80 Years After a Donor Dies, Charities Get Surprise Gifts

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 descendents, with the stipulation that when the last descendent died, the remaining money would be divided among the charities.

A lawyer called the organizations about two years ago when Mr. Brinker’s great-granddaughter died, though it took until this summer for the money to be distributed.

“It’s one of those phone calls that you hope you get every week — but don’t often get,” said Patrick J. Bower, vice president for development at St. Luke’s, founded in 1872 in Bethlehem.

C.T. O’Donnell II, president of KidsPeace, praised the late Mr. Brinker for trusting the charities with unrestricted money.

“[Mr. Brinker] didn’t know how long it would take to make its way home to KidsPeace,” said Mr. O’Donnell. “He was thoughtful enough not to designate it because, as we all know, as organizations grow and develop, their needs change.”

KidsPeace, a 125-year-old national children’s behavioral- and mental-health organization in Orefield, was founded in 1882 as the Thurston Home for Children, and changed names several times over the years.

Born on a farm in the Lehigh Valley in 1843, Mr. Brinker joined the Union Army at age 16. He later opened a harness shop in South Bethlehem, Pa., and eventually made a fortune as an investor and entrepreneur.