I came across an interesting will written in 1937 while doing some family genealogy yesterday. This woman, Lida, came from a wealthy family consisting of 13 children. She died in 1945. She had no children and was widowed. The directions in her Will to her executor were the following Masses for the repose of the souls of:
-1000 Low Masses to be said for her father, her mother, and their children
-500 Low Masses for herself
-100 Low Masses for an aunt and uncle
-100 Low Masses for her deceased husband
-100 Low Masses for the souls in purgatory, 25 to be said at St. Mary's Cathedral, 25 to be said at Sacred Heart Church, 25 to be said at St. John's Church and 25 to be said at St. Joseph's Church
-50 Low Masses for the conversion of sinners, 15 to be said at St. Mary's Cathedral, 15 ar Sacred Heart Church, 10 to be said at St. John's Church and 10 to be said at St. Joseph's Church
That's a lot of Low Masses!
In addition to the Low Masses, the Will indicated the following:
-gave a sister all of her interest in the family trust
- gave $200 each to 2 nephews and 2 nieces (children of one of her sisters)
-gave $300 to the Sisters of St. Joseph who run the Academy of the Sacred Heart
-gave all the rest of her estate to her above-named sister
As it turned out, her sister (to whom she left all of her interest in a family trust and all of the rest of her estate) was deceased. Lida did have two sisters living, but they were never mentioned in her Will.
I also found the probate where the courts had to find Lida's living relatives. Oddly, the two living sisters were not mentioned but a number of nieces and nephews were named. They were the children of two other sisters. I sure would like to know the story of this family dynamics!
