Janitor bequeaths millions to library, hospital 39 Mins Ago Reuters Noppawat Tom Charoensinphon | Getty Images A covered bridge near Brattleboro, Vermont Perhaps the only clue that Ronald Read, a Vermont gas station attendant and janitor who died last year at age 92, had been quietly amassing an $8 million fortune was his habit of reading the Wall Street Journal, his friends and family say. It was not until last week that the residents of Brattleboro would discover Read's little secret. That's when the local library and hospital received the bulk of his estate, built up over the years with savvy stock picks."Investing and cutting wood, he was good at both of them," his lawyer Laurie Rowell said on Wednesday, noting that he read the Journal every day. Most of those who knew Read, described as a frugal and extremely private person, were aware that he could handle an axe. But next to no one knew how well he was handling his financial portfolio. PLAY VIDEO Read, the first person in his family to graduate from high school, dressed in worn flannel shirts and spent his free time scavenging for fallen branches for his home wood stove. He drove a second-hand Toyota Yaris. "You'd never know the man was a millionaire," Rowell said. "The last time he came here, he parked far away in a spot where there were no meters so he could save the coins." Read graduated from Brattleboro High School in 1940 and during World War II served in North Africa, Italy and the Pacific theater. Returning home, he worked at Haviland's service station and then as a janitor at a JCPenney store, marrying a woman with two children. Read MoreOne of the Buffetts gives Northwestern a major gift Before his death on June 2, 2014, Read's only indulgence was eating breakfast at the local coffee shop, where he once tried to pay his bill only to find that someone had already covered it under the assumption he did not have the means, Rowell said. Last week, Brooks Memorial Library and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital each received their largest bequests ever. Read left $1.2 million to the library, founded in 1886, and $4.8 million to the hospital, founded in 1904. Read MoreMark Zuckerberg, wife donate $75M to hospital "It was a thunderbolt from the sky," said the library's executive director, Jerry Carbone. While a surprise, he said the gift made sense once he learned more about the quiet, shy library patron appropriately named Read. "Being a self-made man with his investments, he recognized the transformative nature of a library, what it can do for people," Carbone said. Read's stepchildren survive him but were not immediately available for comment.
It doesn't matter what you do or how much you make, live frugally and invest your money. Stop complaining, anybody am be rich if they want!
wonderful story I wonder if he ever enjoyed his wealth while he was alive and even if his children knew about it.
He enjoyed his spiritual wealth and he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his monetary wealth I say he lived a great life. I believe no one knew about the money.
Every town has someone like this. It is not proof that 'anyone' can be wealthy if they just follow a few simple rules. Rather it is evidence of how we tend to judge a book by the cover, never suspecting that someone with a job we consider menial might be a genius or at least have a keen business acumen. It turns upside down our stereotypes and makes us a little humble if we think about it.
I alway tell my kids there is more knowledge in a library and it's free just waiting for you to go get it. For some reason they hate the library but we go twice a week after school. I think Red is right as evidenced by Mr. Read the best things in life are free. Family, friends and you spirituality/relationship with god.