Former Richmond teacher leaves $1.1 million apiece for U.Va., UNC

Before Jane Iris Crutchfield died in 2006, the retired Virginia schoolteacher and librarian had quietly decided what to do with the considerable sum she had tucked away throughout her life: She would give it to two universities where she got her education.

Crutchfield, or "Miss Iris" as she was known, left more than $2 million to be divided between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia.

Crutchfield left $1.1 million to U.Va.'s Curry School of Education, where she gained her master's degree in education in 1952.

"Most education schools don't get a lot of large gifts like that. It means a lot," said Deborah Donnelly, executive director of the Curry School's foundation.

And her $1.1 million gift to the UNC School of Information and Library Science, where she received the equivalent of a master's degree in 1955, was the largest in the school's history.

"We had no idea it would be of this size," said the dean, José-Marie Griffiths.

According to her obituary in The Washington Post, Crutchfield died at age 92 on Dec. 10, 2006, of cardiopulmonary failure at her home in McLean. A Danville native who grew up in Richmond, she worked as a librarian at Patrick Henry Elementary School in Arlington County from 1960 until her retirement in the late 1970s.

Crutchfield began her career as a teacher in the Danville public school system and later worked in Richmond as a teacher and school librarian.

In 1953, she was an English teacher at Richmond's John Marshall High School. In July of that year, The Richmond News Leader quoted her as part of a story about how teachers spend their summers. "I had always said there'd be no summer teaching for me," she said. "But the group is small . . . and they don't seem to gripe too much."

Her gift to UNC will go to a scholarship fund that benefits students admitted to one of the school's master's degree programs.

At U.Va., Donnelly said the bulk of the donation will be used to complete Bavaro Hall, the Curry School's new multipurpose center, and for student financial aid and faculty support.

Mary Kay Lanzillotta, Crutchfield's neighbor for several years, remembers Crutchfield's passion for reading. Crutchfield would invite Lanzillotta and her siblings over for tea parties and bread-making lessons. She remembered how the petite Crutchfield was always well-dressed. Ferragamo shoes, from Italy, were her favorite.

"Money was not something you talked about back then," Lanzillotta said. "But I guess she just knew how to save her money."

Crutchfield made both donations in memory of her mother, Janie Ganin Crutchfield.

"Iris was very close to her mother," Lanzillotta said. "Remember, coeducation hadn't really taken off at that time. It's pretty impressive that she had all of these degrees."

As one of Crutchfield's co-trustees and guardians, Lanzillotta said she doesn't know how Crutchfield, who never married or had children, amassed all the money. She just remembers being surprised by the amount.

"I had no idea," she said. "It was only after her passing that we looked through her estate and realized, 'Wow, this is going to be a significant contribution.'"
Times-Dispatch archives contributed to this report.