Five local charities are splitting $1-million donated by the estate of Louise Strangway.

Cheques for $200,000 each were handed out at Sarnia City Hall Friday morning.

The beneficiaries are St. Joseph’s Hospice, the Sarnia and District Humane Society, VON, Salvation Army and the Canadian Red Cross.

Strangway’s nephew Rob Weston says his aunt was a wonderful lady who cared about everyone else, more so than herself.

“She was always giving to the community quietly, didn’t want any recognition, and probably wouldn’t want this recognition either, but I thought it was fitting to recognize that this is what she was doing her whole life,” says Weston.

Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Phillips says Louise was a pleasure to take care of at the hospice.

“She was always very appreciative and obviously a very generous lady. It warms my heart,” says Phillips.

Mayor Mike Bradley calls it a remarkable act of generosity and Christian charity.

Louise Strangway died in February of this year at the age of 96.

Each of the five charities had special meaning to her.

The Sarnia and District Humane Society plans to use the money to purchase a new van for local OSPCA agents. A medical room at the Exmouth St. location will also be named the Archie & Louise Strangway Room, after Louise and her husband who passed away in 1996.

Sarnia-Lambton’s Victorian Order of Nurses plans to develop a special education fund and an endowment fund. The VON also says they will recognize Louise on the memorial garden wall in Sarnia’s Centennial Park.

St. Joseph’s Hospice, the Salvation Army and Canadian Red Cross all said the funds would stay local to help provide a number of vital services to the community.