The Independent

A married couple of modest means, who once kept their money crammed in a shoebox, left thousands of dollars to Ashland Community and Technical College, their church, and some social service agencies.

The late Lincoln and Katherine Scott, who never had children and lived quietly on Ireland Street, amassed close to $180,000 over a lifetime of hard work and frugal spending, said Wendell Roberts, attorney for Katherine Scott's estate.

She died in December 2002 at 86, nine years after her husband died at 81.

He was a retired maintenance worker for Ashland Oil; she had held various domestic positions with prominent Ashland families including the Mayos and Blazers, and had made a name for herself with a catering sideline, said longtime neighbor Betty Cooper.

In her will, Katherine Scott left the lion's share of her estate to ACTC, New Hope Baptist Church, Community Hospice, Friends of Children, and Simmons Bible College of Louisville.

The biggest chunk - nearly $60,000 - went to ACTC, to be used for scholarships for deserving students from Boyd and Lewis counties, Roberts said.

Katherine Scott was originally from Lewis County.

"This is a way they can perpetuate their gift for many, many years for students in the community. It says a lot about the character of the people who left it," said ACTC Director of Advancement Frank Salisbury.

A bequest to their church was marked for use in building a handicap accessibility ramp and building maintenance, Roberts said. The other gifts didn't include any specifications, he said.

"She was a very kind and generous lady, and it was important to her that this was done in (her husband's) memory as well as hers. The gifts that she made at her death revealed the causes she and Mr. Scott believed were important in life: education, church and helping their fellow man," Roberts said.

Betty Cooper remembers when Lincoln Scott asked her attorney husband, the late Jim Cooper, for a bit of financial advice. "He came down with a shoebox and there was thousands of dollars in it," she said.

Her husband urged the Scotts to invest it and helped them choose appropriate securities.

"If some people who are so well to do could think of these people that had very little and what they did to benefit the community, they ought to give it some thought," she said.

Others with no dependents and getting on in years might think of indulging themselves with that much cash, but not the Scotts, Cooper said. "That's not the type of people they were. That would never have been an option," she said.

ACTC will use a portion of its bequest for immediate funding of some scholarships and will invest the remainder to endow future ones, Salisbury said.