Kathleen and Robert Magowan died within a year of each other after years living as near recluses in their parents' modest Simsbury home, giving their neighbors no clue of $10 million fortune they had built up through savvy investments.
It was only once the pair passed that their startling wealth became clear, when Kathleen Magowan left hefty donations to a local elementary school, college and nursing home.
Kathleen Magowan was a quiet, unassuming woman who never made headlines during her 87 years, according to the Hartford Courant.
She taught first grade at Simsbury Elementary School for 35 years before retiring in 1984 but never married or had children of her own.
She lived in a comfortable but plain home on a busy highway in Simsbury that sold for just $250,000 because it hadn't been renovated for decades.
Her twin brother, Robert, moved into the family home in their later years. The former Prudential Insurance agent also never married but was largely the source of his sister's wealth through the stocks and bonds he oversaw on her behalf.
He died in 2010 with his own sizable estate.
When they passed away, the multi-millionaire twins' obituaries mentioned basic details including how they were born in New York City but gave no inkling as to their wealth - a combined $10 million, lawyers have only just determined.
The stocks Robert Magowan controlled exploded in value from the 1960s and 1970s to reach dizzying values, but the pair continued to live their quiet existence.
'She never really looked at (her portfolio) because she never had a demand for that kind of money,' attorney Louis George, whose law firm handled her estate, told the Courant. 'It shows the whole buy-and-hold (strategy) instead of these day traders we've seen in the last 10 years. ... She lived a fairly frugal lifestyle.'
Though it's been two years since her death, lawyers have only now untangled Kathleen Magowan's $6 million estate because she had so many assets and papers hidden away.
And the charities are just learning of her generous post-humus donations.
Not much of a philanthropist while alive, the elderly woman left a total of $5 million to her 15 favorite causes in her will.
She donated nearly $480,000 to her beloved Simsbury public schools, more than $500,000 to the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, another $400,000 to the McLean nursing home where she died, and nearly $375,000 to her local parish, St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, the Courant reported.
The school said the donation from the retired teacher - the biggest they've ever received from anyone - came out of the blue and they are considering using the money to improve the track and field facilities.
'When we got wind of it, it was quite a surprise,' Lydia Tedone, the board's chairwoman, told the Courant. 'It's a great way to honor the legacy of a very special teacher. She believed in the school system. The schools meant something to her.'
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