Roland Read was a man who spent most of his life a janitor and gas station attendant in Vermont. He was known for leading a simple life and being frugal to a fault, even held his coats with safety pins.
It's for this reason, people have been shocked to learn that the 92-year-old was actually a secret millionaire who had a $6 million fortune that he acquired through investing stocks. The sum was donated to the local library and hospital when he passed.
Read left $4.8 million of his savings to the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital while $1.2 million benefited the Brooks Memorial Library. According to his lawyer, the fortune grew substantially over the years.
"It's pretty incredible. This is not something that happens on a regular basis," Gina Pattison, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital development director said.
Read also left an antique Edison phonograph and recording drums to the Dummerston Historical Society.
Stepson Phillip Brown, Read's regular visitor, said he had no idea that the old timer was so wealthy. The only clue, perhaps, was Read's penchant for reading The Wall Street Journal.
"I was tremendously surprised. He was a hard worker, but I don't think anybody had an idea that he was a multimillionaire," he said.
"He was unbelievably frugal," Laurie Rowell, his lawyer shared upon reading his Last Will and Testament.
"Sometimes he parked so far away so he wouldn't have to pay the meter," she added as she described his visits to her office.
Read was no stranger to hard work since he completed his tour of duty for World War II and got married in 1960, only to become a widower a decade later. He was a gasoline attendant for 25 years and a janitor for a retail outlet for 17 more.
