Garda Beneficiaries: Two Elderly Ladies Leave Inheritances to Town

Old ladies’ donations to Garda

The elderly ladies have a fondness for the municipality of Garda. There is no other explanation; in just over a year, two of them have decided to leave their inheritance to the municipal administration.

The first was, as is well known, Liliana Pincini, who passed away at the end of 1999 at the age of seventy-six; she bequeathed to the Comune the prestigious Palazzo Pompei-Carlotti, as well as some shops, shareholdings, and cash totaling multimillions.

Now, Mayor Giorgio Comencini has received news that another elderly resident of Garda wanted to benefit the seaside town. And this time it concerns a «newcomer» to Garda, a German lady who had chosen Garda to spend her old age in peace: Linda Martha Kornelia Bocks.

Certainly, in this case, the assets are not astronomical, but the donation still holds significant meaning: apparently, foreigners feel comfortable in Garda. «I learned with pleasure and also with a touch of emotion», recounts Mayor Giorgio Comencini, «that Mrs. Bocks has bequeathed to the Comune the sum of twenty thousand marks».

At the exchange rate, this amounts to just under twenty million lire. The mayor confirmed this to the succession department of the Munich court and to the same heir of Mrs. Bocks, Baron Stefan von Reiswitz und Kaderzin, who contacted the municipality to arrange the payment of the deceased’s bequest.

«Mrs. Bocks», recalls Comencini, «was a very kind person. I vividly remember her slender figure, her courtesy. I was very struck by the fact that she wanted to remember our community in her will, which also included benefits for the poor and homeless».

That Frau Bocks loved Garda is demonstrated by another detail. «In the will», says the mayor, «she was concerned that, should her villa be sold, it would be transferred to someone who would care for it diligently, without destructive or speculative intent. Another sign of her great attention to our territory».

If already it’s unusual for two elderly ladies to designate a municipality as heir, it is even more curious that both have passed away in the same period. Kornelia Bocks, single and childless, died on November 14, 1999. Liliana Pincini, who had also never married, died just ten days later, on November 24, 1999.

Regarding the Pincini inheritance, recent days have seen speculation that the usual unknown individuals may have entered the villa before the municipality took possession of it.

Opposition councilor Pierluigi Lorenzini has suggested that jewelry and silverware might have been stolen: strangely, the inventory of items found in the villa lists only one valuable object—a silver tray hidden behind a piece of furniture.

There has been a break-in report. Mayor Comencini himself admitted to being perplexed when reading the inventory of Mrs. Pincini’s estate. «The exact amount of the inheritance will be announced shortly, but the villa alone is worth billions», says Comencini.