Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Man's Will Leaves Hidden Wealth to Montana
NY Times/AP ^ | 13 November 2005

Posted on 11/12/2005 8:18:52 PM PST by Lorianne

LeRoy Beckman went to secondhand stores for hearing aids and heated only one room of his small house. He drove an old panel truck, favored bib overalls and found Social Security adequate in his old age.

"He looked dirt poor," said his friend Jim McDermand.

But when he died at age 88 in 1997, Mr. Beckman had an estate worth about $3 million. And it turned out that he secretly had a benevolent side. He directed in his will that his money be used to buy land and donate it to the state for use by hunters.

Now the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is fully realizing Mr. Beckman's legacy. The state is about to formally receive the fourth and final piece of land bought with Mr. Beckman's money, which is now all spent.

The four contiguous tracts, called the Beckman Wildlife Management Area, amount to about 6,500 acres, including grassland, pine and fir trees, gentle slopes, coulees, and the Judith River. The land is inhabited by antelope, wild turkeys, pheasants, foxes, coyotes, raptors, songbirds, an occasional mountain lion and, of particular importance to Mr. Beckman, mule deer.

"It had to be mule-deer habitat, not elk habitat," said Mr. McDermand, a personal representative for the Beckman estate. "He didn't like elk."

Mr. Beckman's donation is "a testament to basic decency and civic involvement," said Steve Doherty, chairman of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission.

Jim Luoma of Sand Coulee, who became Mr. Beckman's friend through a mutual interest in guns, said Mr. Beckman grew up poor, farmed as a young man, put money in gold stocks, then invested the return profitably in oil. Mr. Luoma believes his friend was a savvy investor who also had a smart adviser.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; US: Montana
KEYWORDS: bang; hunting; millionaires; philanthropy
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-37 next last

1 posted on 11/12/2005 8:18:52 PM PST by Lorianne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Lorianne

6,500 Montana acres open to hunting. God bless Mr. Beckman.


2 posted on 11/12/2005 8:24:04 PM PST by RicocheT
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lorianne
...sounds like the NYT is perplexed...Hunter? ...Wealth? ...poorly dressed? .."Mule" Deer? ...but, but where's Bambi? :D
3 posted on 11/12/2005 8:24:52 PM PST by skinkinthegrass (Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you :^)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RicocheT

Until some demonrats and libbies get a hold of the land and use it for a reserve...trying to rewrite his "living" will...much like they like to rewrite our "living" Constitution.


4 posted on 11/12/2005 8:27:16 PM PST by Dr Stormfist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Lorianne

If you're going to leave all your money to the state I can't think of a better way to spend it.


5 posted on 11/12/2005 8:27:16 PM PST by saganite (The poster formerly known as Arkie 2)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lorianne

You watch the greenies try to convert it to a Nature Preserve, - no hunting allowed.


6 posted on 11/12/2005 8:28:03 PM PST by adamsjas
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dr Stormfist
demonrats and libbies get a hold of the land and use it for a reserve

Drat... Beate me by 30 seconds.

7 posted on 11/12/2005 8:29:09 PM PST by adamsjas
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: skinkinthegrass

but..but..but the corporations! Guns are bad and hunting is racist!!


8 posted on 11/12/2005 8:32:40 PM PST by HHKrepublican_2 (you cant spell liberal without an L an I and an E...If the first amendment doesn't work, use the 2nd)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: adamsjas

Great minds think alike. ;)


9 posted on 11/12/2005 8:33:03 PM PST by Dr Stormfist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Lorianne

i just love guys like this...

many people today spend their entire lives paying interest on credit cards, paying for the new car, buying the latest fashions, buying the McMansion, etc.
Then they turn 50 or 60 and they wonder why they wasted so much of their time on earth on junk that really doesn't matter.

The stress of this over-leveraged, consumption driven, meaningless lifestyle puts people into an early grave, and while they live, they live miserable lives.


Imagine the peace of mind this guy must have had.
I have a hunch this guy never stayed awake at night wondering which bill he was going to let slip this month.

we could all learn a lesson from this fella.


10 posted on 11/12/2005 8:47:20 PM PST by Will_Zurmacht
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lorianne

Stuff like this must piss off the environs since they wouldn't want anyone stepping foot into their pristine lands. And here there will be hunters with guns to boot. This gotta make them go nuts.


11 posted on 11/12/2005 8:47:23 PM PST by taxesareforever (Government is running amuck)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HHKrepublican_2

And he made his money from the EEEEEVil oil companies


12 posted on 11/12/2005 8:47:37 PM PST by digger48
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Lorianne
Mr. Beckman was a savvy investor but his friend thinks he had a smart advisor.

Probably he was getting stock tips from Hillary.

13 posted on 11/12/2005 8:57:58 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: taxesareforever

I wonder if Kerry will show up and repeat his famous question of election 2004?

"Can I get me a hunting license here?"

Hysterical coming from his phony,so-called upper class speaking style.


14 posted on 11/12/2005 8:59:08 PM PST by Mears (The Killer Queen)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: taxesareforever

THIS GUY IS A TRUE HERO!!!
Imagine the pub he would get if he left it for a state sponsored abortion clinic.
At least we have freerepublic.


15 posted on 11/12/2005 9:01:12 PM PST by genghis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Will_Zurmacht

You wrote what I was thinking. I'm in my 50s and I ask myself when I buy something, is this purchase going to enhance my life or is this a vanity purchase.


16 posted on 11/12/2005 9:07:56 PM PST by BipolarBob (Yes I backed over the vampire, but I swear I looked in my rearview mirror.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: All

great guy!
One thing though...since it sounds like he doesn't trust anyone, what makes him want to trust the state?
I guess if there is any state to trust, Montana would be one of them. It's beautiful there, I went for the first time in May...


17 posted on 11/12/2005 9:14:26 PM PST by c-girl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: BipolarBob
I'm in my 50s and I ask myself when I buy something, is this purchase going to enhance my life or is this a vanity purchase.,p. Most things that "enhance your life" can't be bought but I suspect you already know that.

I worked and saved and invested and retired at age 54. I am 60 years old now and can have almost anything I want.

I have found that there's not much I want that I don't already have.

I have my children, grand children and now a brand new great grand child. Money can't buy that.

18 posted on 11/12/2005 9:17:38 PM PST by Graybeard58 (Remember and pray for Sgt. Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Mears
Here in western PA and Ohio, voters were innundated with the flyer of Kerry in his new camos showing off a pheasant he just shot to prove he was a friend of gun owners. He looked like a dork and had blood on one sleeve if you looked closely.

A buddy I know who is in the news/freelance photography business told me how it got there-- because the nimrod held the fowl by the neck until his handlers told him to hold it by the feet. That story really made the rounds of the hunting population here and gave all a good laugh.

19 posted on 11/12/2005 9:21:20 PM PST by Vigilanteman (crime would drop like a sprung trapdoor if we brought back good old-fashioned hangings)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58

Well, what can I say other than we are both blessed. I still work and will probably do so for another 5 years (Good Lord willing) and after that who knows? We are in the process of possibly being "bought out" meaning the house and land I am on. I look around at all the possessions we would have to move and it is not a small volume. too much stuff!


20 posted on 11/12/2005 9:24:35 PM PST by BipolarBob (Yes I backed over the vampire, but I swear I looked in my rearview mirror.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-37 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson