'A very unusual gentleman' who worked in a university library for nearly 50 years donated $4 million to the school upon his death
Robert Morin, who died a little over a year ago, graduated from UNH in 1963 and worked in the school's Dimond Library as a cataloger for nearly 50 years, according to UNH.
Morin lived alone, spent little of his income on himself, and saved instead.
"He would have some Fritos and a Coke for breakfast, a quick cheese sandwich at the library, and at home would have a frozen dinner because the only thing he had to work with was a microwave," Edward Mullen, Morin's long time financial advisor, told The Globe. "He was a very unusual gentleman."
Morin also had a voracious appetite for reading and watching videos. A UNH press release explained:
"Morin also had a passion for watching movies, and from 1979 to 1997 he watched more than 22,000 videos. Following this feat, he switched his attention to books. He read, in chronological order, every book published in the U.S. from 1930 to 1940 - excluding children's books, textbooks and books about cooking and technology. At the time of his death he had reached 1,938, the year of his birth."
A beloved figure on campus, Morin donated the majority of his $4 million gift as unrestricted money for UNH.
"Unrestricted gifts give the university the ability to use the funds for our highest priorities and emerging opportunities," Deborah Dutton, president of the UNH Foundation, said in the release. "This is an extraordinary gift that comes at a critical time for launching a number of initiatives that are only able to move forward because of his generosity."