Man Leaves €10m Fortune to a Tiny French Town He Never Visited
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Saint-Taurins-church-in-Thiberville
From France comes a story of blind philanthropy when a wealthy Parisian left his €10 million fortune to a tiny Normandy town he had never visited before.
Heir to his parents‘ fortune made in the vinting business, Roger Thiberville, a meteorologist shared but one thing with the town of 1,800 residents: its name.
Thiberville is a typical Norman town, including a 19th-century chateau, but little else that would find it among either headlines or tourist trails.
Describing the endowment as “beyond imagination“ the local mayor said the money would help clear a €400K debt from the municipal balance sheet, before funding a variety of projects including a bowling green and a synthetic soccer pitch.
It‘s an exceptional sum of money,” said Guy Paris, the mayor of 28 years. “Obviously the amount is beyond imagination. We don‘t yet know what we will do with it.”
“We won‘t spend it all. We‘re going to manage this dowry as we have always done with our municipal budget–with prudence and responsibility,” he told the radio station France Bleu.
Thiberville the man was born in Mantes-la-Jolie, a wine-growing region 50 kilometers west of Paris. The inheritance of his parents was originally intended for his sister, who died without heirs, meaning it passed to him.
He also died without heirs, and requested only that his ashes and a plaque with his name be installed in the town cemetery.
Other ideas for spending the money include a park that would be shaded by PV solar panels, as well as additional recreation areas at the local primary school.
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