Alto Michigan generosity

Mich. couple killed in accident leave $1.6 million to surprised friends, neighbors

Excerpts:

Farmer Willis Hatch and his schoolteacher wife, Arlene, lived simply but blissfully together for 57 years before dying in an auto accident in November.

Now, about 70 of their friends and neighbors are surprised to find themselves a collective $1.6 million richer as the beneficiaries of the late couple's frugality and generosity.

...
Judging by the amount of money they doled out, the couple had many friends, including fellow parishioners at Alto United Methodist Church, where many of the beneficiaries are members.

"We, the whole church, are obviously grateful to them, and grateful to God that he gave them to us," said the Rev. Dean Bailey.

Added Bailey's wife, Jan: "They left a lot to the people they'd loved, and I think everybody was surprised."

That included the Baileys, who were notified that the Hatches had left the church about $50,000 toward a fund trying to raise $800,000 for a new building. Their gift, said the pastor, represents "about a year's worth of our fundraising capability."

Comment: My parents grew up in Alto and I have cousins there. My folks were married in the Alto Methodist Church.