Our Foundation History

Since its establishment in 1973 as a Massachusetts nonprofit, the Fred M Roddy Foundation has given out hundreds of grants for medical, health, and education projects. Fred’s vision for the foundation was “to support organizations carrying on research, educational or operational efforts for the cure or alleviation of afflictions of body or mind, or general educational or charitable purposes.”

Roddy’s close friend and attorney, John W. McIntyre, was president of the Fred M. Roddy Foundation until his own death in 2006, followed by David I. McIntyre and now Elizabeth A. McIntyre.

Important Note: Our foundation does not accept donations.  

Fred Mason Roddy, a mechanical engineer, graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1927. After working for the Eastman Company in Kingsport, he left to found his own company in 1939, Cumberland Engineering. There, he invented a machine for granulating, dicing, and pelletizing plastic. He moved the company to Attleboro, MA, in 1940, and the company became a large supplier of machinery for plastics manufacturing. Roddy died in 1969. At his direction, most of his estate was used to establish a charitable nonprofit foundation (1973).