80 Years After a Donor Dies, Charities Get Surprise Gifts

By Anne W. Howard

Nearly 80 years after a Civil War veteran died, his $9.6-million estate has found its way to three Pennsylvania charities that had no idea they were the beneficiaries of his money.

KidsPeace, Moravian Theological Seminary, and St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network have each received unrestricted gifts of approximately $3.2-million from the estate of Adam Brinker, a harness maker and ice-making entrepreneur in Pennsylvania who died in 1928. He left his money in a trust for his