(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A former nursing instructor has donated $2.4 million to North Park University in Chicago as part of her will.
Wilma Peterson taught nursing students at Swedish Covenant Hospital in the late 1950s before North Park had its own nursing school.
Director of Major Gifts Ruth Igoe worked with Peterson on the donation before she died at age 99 two years ago. Igoe describes Peterson as a frugal millionaire with a halo of white hair.
"She bought a very modest home in the suburbs of Oregon and drove, until her late 90s, a 1991 brown Honda Civic," Igoe said.
Peterson was able to lay out her plan to donate to the small Christian liberal arts school and Evangelical Convenant Church, which was affiliated with Swedish Hospital and where she was a lifelong member.
Provost Michael Carr says the gift reflects her love of education and faith. "The dollar amount is great, without a doubt," he said. "The weight of it is larger than that what that dollar amount is."
The university will have two endowed chairs in Peterson's name.
