Seattle Lawyer Leaves $187-Million to 3 Nonprofits
November 27, 2013 | Read Time: 1 minute
Three Seattle institutions will share a $187.6-million estate gift from a lawyer who quietly amassed a nine-figure fortune through frugality and shrewd investing, The Seattle Times and the Puget Sound Business Journal report.
The bequest from Jack MacDonald, who died in September at the age of 98, will form a trust, from which 40 percent of earned income will go annually to Seattle Children’s Hospital. The remaining income will be split evenly between the University of Washington School of Law and the Salvation Army Northwest Division.
Mr. MacDonald, a native of British Columbia, worked for three decades for the then-Veterans Administration. He married in his 50s and had no children of his own. Friends and family say he kept his wealth a secret from all but those closest to him but over the years made donations to Seattle Children’s and to the small town in Canada where his parents are buried.
