Investment Banker Leaves $11.5-Million to Private School in Maine
By Caroline Bermudez
Contributor
October 31, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
How much: $11.5-million
Who gave it: Bion R. Cram, an investment banker who died in 2008.
Who got it: Fryeburg Academy, a private secondary school in Maine. The bequest will support financial aid and pay for laboratory equipment and other items to support instruction.
The donor’s connection to the school: Mr. Cram graduated from the school as a scholarship student in 1933. Before he died, he donated $3.5-million to Fryeburg,.
How the gift came about: Daniel Lee, the school’s master, said that after Mr. Cram donated $500,000 toward the construction of a library in 2002, he hinted that more money was to come. Mr. Cram, he notes, “was saying thank you to the folks that made this possible for him in the 1930s.”
Other bequest beneficiaries: Mr. Cram left $10-million to his alma mater, Bowdoin College. His partner of 59 years, John A. McCoy, who died 19 days before him, also left the college $2.3- million.
More news about big gifts, including a searchable database of newly announced gifts of $1-million or more, is available here. Send gifts news to gifts@philanthropy.com.
