Self-taught stock picker leaves gift for Eugene animals

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — An animal shelter in west Eugene will be able to fix its fencing after receiving an unexpected gift from a 97-year-old woman who died earlier this year.

The Register-Guard reports the Lane County Parks & Animals Services Division was notified this summer that it had received more than $126,000 from the Harriet Ruby Smith Trust. The newspaper reports that Smith was self-taught investor in the stock market who became a quiet philanthropist.

A representative of her trust said Smith donated about $1 million in her will to charities in western Oregon.

Mike Russell manages the Parks & Animal Services Division. He says the division feels blessed to have been one of the charities to benefit. Roughly $5,500 of the donation is going toward the new fence at the First Avenue Shelter. Another $24,000 is going toward kennel doors.

___

Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com