James Ebbert, the son of a sharecropper who lived modestly in Quakertown, Pa., left a $10-million fortune to nonprofit groups when he died last December, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Mr. Ebbert left $1-million to St. Luke’s Quakertown Hospital; $1-million to be divided between Millersville University and Temple University, the alma mater of his late wife, Martha; and other gifts to three churches, two private schools, a local fire company, the local YMCA, the Salvation Army, and the Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.

In 1946, as a high-school teacher, Mr. Ebbert bought K&L Company and sold lumber, coal, and sand. He lived frugally and invested his money well, says the newspaper. Most people did not know he was wealthy or planned to leave a major bequest, the newspaper says.

“Uncle Jim told me years ago, ‘We made it here in Quakertown; it’ll stay here in Quakertown,’” says his niece, Susan Ebbert Wambaugh.