Frugal Man Leaves $2 Million Windfall to Alma Mater
Jun 27th, 2005 • Posted in: NewsHOUSTON
Making good on a longtime promise to help black children get an education, a man renowned for frugality surprised survivors by leaving more than $2 million to his alma mater, a historically black university in Texas.
Whitlowe Green, who graduated from Prairie View A&M University in 1936, left the university about $2.1 million in his will, the largest gift from a single donor in the school’s history, reported the Houston Chronicle.
Green was a longtime economics teacher who retired from the Houston Independent School District in 1983, having earned a reputation as a brutally frugal man and well-respected teacher. He was known for wearing second-hand clothes and buying expired meat at a discount.
“Now it’s funny, but years ago you would sometimes get annoyed,” his cousin, Sharon Green Mitchell, told the Chronicle, explaining how he would split the gas bill for road trips among the adults in the car.
“He sacrificed for this,” she added. “I remember him saying, ‘I’m going to help black children get an education.’ He did it.”
Green’s bequest will be used to establish scholarships at Prairie View A&M, the first of which will be awarded for this coming fall.
“We are just excited about the potential this standard sets for giving back,” said Monica Williams, the school’s director of development. “Prairie View has a long history in struggle, survival, and progress. This speaks volumes to what an alumnus can do.”
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