This beautiful gift is one for the books.
A man who worked for almost 50 years as a librarian at the University of New Hampshire left the school an astonishing $4 million after his death last year. UNH announced the gift in a press release earlier this week.
Robert Morin, who died at 77, quietly accumulated his fortune by living humbly, often eating frozen dinners, according to a story in local outlet The Union Leader.
A UNH alum, Morin gifted his entire estate to the school. He even dedicated $100,000 specifically to the Dimond Library, where he worked.
“His whole life was the library,” Erika Mantz, the university’s director of media relations, told The Huffington Post in an email.
UNH will use the majority of his donation on a new career center for the school. Some funds will also go toward a video scoreboard at the school’s new football stadium, as the librarian frequently watched football games while residing at an assisted living facility during the last 15 months of his life.
“This is an extraordinary gift that comes at a critical time for launching a number of initiatives that are only able to move forward because of his generosity,” Deborah Dutton, vice president for advancement and president of the UNH Foundation, said in the school’s release.
Though few were aware of Morin’s wealth, his financial advisor, Edward Mullen, mentioned to the Union Leader that the fortune was due to the fact that he really didn’t spend much and lived a life without frills.
Morin “never went out” and drove an older vehicle, in addition to eating frozen dinners, Mullen told the outlet.
“He enjoyed talking to students on campus and especially the students who worked in the library,” Mantz told HuffPost. “He was very smart and very quiet.”
Mantz noted that those at the university are honored by Morin’s decision to support the school in such an incredible way.