Couple’s legacy will help sick children

Files/The Columbian Betty and Lee Jones, shown here having Thanksgiving dinner in 1998 at Grammy’s Kitchen in Yacolt, left most of their estate — $1.1 million — to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland.

Lee and Betty Jones, it can be said, took pleasure in sharing.

And not just their lives together, which they did for 55 years of marriage.

After retiring from the state highway department, Lee sold carrots, corn and other goods from his abundant Northeast Hazel Dell garden, but only after people balked at taking them for free.

Betty, meanwhile, put her love for knitting and crocheting to good use, making Afghan blankets for babies and hats for needy children.

Lee died Nov. 13, 2004, at age 89. Betty died Sept. 16, 2007, at age 80.

They didn’t tell anyone about their biggest gift, but now that their estate has been settled, word is out: The childless couple left $1.1 million to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland.

“They lived a very frugal life,” said Larry Bain, the couple’s chiropractor who served as personal representative for the estate.

“They were really neat people,” he said. “In the summertime, they planted a garden and sold vegetables and fruits right from their house, and he had a cider press. I got cider from him, and we bought vegetables from him all summer long.”

He added that Lee would walk along St. John’s Road, collecting cans for money.

Lee was born in 1915 near Centralia, while Betty was born in 1926 in Amboy.

They vacationed, but not extravagantly. A trip to the coast during clamming season, for example, was all they needed.

According to their will, one nephew, three nieces and four non-relatives were to get $5,000 apiece.

The rest was left for Doernbecher.

And “the rest” added up to seven figures after Bain sold the couple’s one-bedroom, 1941 home and tallied what they had in bank accounts, stocks and bonds.

“They had stuff here and there,” he said Friday.

Drew Hunsinger, gift planning director for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Foundation, said some donors let them know in advance that a provision has been made in their wills. When that happens, there’s an opportunity to say thank you.

With the Joneses, they heard about the substantial gift only after Betty died, when the estate was being settled in Clark County Superior Court.

“We can’t say enough how pleased we are,” Hunsinger said.

The hospital, which is affiliated with OHSU and has more specialists than any other facility in the region, serves children from throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Children from Clark County account for approximately 8,500 visits a year, he said.

Receiving gifts from childless couples isn’t uncommon, he added. There are lots of reasons why people decide not to have children, but they still see the value of the hospital.

“We are fortunate that people do think of us,” he said. “And these weren’t folks who had silver spoons in their mouths. They lived within their means, and (the donation) is going to have a huge impact.”

Stephanie Rice can be reached at 360-735-4549 or stephanie.rice@columbian.com.