Because he considered it an unnecessary expense, the Indianapolis man lived in a modest home, drove an old Honda and avoided owning a cellphone.
For years, Terence “Terry” Kahn lived in a way that gave little indication he had accumulated millions of dollars. Even his longtime attorney and friends were surprised by the size of his fortune.
When Kahn died in 2021, the value of his estate exceeded $13 million. In October 2021, executive director Margaret Sheehan received an unexpected call from Indianapolis attorney Dwayne Isaacs, who was representing Kahn’s estate. The nonprofit says Kahn’s estate ultimately offered it $1.6 million, a gift that helped establish its first-ever endowment fund and support its work providing classroom supplies. He eventually spent 27 years at the Roudebush VA Medical Center before retiring around 2003.
Isaacs had known Kahn since the 1990s, when they were connected through the Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis, according to Indianapolis Monthly. Much of that money was eventually distributed to Indianapolis-area nonprofits, but the organizations receiving the calls had not necessarily been expecting anything. One of those calls went to Teachers’ Treasures, an Indianapolis nonprofit that provides free school supplies and educational materials to teachers serving students in need. The message was difficult to believe: Teachers’ Treasures could receive a major donation, anywhere between half a million to a million dollars. Kahn was then serving as chief of human resources at the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center and was a member of the foundation’s board. Kahn was known for being extremely careful with money. The man lived in an unassuming bi-level home in the solidly middle-class Holly Hills subdivision off Southport Road. He and Isaacs later became regular lunch companions after Kahn left the foundation’s board. Their lunches often involved coupons and inexpensive restaurants. Kahn did not own a cellphone and was known for looking for bargains. But beneath that frugal lifestyle, Kahn was steadily accumulating wealth. He had earned degrees in psychology and public administration from the University of Southern California, served in the US Army in Vietnam and subsequently built a long career with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The story of Kahn’s fortune began long before the unexpected calls to Indianapolis charities.
Kahn died on January 31, 2021, at age 77. The nonprofit says it received the call in 2021 from Isaacs, who asked whether it could handle a transformative gift. The organization says the $1.6 million donation supported its mission and created its first endowment fund. It’s one that will live on for a long, long time. ” Teachers’ Treasures currently says it serves more than 4,000 Marion County teachers and their students across more than 330 schools. The organization says teachers in the area can spend hundreds or even more than $1,000 of their own money each year on supplies, highlighting the role such donated resources can play in classrooms.
“He called at the perfect time, just as we were engaged in conversation about how to grow the organization,” Sheehan recalled. Sheehan says if she could thank Kahn in person, “I’d be crying, and I’d hope he’d be happy with his legacy. He had no immediate family of his own, and his instructions were that his money should ultimately go to charity. He also had some unusually specific wishes about his death: he wanted to be cremated, did not want a funeral and did not want money spent on an obituary. After Kahn’s death, Isaacs and McLarren took on the task of distributing his money. Rather than simply giving away small amounts over many years, they looked for organizations where a large contribution could make a meaningful difference. Isaacs researched nonprofits, including their missions and financial records, before approaching them. The organizations often had no idea the calls were coming. Each organization was assured that there would be no lengthy application process to slog through, no need to turn in annual reports or financial disclosures. They needed only to submit a few pages describing how the money would be used and sign a simple one-page agreement. Teachers’ Treasures was among those contacted. The gift was particularly significant for a nonprofit whose purpose is to help teachers obtain classroom resources without having to bear the full cost themselves. It operates free teacher stores where eligible educators can obtain supplies and materials.
Because his lifestyle never matched the size of his bank account, kahn’s story stood out. CBS News reported that about a dozen nonprofits ultimately received portions of Kahn’s estate. He did spend money on some things he valued, particularly sports. He had season tickets for the Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Pacers and Butler University’s men’s basketball games. He would sell tickets he did not use, however, helping offset the cost. Friends also remembered him as someone who enjoyed finding bargains and buying household goods from Costco in bulk. His modest lifestyle meant that even people who had known him for years did not realize he had become a multimillionaire. The surprise continued after his death, when nonprofits across Indianapolis began receiving calls about large donations from an estate they had never expected to benefit from. The recipients included organizations supporting veterans, survivors of domestic violence, education and sports. The donations were not simply a final financial transaction. For the organizations involved, they represented substantial new resources that could be used to strengthen programs, address long-term needs or establish funds designed to provide support beyond the initial gift. For Teachers’ Treasures, Kahn’s unexpected contribution became part of the nonprofit’s long-term financial foundation. More than three years after the story first emerged, the charity continues to identify Kahn’s estate as a transformative part of its history. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
At one point, he told Isaacs he had accumulated roughly $3 million to $4 million and wanted his eventual fortune to go to charity. Shortly before his death, Isaacs and Vance McLarren, who was involved in the administration of Kahn’s estate, learned that the man’s wealth had surpassed $13 million. The Washington Post later reported that Kahn’s estate ultimately distributed a little more than $13 million to about a dozen Indianapolis nonprofits over roughly two years.
Indianapolis Monthly reported that Kahn’s fortune consisted partly of inherited money but also reflected years of saving and investing. Kahn also inherited money from his parents who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s and settled in US. He grew up alongside his sister in Tucson, where their father was a doctor at the VA hospital. Kahn invested the inherited money, helping his wealth grow over the years. He did not, however, settle on a detailed list of beneficiaries. The revelation stunned them.
Kahn’s fortune grew substantially beyond the figure he had previously disclosed.