Millionaire Next Door Leaves Fortune to Charity

When Phyllis A. Stone died on January 8, 2013, few realized that she possessed an investment portfolio that included tens of thousands of shares of stocks and bonds.  Ms. Stone, who never married and had no immediate family, left an estate worth more than $6 million that she bequeathed to charity.  In her will, Ms. Stone gave six-figure bequests to the Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center, Salvation Army, American Red Cross, and the United Way of the Greater Capital Region.  The institutions were taken aback when informed of their inheritance.  “Sometimes we don’t even realize the ways we touch people’s lives.” 

See Paul Grondahl, Modest Woman Turned Out to Be the Millionaire Next Door, Timesunion, Aug. 15, 2014. 

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.