A retired high school teacher in Concordia has left a $7.4 million estate gift to benefit students majoring in the arts, humanities and education at the University of Kansas, according to a news release from KU.

The teacher, Lavon Brosseau, grew up on a farm without electricity or plumbing and lived in a two-bedroom house until her death in 2016 at the age of 88, according to the news release.

“It’s not what you get in life that’s important — it’s what you share,” said Brosseau in 2014. “I’m concerned about young people and their education, because I’ve lived long enough to know that the kids who have an education are able to go farther in life.”

photo by: Contributed photo

Lavon Brosseau

Lavon was preceded in death in 1998 by her husband, Jack Brosseau, who co-owned a small glass company. The farmland the couple owned became a large part of their estate, according to KU.

The $7.4 million gift will benefit multiple academic areas.

Brosseau earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Kansas State University and a master’s degree in English literature from Pittsburg State University. She taught in public high schools in the Kansas cities of Atwood, Coffeyville and Concordia, as well as Cloud County Community College.

“She was one of the finest, most generous philanthropists our community has ever seen,” said Dana Brewer, a longtime family attorney and friend from Concordia, in KU’s news release.