A retired music teacher has stunned her former neighbours and north-east charities by leaving them £1.1million in her will.
Dorothy Brown bequeathed £100,000 from her estate to Veronica and Peter Dewey who used to live beside her in Aberdeen.
Another £100,000 will go to Banchory West Church where she played the organ more than six decades ago.
She also left £40,000 to her carers and other neighbours.
And the rest of her estate will be split between the Aberdeen International Youth Festival, Mrs Murray’s Cat & Dog Home in the city and the Scottish Rights of Way & Access Society.
Miss Brown, who was originally from Banchory, died earlier this year aged 87.
Mrs Dewey and her husband lived next door to her for more than 30 years in Aberdeen’s Woodend Crescent, and said it was an “utter surprise” when they found out they would be receiving the life-changing bequest.
Mrs Dewey said: “Dorothy was a great friend of ours for many years in Aberdeen.
“To be honest, when we found out that Dorothy had left us this money it was a total shock, we were both very close to Dorothy and her companion, Margaret, but sadly Margaret died a number of years ago.
“We had always tried to help them out though, doing bits of gardening or DIY and then when Margaret passed and Dorothy was on her own we almost became like family to her.
“She was such a lovely lady, very generous in nature and had an excellent sense of humour. She was just the loveliest person to be around and to be able to help.”
Growing up in Banchory, Miss Brown had longstanding links with the West Parish Church and played the organ there back in 1951.
Minister the Rev Tony Stephen said: “We are always thrilled with any donation, no matter how big or small.
“As a church we are very passionate about supporting the community and want this donation to do just that.
“Dorothy’s donation was very generous and really came out of the blue to us.”
Pastoral assistant, Christine Mechie, added: “We’re obviously thrilled to have this donation, it’s wonderful to receive and we are now really going to look at how we are going to use the money for the church, but also the community.”
Helen Macdonald, from the Aberdeen International Youth Festival, said: “In light of the difficult circumstances in Aberdeen our situation with our sponsors has changed so it’s people like Dorothy who we are incredibly grateful to.
“She is really leaving a legacy to the next generation of young performers and it is definitely an extremely generous thing to do.”
Manager at Mrs Murray’s, Marie Simpson, said: “We rely very heavily on the legacy and donations of people like Dorothy as we receive no government funding.
“Anything that is left to us is always very much appreciated.”
Mrs Dewey added: “Both Dorothy and Margaret were very fond of animals and they both had dogs for a very long time, and I know they adopted a stray cat.
“I know she would have been very happy to see her money go on to help animals.
“Dorothy was also very keen on music and always wanted to encourage young people to take up music, I hope this love of music will live on through her donation to the youth festival.
“She will have found great happiness in contributing to these charities.”
