A Vermont man who sometimes held his coat together with safety pins and had a long-time habit of foraging for firewood also had a knack for picking stocks — a talent that became public after his death when he bequeathed $6 million to his local library and hospital.
The investments made by Ronald Read, a former gas station employee and janitor who died in June at age 92, “grew substantially” over the years, said his attorney Laurie Rowell.
–
Stepson Phillip Brown, of Somersworth, New Hampshire, told the Brattleboro Reformer he visited Read every few months, more often as Read’s health declined. The only indication Brown had of Read’s investments was his regular reading of the Wall Street Journal.
“I was tremendously surprised,” Brown said of Read’s hidden wealth. “He was a hard worker, but I don’t think anybody had an idea that he was a multi-millionaire.”
