LAKE FOREST, Ill. (CBS) Grace Groner lived a frugal life in a one-bedroom home in north suburban Lake Forest.
But when she died at age 100 in January, her attorney informed Lake Forest College that Groner — known for buying clothes from rummage sales and walking instead of buying a car — had left her alma mater $7 million.
When the attorney told the school how much her donation would be, the college president said "Oh, my God."
The millions came from a $180 stock purchase Groner made in 1935. She bought specially-issued stock in Abbott Laboratories, where she worked as a secretary for 43 years, and never sold it, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The money Groner donated will be used for a foundation to fund student internships and study-abroad programs. The money should bring the school more than $300,000 a year.
By the time Groner was 12, both of her parents had died. She and her twin sister were raised by friends of their parents, who paid for them to attend Lake Forest College. Groner graduated in 1931 and worked for 43 years as a secretary at Abbott Laboratories.
"She did not have the (material) needs that other people have," said her attorney, William Marlatt. "She could have lived in any house in Lake Forest but she chose not to. ... She enjoyed other people, and every friend she had was a friend for who she was. They weren't friends for what she had."
Groner never married and had no children. At home, the Chicago Tribune reporter John Keilman wrote, Groner lived with just "a few plain pieces of furniture, , some mismatched dishes and a hulking TV set that appeared left over from the Johnson administration."
But Groner traveled after she retired and volunteered at the First Presbyterian Church. She gave anonymous gifts to needy local residents and donated $180,000 to Lake Forest College for a scholarship program.
"She was very sensitive to people not having a whole lot," said Pastor Kent Kinney of First Presbyterian Church. "Grace would see those people, would know them, and she would make gifts."
The college also is to receive Groner's small home. It is be called "Grace's Cottage" and become living quarters for women who receive scholarships.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
In 1935, she bought three $60 shares of specially issued Abbott stock and never sold them. The shares split many times over the next seven decades, Marlatt said, and Groner reinvested the dividends. Long before she died, her initial outlay had become a fortune.
Marlatt was one of the few who knew about it. Lake Forest is one of America's richest towns, filled with grand estates and teeming with luxury cars, yet Groner felt no urge to keep up with the neighbors.
She lived in an apartment for many years before a friend willed her a tiny house in a part of town once reserved for the servants. Its single bedroom could barely accommodate a twin bed and dresser; its living room was undoubtedly smaller than many Lake Forest closets.
Though Groner was frugal, she was no miser. She traveled widely upon her retirement from Abbott, volunteered for decades at the First Presbyterian Church and occasionally funneled anonymous gifts through Marlatt to needy local residents.
"She was very sensitive to people not having a whole lot," said Pastor Kent Kinney of First Presbyterian. "Grace would see those people, would know them, and she would make gifts."
Groner never wed or had children — the sister of one prospective groom blocked the marriage, Marlatt said — but with her gregarious personality she had plenty of friends. She remained connected to Lake Forest College, too, attending football games and cultural events on campus and donating $180,000 for a scholarship program.
That allowed a few students a year to study internationally, including Erin McGinley, 34, a junior from Lake Zurich. She traveled to Falmouth, Jamaica, to help document and preserve historic buildings in the former slave port. The experience was so satisfying that she is trying to get Lake Forest to create a similar architectural preservation program.
"It affected my (career ambitions) in a way I didn't expect," she said.
But Groner was interested in doing more, so two years ago she set up a foundation to receive her estate. Stephen Schutt, Lake Forest's president, knew of the plan for the past year, but had no idea how large the gift would be until after Groner passed away Jan. 19.
The foundation's millions should generate more than $300,000 a year for the college, enabling dozens more students to travel and pursue internships. Many probably wouldn't be able to pursue those opportunities without a scholarship: 75 percent of the student body receives financial aid, Schutt said.
But the study and internship program is not the end of Groner's legacy. She left that small house to the college, too. It will be turned into living quarters for women who receive foundation scholarships, and perhaps something more: an enduring symbol that money can buy far more than mansions.
It will be called, with fitting simplicity, "Grace's Cottage."
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