Acts of Kindness
Special Education Teacher Leaves $1 Million To School District
The special education teacher left a jaw-dropping surprise for the school district after she died.
D.G. Sciortino
06.21.18

Genevieve Via Cava gave of herself for 45 years devoting herself to teaching students with learning disabilities. But she decided that she wanted to continue giving, even after she left this world.

Via Cava’s generosity didn’t end after she retired in 1990.

She continued to visit the Dumont, New Jersey school district where she worked after she was off the job to check in on classrooms and to catch up with the superintendent. And that generosity continued after she died.

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Via Cava died in 2011 but Dumont Public Schools received a $1 million check from her estate in April. She was a millionaire but no one knew it.

She reportedly amassed her fortune by being frugal and saving her money.

According to CBS Local, she clipped coupons, would wear the same clothes, lived minimally and never took a vacation. Even her friends were shocked to find out that she was rich.

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“She was a no-nonsense, no-frills woman but generous and big-hearted towards kids,” her friend Richard Jablonski told CBS Local. “I mean she floored me with that. I didn’t know she had that type of money.”

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Her kindness extended beyond her students too. She didn’t have an immediate family so she left her home and everything in it to Jablonski.

His son and grandchildren now live in the house.

“She must have had a tremendous connection with the district and the students,” Dumont School District Superintendent Emanuele Triggiano said.

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Via Cava spent her entire career working with special need children in that district. The donation was the largest ever made to the school district.

“The most we have ever seen from any group was in the tens of thousands but never something like this,” Triggiano said.

He told CNN that she once quietly mentioned that she accumulated a large sum of money and intended to donate it but he didn’t really think much of it at the time.

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The school will use the money to fund a scholarship, starting next spring. It will be granted to one or more special education student who plans on heading to college.

The amount will depend on how much interest is generated by the gift with a maximum of $25,000 per student.

“In the event the scholarship fund grows to the extent that two or more scholarships can be made available, we can then give it to additional students,” Triggiano said.

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Jablonski said that Via Cava learned to save money when her family experienced hardship during the Depression.

He said she wouldn’t even spend money on hearing aids that she needed.

“Her name will go on forever, and rightfully so,” Jablonski said.

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Via Cava also left $100,000 each to five organizations including the Salvation Army and Ramapo Animal Refuge.

“Because she had no immediate family of her own, and not even many not-so-distant relatives, it made sense for her to make this donation,” Via Cava’s attorney Savoye said. “It took a while to distribute the money because it was a sizable estate and it takes time to get the federal government and state government to approve and finalize estate tax returns.”

Learn more about this amazing woman in the video below.

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