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Mystery Man Gives $5 to Siblings - $442,173 to LA
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OMG we'd be so pissed! After willing $1 to each of his five siblings, Theodore DiFiore, who at 79 years old, passed away in late 1990, donated the rest of his fortune -- $442,173.77 -- to the city of Los Angeles!
And nobody knows why!
We looked to see if perchance Mr. DiFiore misspelled LAist or LAUSD or the LACAAW, but after close examination it does appear that the man gifted free money to city, "And I wish to give the rest of my real and personal property after the payments of my debts and expenses by my executor to the city of Los Angeles."
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The LA Times tells us that DiFiore's life remains a mystery. He was not a city employee and he lived in a humble apartment next to a parking lot on Hope Street near the LA Convention Center.
Bequests to the city are, not surprisingly, uncommon and usually are directed to specific purposes. Last year, for example, the city accepted a $4-million bequest from the philanthropist Anna Bing, with instructions that the money be used to purchase parkland. The city accepted $275,868 from Anna May Pollard in 1991 for renovation of an animal shelter and $34,000 from Peter Edward Raacke in 1996 for the city's animal sterilization trust fund.
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