Janitor who lived modestly leaves millions in surprise donations

[Liberal_in_LA]

A man who sometimes held his coat together with safety pins and had a long-time habit of foraging for firewood also had a knack for picking stocks — a talent that became public after his death when he bequeathed $6 million to his local library and hospital.

The investments made by Ronald Read, a former gas station employee and janitor who died in June at age 92, "grew substantially" over the years, said his attorney Laurie Rowell.

Read, who was known for his flannel shirt and baseball cap, gave no hint of the size of his fortune.

"He was unbelievably frugal," Rowell said Wednesday. When Read visited her office, "sometimes he parked so far away so he wouldn't have to pay the meter."


The bequest of $4.8 million to the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and $1.2 million to the town's Brooks Memorial Library were the largest each institution has ever received. Read also made a number of smaller bequests.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Man-who-lived-modestly-leaves-millions-to-6061336.php

[haele]

1. Working as a janitor during the time period you could buy a house and raise a family on that wage.

He lived frugal by choice and ended up with $6 million because he was a savant in picking stocks on what was left over after he paid his living expenses. One of my former neighbors died at 98 a few years ago - no kids, joined the Navy during WWII, left after Korea, and retired in the late 80's as a produce manager at Safeway after a stint working service station mechanic at a Mobile station. Regular, simple work, with a small military pension and the VA.
Bought his very nice 1200sqft early 50's bungalow overlooking a canyon on a double city lot (lower lot had fruit trees and a nice veggie garden) in San Diego in the late 1950's with a VA loan which he said he paid off within 5 years. Had a car, but sold it in 2000 when he felt he couldn't drive anymore.
Lived "comfortably" - clean simple clothes, cooked his own food, walked around the blocks every day, went to the library and an occasional movie, and paid one of our other neighbors to come clean his house once a week and take him out shopping and to his doctor's three times a year up until he just took a nap after feeling "poorly" for a few days and apparently didn't wake up.
Again, this was a single gentleman who had a pretty much working class life from the 1950's - 1990's, after spending a stint in the military.
When he died, he left close to a million in various accounts and trusts, and the proceeds of his estate which probably came to $300K (this is San Diego - the median house sales during that time were in the $500Ks) after the lawyers got through with it to various charities around town. If one didn't have outstanding expenses - like a family or significant spending on personal hobbies and entertainment - the average worker had the potential to make enough to save and supplement their Social Security if they were smart with their money.

So, if Mr. Read lived a little less frugally and a little more "American" - and still invested what he had left over of his paycheck, it wouldn't be $6 million left over for charity, but it would still have been a significant amount. Just not as much a "newsworthy" amount balanced against the poverty Mr. Read projected.

It's an impressive amount; what I find most impressive was that he was that good in picking stocks. And that Mr. Read apparently never got over the Great Depression.
My only problem with stories like these is that they are used to slam people who don't succeed over the head, and to justify forcing working people to live that "uniquely American Experience" that requires those who do less "skilled" work to work two or three jobs that still won't result in a yearly income much above the poverty level if one worked a full 40 hours a week at all those jobs, much less part-time.

After all, if your job paid $3.00 an hour in 1975 and you could afford to pay for food, utilities, and a decent studio apartment all by yourself, why should that same job pay any more in 2015?
And if a Job Creator feels your job as a nurse, a teacher, or the IT specialist/technical expert for the company is fungible and only worth $50 - $100 a week because that's what s/he pays for someone like a tutor for the kids, a babysitter, or a janitor to just come in once a week, than why should they pay any more? Why should they cut into their profits they made sucking off your skills and the sweat off you body?

Haele