In this season of giving, the Town Of Simsbury has been the beneficiary of a huge gift.
When she updated her will at Hassett & George, Kathleen Magowan, 87, figured her wealth was in the tens of thousands.
Turned out, her attorneys said, she had a fortune … about $6 million.
Most of it came from stocks she didn’t pay much attention to, but after her death, the money kept coming in.
An old Quaker Oats can turned up in her home, with war bonds in it dating back to the 1940s and ’50s.
“They were $50 and $100 denomination and what not, and we downloaded some software from the federal reserve, and with the interest over time, we came up to the 183,000 (dollar) number,” David Bondanza of Hassett & George said.
It all added up to making much bigger charitable donations to 15 places close to Magowan’s heart, including about $375,000 to her church, St. Mary’s, more than $400,000 to the McLean Nursing Home, where she died, and nearly $480,000 to Simsbury Public Schools, for which she dedicated 35 years of teaching.