Fiesta Dinnerware Heir Leaves $9 Million to The Nature Conservancy
Filed under: Charity, Green, Big Givers
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Robert Wells, heir to the Fiesta Dinnerware collection (so embedded in the American consciousness it even became the topic of a recently produced off-Broadway play), has bequeathed $9 million to The Nature Conservancy. His attorney cited Wells's respect for the Conservancy's "wide footprint" after traveling to places like the Chilean coasts, New Zealand and Alaska. Twenty percent of the gift is earmarked for local conservation efforts in Wells's home state of West Virgina, specifically in the Central Appalachian Mountains. The bulk of the bequest will go towards global programs on behalf of the nature-loving recreational fisherman. The first date he took his wife on in the early 1950s? A 4:30 am catfishing expedition. Carolyn Wells also left a significant gift to the Conservancy following her death in 2005.
