Modest Janitor Leaves Giant Windfall To CharitiesSuburban Man Found Ways To Scrimp And Saveby Jim Williams
MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. (CBS) ¯ A man lives a modest life, and then dies -- and, after he's gone -- you find out he's worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sound like the plot of a movie?
As CBS 2's Jim Williams reports, it's a drama that's playing out right now for the neighbors of a suburban Mount Prospect man.
As a janitor, Herb Linnewah never made more than $32,000 a year.
Once a recluse, Linnewah became close to his next door neighbors, the Schwarzbecks, who took him out often and always paid.
"He would always say, 'let me pay.' And we'd say 'No, no. That's OK,' thinking that he didn't have any money," Joanie Schwarzbeck said.
Last year, when Linnewah got sick, he asked Schwarzbeck, to handle his finances.
She was in for a big surprise. Linnewah had IRAs, annuities and CDs worth $300,000.
"I was shocked," Schwarzbeck said. "I was shocked that he had as much money as he did and even at that point, I still didn't know how more money there was."
There was a lot more.
After Linnewah died of cancer, Schwarzbeck went through his bedroom and found dozens of envelopes full of cash -- $100,000 in total.
Linnewah went to great lengths to save money. He wore his janitor's uniform all the time even when he wasn't working. He walked to the bank every morning to get a complimentary cup of coffee. And he didn't get a Blockbuster video membership when there were free videos at the public library.
He left just about all of his estate to several charities, including the Elk Grove Village food pantry.
"He probably sacrificed some of his own things so he could give it others," said Julie Villarreal of Elk Grove Village.
That is the legacy of Herb Linnewah, whose looks were certainly deceiving. (© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
|
Direct 847-385-3314
