France Aubry, resident of Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine), died on September 4, 2022 at the age of 82, bequeathed all her property to the commune of Saint-Jouan-de-l'Isle (Côtes d'Armor), i.e. “equivalent to one million euros,” reports the weekly
Le Petit Bleu des Côtes d’Armor
in an article dated February 15.
A surprise for the inhabitants of the municipality who had never heard of her.
When the study “Les notaires des Lices” informed him, Gilles Coupu, mayor of this village of 500 souls, struggled to believe it.
In her will written and registered in 2010, France Aubry bequeathed to the small town life insurance in the amount of €277,605, as well as a luxury apartment designed by the architect Jean Nouvel, located at François Mitterrand mall in Rennes, worth €690,000.
A legacy which, by itself, triples the annual budget of the municipality, usually amounting to €450,000.
As for the resale at garage sales of furniture, crockery and objects coming with the apartment, it allows the associations of the municipality to share €2,738.
A family grave in the town
“I was both very surprised and very happy,”
admits the mayor to the Dinan-based weekly.
So surprised that he decides to investigate the mysterious donor.
“What mattered to me was why she donated. She had no close family. So, I met Francine Chollet, who lives in Caulnes. She told me that it was a distant cousin that she knew in her youth and this information allowed me to better situate her
,” he continues.
Francine Chollet explains to the councilor her relationship with France Aubry, who is none other than the niece of her grandmother and the goddaughter of her father, Roger Méal.
“France’s father, Francis Aubry, had a career in the gendarmerie in Collinée, Ploubalay, Combourg… When he retired, the couple went to live in Rennes with their daughter.”
Family history therefore sheds light on the gesture of the donor, described by the mayor as a very discreet person who came to the family grave.
Her parents and her grandfather who died in Saint-Jouan in 1929 rested there,
“and she wanted to be buried alongside them
,” explains Gilles Coupu.
Little is known about France Aubry, except that she was a saleswoman and took care of her parents.
She loved traveling, flowers, her little dog Zinnia - taken in by a friend -, specifies the local weekly.
Investments have already been made thanks to the help of the generous donor.
“We have carried out major work in the town and we have not planned any other major investments for the end of the mandate.
We will think about how to best use this money.
The municipality owns the old bakery and the staff apartment of the former public school.
A reflection is underway on their future
,” says Gilles Coupu to
Petit Bleu des Côtes d’Armor
.
France Aubry's only request in return for this bequest was that the town hall maintain her family's grave and not move it.
The municipality honored his last wish.