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Throughout his life. Walt Disney taught all of us to live our dreams. He passed that belief on to everyone around him, and it continues to live on through Disneyland and his final dream, Walt Disney World.
Disney was also incredibly generous to those around, none more so than the Disney Family’s live-in housekeeper, Thelma Howard. But Howard’s story, before and after the Disney family, is something that not even Walt could have dreamed up.
Credit: History.com
Howard grew up in Idaho. Her mother died in childbirth when she was six, and that same year, her older sister burned to death in a cooking accident. Howard left Idaho and went to business school in Washington before making her way to Los Angeles, where she did office work and cleaned houses.
In 1951, she was hired as a live-in housekeeper, cook, and nanny at the Disney home. She would stay in that position for the next 30 years.
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Howard quickly endeared herself to the Disney children, but Walt loved her the most. She had to ensure that every detail of the house was perfect, including stocking the fridge with hot dogs.
Every night when he got home from the office, Disney would have two cold hot dogs, one for himself and one for the dog. Because of her attention to detail and magical way with children, Disney called her “the real-life Mary Poppins.”
Howard stayed with the Disney family until 1981, when her body started breaking down. She died in 1994. She was buried in a pink casket overlooking the Disney Studios at Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills.
But when Howard died, she had a secret that the world would only learn about after she had passed. Every year for Christmas, Disney would give her Walt Disney Company stock. Because of her devotion to the Disney family, she held on to every share of stock until her death.
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When Howard died, she owned 192,755 shares of the Walt Disney Company. At the time of her death, she was worth more than $9 million. Today, those shares would be worth nearly $200 million.
Howard left half of her fortune to create the Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation. The Foundation helps to fund art-based enrichment programs for school-aged kids. In the nearly 30 years since it was formed, the Foundation has donated more than $4 million.
Disney’s generosity lives on through Thelma Howard. Now, they are both helping children’s dreams come true.
