Eureka! A $3.3-Million Bonanza

Harry Adorni, lifelong resident of this small Northern California seaport, often told his friends:

“When I check out, I want to leave a smile on everyone’s face.”

Adorni died last Oct. 2 at the age of 94. Hazel, his wife of 71 years, had died three years earlier. They had no children or close relatives.

When Harry Adorni’s name is mentioned these days, the people of Eureka smile.

He left his hometown $3.3 million to be used to develop park and recreation facilities. Residents and officials are trying to decide exactly how to spend the money.

The bequest, the largest gift in Eureka’s history, was made public in April by Mayor Fred J. Moore Jr.

“Few places the size of Eureka (population 25,000) ever get a gift this size from one of its citizens,” said Moore, 77. “The money came to the city as a complete surprise.”

Since Moore’s announcement, City Hall has been inundated with telephone calls and letters on how to spend the money. Suggestions have included new parks, piers, a gazebo and fountain, a fish hatchery, an aquatic park, a children’s museum, swimming pool, ice-skating rink, convention center, art museum, waterfront walkway, logging museum, sports car drag strip and much more.

Fans of the local minor league baseball team, the Crabs, advocated the money be spent “to hire some first-rate players for a change.”

Adorni’s parents migrated to Eureka from Italy in the 1880s. Harry was born here in 1893. He graduated from eighth grade and went to work in his parents’ corner grocery store. Later he operated a small, independent insurance agency.

He was a dapper man, 5 foot 6, slender and well-known around town. He enjoyed fly-fishing and bowling and was a member of the Native Sons of California and the Sons of Italy.

His property acquisitions through the years included three downtown buildings, and he had some success in the stock market.

‘Loved This Town’

“Harry loved this town. He said Eureka was good to him and his family, and he wanted to give something back,” recalled Adorni’s attorney, Bob Dedekam.

“He wasn’t frugal nor was he a big spender. He had a lot of friends, but he was not a social hotdog. Neither was Hazel. Harry said he didn’t want his name to be forgotten among tombstones in the cemetery after he died,” said the attorney.

Fifteen years ago Adorni drew up the will setting aside substantial bequests to 40 people and institutions and leaving the residue of his estate to the city. At the time of his death his estate totaled more than $5.6 million.

Final approval on how the $3.3 million will be spent is left with Jennie Maffia, 67, a lifelong friend of the Adornis and executrix of the will.

“I know what Harry would like. I knew his feelings,” Maffia said. “Some of the proposals haven’t the slightest chance. The log museum, for example. That’s not what Harry had in mind. A drag strip to race cars. Harry wasn’t into anything like that. He wasn’t for improvements. He wanted something the city doesn’t have and cannot afford.”

Weeks of Study

She said that she and city officials will probably spend weeks studying all possibilities before making a decision and that they could decide on one major project or several smaller ones.

The will stipulates that the money must be spent within four years of his death and that whatever is built with the funds must be marked with a plaque reading, “Donated by Harry Adorni and Hazel, his wife.” Any money left over after Oct. 2, 1991, will be turned over to Humboldt County for the same purpose.

“I’m not sure Harry ever thought his gift to the city would stir up all this fuss. But I think he would be happy about it. It doesn’t look like Harry Adorni is a name that will be forgotten on a tombstone in the cemetery,” Maffia said.