Frugal Woman Leaves $2.8 Million to Local Nonprofits

Blanche Vavra never spent much money during her life -- instead, she saved $2.8 million to donate to charity after death.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on December 25 2008

All her life, Blanche Vavra of Billings, Montana, was careful with her spending. She grew up poor, learning to scrimp and save whenever she could. Later, as an employee of the U.S. Civil Service for more than 30 years, Vavra never married or had children, but provided money for her mother for decades after her father had passed away. She shared a modest home with her mother, and never bought anything she didn’t need, instead building up her savings in the bank.

“She probably had a cigar box full of jewelry and the whole thing wasn’t worth a dollar,” a neighbor, Jerry Dobesh, told the Billings Gazette.“But she wore it well.”

But after Vavra passed away this year at age 90, her friends were shocked to see how much she’d saved: $2.8 million. Rather than indulging on luxury purchases and vacations, she’d reserved nearly all of her income for after her death, when it would be distributed to a hand-picked group of 11 nonprofit groups from her local area.

During her later years, Vavra carefully considered where she wanted her money to go. She had meetings with several of the organization’s leaders, and spent much of her time researching the charities’ financial data.

“She was quite astute at making sure these were quality charities,” said John Jones, an attorney who helped settle Vavra’s trust. “She wanted (the money to go to) something that was going to go on.”

And while Vasta’s death saddened her friends, they are secure in the knowledge that her generosity will provide a lasting gift for their community.

“That was an amazing day,” said Cynthia Reierson, a trust specialist with Vavra’s bank. “Most of the people had never met her. Her story had to be told every time we went (to present a check).”

Filed under: General Interest, Non-Profits,

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