Ninety eight-year old Verna Oller, who passed away recently, has given her hometown of Long Beach, Washington something to remember her by: an astounding $4.5 million donation.

Described as a “feisty” individual, not much was known about Verna – hardly anyone even knew she was a millionaire until she died. One thing that was apparent about her, though, was her extremely frugal nature. Refusing to even visit a hairdresser, she shopped almost exclusively at thrift stores. Gifts of charity would do no good either, even if they were bought on sale. When an old friend, Guy Glenn, purchased a new coat for her, she returned it straightaway and bought a cheaper one for $2. Her penny pinching ways didn't stop even after she passed away - she didn't want a funeral, or even an obituary.

Entrusting Glenn with her fortunes when she died, he was instructed to leave every cent to the town she called home: Long Beach. According to MSN.com, $500,000 was donated to a public-school endowment, and another $500,000 for student scholarships and grants to teachers. The rest she put toward the installation of an indoor swimming pool, the town's very first. The pool was something Oller had wanted to see for a long time now, ever since she was a little girl with nowhere to cool off aside from the dangerous Pacific Northwest shoreline.

Possessing not much education but a true hard worker's grit, Verna toiled away in physically demanding jobs like picking cranberries, shucking oysters, and working in restaurants until she was 76. A widow since 1964, she became accustomed to the DIY approach, splitting wood well into her 90s and researching the investments which would later make her a millionaire. Though she acquired a couple of bereavement payouts ($10,000 from her late husband, and another $600,000 from a sister), it took 31 years of investing for her estate to reach the reported $4.5 million. A penny saved is a penny earned, and no one can attest to this statement more than 98-year old Verna Oller.