Ken Millen graduated in 1950 with a science degree, but he ended up going to work as a salesman in the local shoe store. Millen was employed at the shoe store until it went out of business in the 80s. He continued to lead a modest and unassuming life. Millen’s law professor brother soon died and left all of his fortune to Millen, but not even this changed his lifestyle. In 2010, Millen died at age 85. The probate court was in charge of distributing Millen’s assets as he had no surviving family members. Soon after, Grays Harbor College, Millen’s alma mater, received an email informing the college it would be inheriting $981,564.22. This amounted to the largest gift the college had ever received, especially from a retired shoe salesman.
See Rick Anderson, This Shoe Salesman Lived an Unassuming Life. Then He Died, and His Hometown Got Quite the Surprise, LA Times, October 14, 2016.
Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
