'Frugal' man who worked as a janitor was a secret multi-millionaire

A man who worked as a janitor has left behind an estate valued at around £5.2million.

18:01 06 February 2015

Nobody knew that 92-year-old Ronald Read, who worked as a janitor, was a multi-millionaire until he died in June 2014 when he left an estate valued at around £5.2million to his town’s hospital and library.

It emerged that the former petrol station employee regularly bought stocks and his investment grew substantially over the years. His attorney, Laurie Rowell, said that Ronald “was unbelievably frugal.”

When Mr Read visited her office, "sometimes he parked so far away so he wouldn't have to pay the meter".

Aside from leaving $4.8million to the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and $1.2million to the town’s Brooks Memorial Library, he also made a number of smaller bequests and his total fortune amounted to roughly $8million.

Mr Read was born in the small town of Dummerston in 1921. He graduated from high school by walking and hitchhiking about four miles each way from his home to school and back. He served the military during World War II and returned to Brattleboro and worked at a service station for 25 years. He married in 1960 but his wife died in 1970.