Waitress Leaves 30 Years of Tips to Nursing Program

A frugal waitress, who eschewed luxuries in favor of hunting and fishing, willed the $64,816.17 in tips she collected for more than three decades to a college nursing program.

When Alta B. Rose died last year at age 74, the unmarried woman bequeathed all the tips she had made for a scholarship fund at Bee County College, where President Norman E. Wallace says it will pay for tuition, books and supplies for all 30 Kingsville nursing students.

Miss Rose suffered from cancer the last five years of her life, but her friends say she always had a kind word or a smile for the people she served and the friends that she made in this South Texas city.

$65-a-Month Rent

“She wasn’t extravagant about anything. She never did want to owe for anything,” said A.R. Bradshaw, 72. “The most she ever spent in rent was $65 a month.”

Kleberg County Judge W. C. McDaniel, who knew Miss Rose 30 years and helped her write a will as she was dying, said she earned the tips at two restaurants and at the Elks Club she managed.

“She had talked with me and my wife about donating to a worthy cause,” McDaniel said. “We talked about several colleges for scholarships and she decided to use it where it would be most helpful for the people of this county.”

The woman also left 64 shares of stock to the nursing school and $5,000 each to a sister and a sister-in-law.