ST. LOUIS - George Kyle was a kind man and a creature of habit.

For 46 years, he meticulously manned the desk at the Carpenter branch of the St. Louis Public Library, checking books in and out, answering questions, organizing files, all for a modest salary that probably never exceeded $18,000.

The clerk was known to be frugal, bringing the same thing every day for lunch: a bologna sandwich on white bread, with two graham crackers he would break into quarters before eating and a thermos of milk.

So imagine the surprise at the public library when it was learned that Kyle, who died of heart and kidney problems at age 88 in 2003, had left a gift of more than $350,000 to buy books for the Carpenter branch. Read more from The Associated Press