Georgia Charities to Benefit From $192-Million Bequest

Four non-profit institutions in Georgia, all affiliated with the United Methodist Church, will receive income from two trusts that hold approximately $192-million worth of stock in the Coca-Cola Company.

The death last year of Margaret Adger Pitts, of Waverly Hall, Ga., daughter of William I. H. Pitts, who earned his fortune as an early investor in Coca-Cola, has set in motion key provisions of both her and her father’s wills.

The assets of two trusts, which were set up by Mr. Pitts in the 1930s for his children, will be held by an Atlanta bank to benefit Emory University, in Atlanta; Young Harris College, in Young Harris; the Methodist Home for Children and Youth, in Macon; and a fund for retired ministers of the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, in Macon.

The income from the trusts is unrestricted. Emory has estimated the current value of its share of the trust at $65-million and says it plans to use the income to finance scholarships for students at the Candler School of Theology. Young Harris, a two-year institution that enrolls a maximum of 550 students, has estimated the value of its portion of the trust at $63.5-million, and also plans to use the income for scholarships.

The value of the shares to benefit the children’s home and the retired ministers’ fund are estimated to be $47.5-million and $16-million, respectively. The children’s home will use its income for services to help troubled youngsters find stable homes, said Steve Rumford, the charity’s administrator. The ministers’ fund will augment a pension plan.

Each institution is to receive an annual dividend from its portion of the two trusts. A dividend typically amounts to 1 per cent of the value of the stocks. Under the terms of the trusts, the beneficiaries will receive no money from the corpus.

However, the charities have asked SunTrust Bank, which oversees the trusts, to increase the payout to 4 per cent, and the bank has agreed to try to make that happen. The details of any new arrangements are still to be worked out in probate court.

Thomas S. Yow, president of Young Harris College, described Ms. Pitts, who was 104 years old when she died, as having a down-to-earth approach to life and a splendid sense of humor.

She never married and has no descendants. The woman most people called “Miss Margaret” lived in the same house in Waverly Place since 1901, and shared her fortune freely with several Methodist institutions in Georgia.

“Her faith was the driving force in her life,” Mr. Yow said.