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A frugal, 100-year-old hairdresser donated 35.6 million dollars to battle cancer and diabetes, a local university announced Wednesday.
Eugenia Dodson of Coral Gables, Florida, died in December and left the fortune she had amassed since the death of her husband 50 years ago to Miami University to find cures for the diseases that most impacted her life.
"The quiet and unassuming woman lived frugally and managed to nurture and grow a modest legacy left to her by her late husband, the love of her life, more than a half-century ago and turn it into an estate in excess of 35 million dollars," the university said.
"Despite her affluence, the former beautician lived her life without any of the trappings of wealth because she had a much higher purpose for her money," the university said.
The gift will be distributed in the proportions that the diseases affected her life.
"Her two brothers died from complications of diabetes, and she herself was a lung-cancer survivor," the statement said.
In light of that, she dedicated two-thirds of her gift to study diabetes, the rest to fight cancer, the university said.
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AFP 182135 GMT 10 06
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