Frugal Librarian Leaves Unexpected $4 Million Gift to University of New Hampshire

The Boston Globe reports the story of a longtime librarian at the University of New Hampshire who lived a frugal lifestyle and left his $4 million estate to the university:

Robert Morin worked nearly 50 years at the University of New Hampshire library and never seemed to spend any money.

He lived alone, rarely bought clothes, had Fritos and soda for breakfast, drove a 1992 Plymouth, and spent spare time reading almost every book — in chronological order — that had been published in the United States from 1930 to 1938.

Now, more than a year after his death at age 77, a lifetime of frugality has become UNH’s unexpected gift: Morin left his alma mater his entire estate of $4 million — a gold-plated nest egg that few people knew he had.

While a gift of this size may have allowed Morin to require that a building or other area on campus bear his name, Morin’s restrictions imposed on the use of the gift by the university were as modest as his lifestyle.

The university will use $2.5 million from the estate on an expanded career center and $1 million for a new video scoreboard at the football stadium. An additional $100,000 will go to the university’s Dimond Library, the only gift specified by the will.

 [Morin’s financial advisor,] Mullen said he spoke with Morin about using some of the money to fund a scholarship related to library science but said his client wanted UNH to spend almost all of the gift in any way it chose.

TLH