Edition: U.S. / Global

Mourning a Relative, and an Estate

Published: September 25, 2000

To the Editor:

Re ''Rich? No, Frugal,'' by Stanley Herz (Op-Ed, Sept. 21):

My parents fled the Soviet invasion of their native Latvia. In the United States my mother cleaned homes and graduated to become a locker-room attendant. My father tended gardens. Their children got an education and my parents were ever thankful for that.

My parents were frugal. My inheritance was $42,500. I have used that money to help children in Latvia get an education, to help them erase the scars left by 50 years of occupation.

Were I to die today, I would be glad that a portion of my estate would go the United States, a country that has no equal.


Shelton, Wash., Sept. 21, 2000