Shy US heiress left millions to library, parks: Report
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Manhattan and Central Park are seen from the "Top of the Rock" observation deck at Rockefeller Center on October 23, 2012, in New York City. A shy New York woman, whom no one took to be wealthy, left a shockingly happy surprise when she died: US$20 million (S$24 million) in donations to the New York Public Library and Central Park Conservancy. -- PHOTO: AFP
NEW YORK (AFP) - A shy New York woman, whom no one took to be wealthy, left a shockingly happy surprise when she died: US$20 million (S$24 million) in donations to the city's libraries and main park.
Ms Mary McConnell Bailey lived modestly and volunteered at a hospital and schools, before dying at 88 last year, the New York Post newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Now, the Post says, it emerges that the New York Public Library and Central Park Conservancy recently received cheques from her estate worth US$10 million a piece.
"You would have never known" she was rich, the Post quoted her former best friend and neighbour, Ms Lizanne Stoll, as saying. "When we went to lunch, it was usually Dutch," she said, meaning everyone paid for themselves.
