More than $800,000 aides station, firefighters
By Dennis Hoey
Portland Press Herald (Maine)
Copyright 2007 Blethen Maine Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
PORTLAND, Maine — Late in life, Jane F. McLanathan grew to appreciate the kind attention she received from Phippsburg’s volunteer firefighters and rescue workers.
Whether she needed medical help or simply someone to shovel her driveway, the former fashion designer seemed to have a special connection with the town’s emergency service workers.
That affinity became apparent in November 2004, when McLanathan died at the age of 92 and left the bulk of her estate — property worth more than $800,000 — to the Phippsburg Fire and Rescue Department.
“She was a fascinating woman who led an extraordinary life,” said Sue Jones, Phippsburg’s rescue chief. “This was an extremely generous thing for her to do. For a tiny department like ours to get this kind of windfall is unheard of.”
The first public acknowledgment of the gift took place in 2005, when officials expressed gratitude in the town of Phippsburg’s annual report. Then the bequest drifted from the public’s consciousness.
Former Selectman Michael Rice, who served on the board between 2000 and 2006, said McLanathan’s gift deserves more attention. “This is something we should be celebrating, not keeping quiet,” he said.
Lincoln County Probate Court records include a copy of McLanathan’s will. It shows she left $15,000 to a nursing home in Illinois that cared for her mother and $10,000 to Michael Talbot of Phippsburg, a volunteer firefighter whom she described as “her faithful friend and helper.”
Talbot could not be reached for comment. But Andy Andrews, another Phippsburg resident who is also a firefighter, said Talbot mowed McLanathan’s lawns and did gardening work on her estate.
McLanathan also dictated that her home and property be sold and the proceeds given to the Fire and Rescue Department.
The home &mdaash; a restored 1846 stone schoolhouse and 36 acres — has been sold to a private developer, who plans to preserve the schoolhouse and build six private residences on the Parker Head Road estate.
Elena VanDervoort of Bath, and her husband, Peter, served as executors of McLanathan’s estate. VanDervoort said her friendship with McLanathan and her husband, Richard Barton Kennedy McLanathan, goes back 45 years.
The couple was married in 1942. He was a writer, a freelance consultant on art and museums, and a curator of decorative arts at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She worked as a fashion designer in Chicago and New York.
They purchased the Parker Head property after World War II and used it as a summer place until they made it their year-round home in the 1980s.
“They were very private people, but they also cared very deeply about the town of Phippsburg and its fire department,” VanDervoort said.
Jones said fire and rescue workers found an oil painting of McLanathan in her attic after her death. It will be hung in one of the fire station’s bays.
The department has 35 call firefighters, five firetrucks and two ambulances. This year’s budget, totaling $135,000, pays for worker stipends, equipment and operating costs. Other expenses are covered by the fundraising efforts of the Phippsburg Firefighters Association, a private nonprofit organization
Fire Chief James Totman is the highest-paid employee, receiving an annual stipend of $4,000. Jones, the rescue chief, is paid $2,200, said Town Administrator Mike Young.
Lawyers for the McLanathan estate, the town and the fire department are setting up a fund where the bequest will be deposited and managed by a nonprofit board. Roger Therriault, a lawyer for the Phippsburg Firefighters Association, said the money will be used for training, equipment, education and scholarships.
He said McLanathan did not want the funds used to support the day-to-day operations of the Fire and Rescue Department.
Totman, the fire chief, said he knew the McLanathans for 45 years. After Richard McLanathan’s death in 1998, firefighters tried to look after Jane McLanathan “the best we could. She stayed at home right through her 90s,” Totman said.
“I think when everything is settled,” he said, “everyone will be very happy.”