation.
For years, the scholarship has provided monetary help to hundreds of SMC students. This year alone, for example, the SMC Foundation will award a total of $25,000 in Cayton scholarships to 31 SMC students, ranging from $500 to $2,000.
Cayton and his wife had long been active in community and philanthropic activities. Retired in 1981, he founded Louverdrape (originally Vogue Venetian Blinds) in 1937 and built the firm into an international company with 700 employees and 100 distributors in 100 nations worldwide.
A Stanford University alumnus, he served as president of the Rotary Club of Santa Monica and Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and served on the boards of the SMC Foundation, Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica, YMCA of Santa Monica, Center for Healthy Aging, and the Wellness Community. Aside from SMC, he sponsored scholarships at Stanford and also contributed to the Betty Ford Center.
Cayton was active to the end. He and Lucille had gone together on more than 150 ship cruises throughout the world and had returned from a worldwide cruise earlier this month.
Aside from his wife, to whom he was married for 59 years, Cayton is survived by four children, Bob, Kiki, John and Lori and six grandchildren.
No services will be held for but memorial donations may be made to the SMC Foundation or any of the above listed organizations
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 31, 2003. Read the original PDF.