Last week I posted about the blessings of being generous. This story from USA Today presents us with a personification of a life lived with thrifty generosity.Herb Linneweh, a shy retired janitor known for his "radical thriftiness," left a big surprise when he died last spring: cash-filled envelopes hidden throughout the house he had lived in for nearly 50 years. "It was a little over $100,000," Joanie Schwarzbeck, a friend and neighbor, said. "I had no idea he had that kind of money in his house--none."
That's easy to believe. The Chicago Tribune says "he wore his janitor's uniform long after he retired, sewing it back together as it frayed. He walked to a nearby bank every morning for a complimentary cup of coffee. And ... he declined to get a membership at Blockbuster: The library's movies, after all, were free. He never even bothered to get a doctor of his own."
All told, the 72-year-old bachelor was worth about $700,000. He left most of it to his church, a local food pantry, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the Salvation Army and the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Read more about Herb here.
Amazing story. I wish I could sit down with Herb and ask a few questions...like "were you intentionally not spending so you could have more to give?"
ReplyDeleteMy mom and aunt lived through The Depression and its interesting to me to see how that's affected their spending habits.