University of New Hampshire Librarian Leaves $4 Million to School

From the University of New Hampshire:

For nearly 50 years, Robert Morin ’61 worked as a cataloguer in Dimond Library. He was known to live simply, and few suspected he had quietly amassed a $4 million estate.
When he died just over a year ago, he gifted his estate to UNH.
“Bob’s demonstrated commitment to UNH through his philanthropy is tremendously inspiring,” says UNH President Mark Huddleston. “His generous gift allows us to address a number of university priorities.”
The only dedicated gift in Morin’s bequest was $100,000 to Dimond Library. It will provide scholarships for work-study students, support staff members who continue their studies in library science and fund the renovation of one of the library’s multimedia rooms.
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Morin also had a passion for watching movies, and from 1979 to 1997 he watched more than 22,000 videos. Following this feat, he switched his attention to books. He read, in chronological order, every book published in the U.S. from 1930 to 1940 — excluding children’s books, textbooks and books about cooking and technology. At the time of his death he had reached 1,938, the year of his birth.

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From the New Hampshire Union Leader

Morin’s financial adviser, Edward Mullen, said the library worker was able to accumulate so much wealth because he never spent any money. Mullen started working with Morin in the early 1970s, and said by the 2000s he had saved quite a bit of cash in his checking and savings accounts. There was almost $1 million in his retirement account alone.
Mullen said Morin had an older vehicle and, despite being a millionaire, he ate frozen dinners.

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Hat Tip/Thanks: Chronicle of Philanthropy

Filed under: Libraries, News