Jack McDonald

Mr. MacDonald was a lawyer at the Seattle office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He left money that he had invested in a charitable trust after his father sold a meat company. Mr. MacDonald led a thrifty life to avoid attention and set aside as much money as he could for charity. He often wore clothes with holes, rode the bus, and clipped coupons. Few people knew how wealthy he was. At his death in September 2013, at the age of 98, Mr. MacDonald left nearly his entire estate to three organizations in Seattle through a charitable trust. Seattle Children’s Hospital will receive 40 percent of the trust’s annual income, valued at $25.6-million, while the law school and the Salvation Army will each receive 30 percent, valued at $56.7-million apiece. He asked that the university use his gift to conduct research and match contributions from other donors. He told the law school to provide scholarships, hire faculty members, and endow a professorship in law, to be named for Mr. MacDonald, who graduated from the law school in 1940. The gift to the Salvation Army is unrestricted. Seattle Children’s played a prominent role in his life. His mother, Katherine, was a longtime volunteer at the hospital and he anonymously pledged $50-million in 2011 to help the institution recruit scientists and treat childhood diseases. Mr. MacDonald told the hospital and the university to expect bequests. The Salvation Army knew nothing about his planned gift, however, until October, when officials from Seattle Children’s informed the organization. Until then, Mr. McDonald had given only $20 at a time to the charity.