An 89 -year -old Norman bequeaths his fortune of 2 million euros to his town (but only on 2 conditions)

Near Caen (Calvados), the village of Escoville releases an atmosphere of tranquility, with its 800 souls and households with limestone and white concrete. However, the town has made the whole region pale in jealousy since a beneficent has bequeathed all its heritage. A fortune corresponding to more than two million euros, or four times the annual budget of the municipality.

The town hall inherits ten houses

In addition to her life insurance and her bank account, the donor slept on her will the ten houses of which she was the owner. A breathtaking gift for the town, which will receive, for life, rents up to 90,000 euros per year.

“When the notary contacted me to announce the news in the fall of 2024, I almost fell from my chair,” says the mayor, Christophe Click, a big smile on his lips. Notarial procedure obliges, the councilor feverishly waited for the municipal vows ceremony on January 18, to reveal the name of the beneficent: Raymonde Rouelle, a Norman died at 89 years old.

A single lady without children

In Escolivre, the local associative library, volunteers search in their memory. “Raymonde Rouelle? Yes, it was an energetic, elegant little lady, always accompanied by her poodle. She did not live in Escoville, but in Mondeville, another commune in the suburbs of Caen.

So why “Monette”, of her nickname, chose to give such a sum to a modest Norman town? “She very often came to the village to meditate on the graves of her family,” says Monique, a retired resident. I remember that her grandmother was holding a bread depot, when we were still just a hamlet. Its roots are here. »»

Single and without children, Raymonde Rouelle had only distant parents around. And, when the news of her legacies made the headlines of the Norman newspapers, no cousin brought the town hall to claim her due. The tax rate on indirect successions – 60 % – may have had something to discourage them. The town hall of Escoville, it did not have to pay a penny of tax, in accordance with the law.

A legacy under conditions

On her will, the generous benefactor, however, set two conditions on the municipal council: regularly maintaining the burials of her relatives and renovating the church, a 18th century jewel spared by the landing bombs.

Because Monette, very believing, preciously retained illustrations of the Virgin Mary and the blessed salt in her house in Mondeville. It is in this city that the Rouelle family built its fortune, investing in houses and a hotel-restaurant, named the pastor.

Perpetuate the memory of Monette

“Raymonde Rouelle held the establishment until the end of the 1990s, when the metallurgical industry was still flourishing around Caen,” recalls Joël Jeanne, municipal councilor in Mondeville. It was a full board, at low prices, for the many factories workers. ”

Today, the hotel-restaurant has closed its doors and takes a bygone era with it. But in Escoville, the town hall made the promise to perpetuate the memory of Monette. And will create a fleet of fruit trees that will bear its name.