An insurance executive of Elkhart, Ind., has left his entire fortune to his hometown community foundation, a gift that will allow the charity to increase its grant-making 10-fold, the Associated Press reports.

The bequest by David Gundlach, who died in October of a heart attack at age 56, triples the Elkhart County Community Foundation’s overall assets and will boost its grant spending from about $750,000 to $7.5-million a year.

Pete McCown, the foundation’s president, told the local newspaper, The Elkhart Truth, that he had only met Mr. Gundlach a few months before his death. He said the gift would become a watershed event in the northern Indiana community’s history, ranking with the arrival of its first settlers.

“I don’t think we have any idea what the scope of change is going to be,” Mr. McCown said. “He had greater wealth than what was expected or what we were aware of.”