SUNY Cortland Bequeathed $1 Million By Teacher

CORTLAND, N.Y. (AP) — SUNY Cortland has received a $1 million gift bequeathed by a lifelong teacher in central New York.

The Syracuse Post-Standard says Esther King Hawthorne died in May 2013. The resident of Clay was 95.

Hawthorne taught in public schools in Ithaca, Cooperstown, Lyons and North Syracuse before spending 25 years in Syracuse.

She attended Oswego State Teacher's College and earned advanced degrees from Syracuse University.

Her late husband, Leslie, worked for the New York State Thruway Authority on the Barge Canal. He died in 1992. They had no children.

Hawthorne grew up in the Great Depression and lived frugally all her life. Her attorney, Kelly Graves, says Hawthorne tucked away money "like a squirrel with nuts."