A New Hampshire man secretly invested his money and died with $3.8M. He left it all to his town.

Loved ones and community members knew the late Geoffrey Holt to be a reserved man who liked simple things. 

What most people didn’t know is that he was sitting on a $3.8 million fortune. Holt died on June 6, leaving millions to his beloved town of Hinsdale, New Hampshire, about 20 miles southwest of Swanzey.

Hinsdale Town Administrator Kathryn Lynch said Edwin “Smokey” Smith is Holt’s estate executor. He told town administrators about Holt’s generous donation a few months ago. The money was given to the NH Charitable Foundation, a non-profit.

“The town and other community committees can apply annually for a grant of $150,000 to be used for health, education, culture or recreation,” she told USA TODAY in an email on Wednesday.  

The town is considering using the money for electronic ballot machines since Holt was “an avid voter.” They are also considering updating the town clock.

“The possibilities are endless,” Lynch wrote. “Mr. Holt had dyslexia, we could fund a program to educate the teachers on this subject. Mr. Holt’s mother was a librarian. We will honor that as well.”

The main thing, she said, is that they want to honor how frugal Holt was and find ways to help people in Hinsdale save money through the town budget.

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Smokey Smith, Holt’s pal and executor of his estate, calls the late millionaire Geoff. 

The pair met when Smith ran an insurance company. Holt had insurance with Smith and would always come visit the office to handle business in person.

“He was very reserved,” Smith said. “He liked to be at the back of a group rather than in the front. He got along well with people but he didn't want to be the one leading the conversation. If he knew what was going on today with this story … he would be all sorts of embarrassed. He really didn't like to be the focus of attention.”

He said Holt worked for Agway Corporation in the 1970s. According to his obituary, he was a production manager with the company. When they closed in the 1980s, he received a cash settlement that he chose to invest.

He also did odd jobs around town when Agway closed. Smith eventually hired him to do some work on his land. 

He had some barns that needed to be removed, so Holt took on that job, among others. 

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New Hampshire man shared mobile home with woman for 20 years, collected trains

Smith said Holt eventually moved into an apartment he owned and then, a mobile home that he shared with a woman named Thelma Parker. He lived with Parker for 20 years and according to his obituary, she was his longtime life partner. She died in 2017.

“She was good for him and he was good for her,” Smith said. “She sort of kept him on the straight and narrow. She helped him be a little more social. They were a good fit. She was the inspiration he needed to keep moving and she had somebody around to help her and do things with her and for her.”

He had a car when he worked at Agway but sold it. After that, he biked back and forth, Smith said. When he lived with Parker, they shared a vehicle.

What Holt seemed to really love was his lawn mower. He’d ride around Smith’s property with his bad leg elevated on the hood of the vehicle, his friend recalled.

“We have about a 25-acre parcel and Geoff had free rein on going anywhere he wants to,” he said. “He had several places where he trimmed back the brush so that he could sit down there and read magazines, newspapers, just put his foot up and enjoy the brook and nature.”

He actually took a photo of Smith on the mower once and thought the photo was perfect.

“That's a true Geoff expression,” he said. “Seeing him sitting on the lawn mower was the way most people saw him. It just looked like Geoffrey. He appreciated what was going on.”

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Over the years, Smith knew Holt to collect train layouts and had 30 or 40 of them, Smith said. He also loved die-cast cars, or miniature replicas often made using metal-casting methods.

“He had well over 1,000 of them,” he said.

Holt had a stroke in September 2021 and spent a month in rehab. He returned to the mobile home for about six weeks and then couldn’t take care of himself anymore, Smith said. He also had dementia, so he eventually moved to an assisted living facility and then full nursing care.

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Holt spent many years in preparatory school when he was younger. His parents initially told him he was only supposed to be away for a short period of time, Smith recalled.

“That's where he learned that if you stay in the background, you stay out of trouble,” Smith said, adding that boarding school may be part of the reason for his late friend’s shyness.

In 1963, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Marlboro College in Vermont and then served in the United States Navy, his obituary reads. 

He later earned a master’s degree from American International College in Massachusetts in 1968 and then taught social studies and drivers' education at Thayer High School in Winchester, New Hampshire.

Smith recalls the day Holt told him about his fortune. It was about 13 years ago. He said his investments had done better than he expected. Smith told his friend to chat with a trust attorney. He wasn’t sure what else to do.

“The only thing that I said to him when he left was ‘Don’t forget Hinsdale,’” Smith recalled. I didn’t expect that he would give his full estate to the town but that's the way it worked out … It really shows that he had a great deal of respect for me and I am humbled by that, actually.”

Geoffrey Holt leaves behind his sister, Allison Holt, as well as Mary Desmond, daughter of his life partner, Thelma Parker.