rotary canada alberta woman donation dispute

Mary McEachern is wearing a bright fuchsia blazer, black slacks and a dab of Sisley-Paris Rose Mexico lipstick. Her blue eyes are clear, but she can’t see much. Her mind is sharp, but her hearing is shot. She sits at her kitchen table, in her condo with beat-up cupboards and worn carpets, explaining why she believes a global charity of do-gooders are a bunch of greedy jerks.Ms. McEachern is 101 years old and sparring with the Rotary International Foundation over her late husband’s estate, worth roughly $40-million. Steve McEachern’s chicken-scratch signature is on his will, dated Nov. 22, 2019, which appears to bequeath the money to the Rotary after his wife dies. But, between signing the will and his death 10 months later at 98, Ms. McEachern said her husband changed his mind.She took care of him in their condo, kitty-corner to the University of Alberta Hospital, during his final months. He decided that he had given enough to the Rotary throughout his lifetime, according to Ms. McEachern. Instead, he wanted the money spread around to charities closer to home, she said. The widow, who is a co-trustee of the will, wants to distribute the money to the Rotary and 17 other charities, ranging from the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind to the air ambulance organization known as Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service Foundation (STARS).