The story is told of an old gentleman who was very wealthy. As far as he knew, he had no living relative upon the face of the earth. He surmised that he had not long to live . . . .

As winter came on, the rich man grew quite ill and, during the worst spell of blustery weather, died. It was announced that the man had requested that his funeral be held at four o’clock in the morning. So it was conducted on a pitch-dark, freezing, snowy morning. The only persons who came out at the unearthly hour were three men and one elderly woman. There they sat huddled in the shadows of the silent mortuary as the clergyman spoke a few words of respect regarding the departed friend’s life.

After the brief service was over, the old gentleman’s attorney arose and said it was the dead man’s request to read the will at this time. The money had been left to be divided equally among the friends who had cared enough to be present at his funeral.

By Demia Knapp Wilson, Signs of the Times, December 2, 1952. With permission from Dale Galusha dalgal@pacificpress.com .