Cary Library Foundation receives a record $700,000 bequest from the Estate of Maria Toscano

Maria and Patrick Toscano of Lexington loved Cary Library; so much so that Mrs. Toscano made a record bequest totaling over $700,000 to the Cary Library Foundation. This bequest designates that the funds be used by Cary Library, primarily for the acquisition of new books; a generous act that will benefit both the library and our community for years to come.

This is the “largest bequest by far to the Foundation,” says Mary Ellen Ringo, Executive Director, Cary Library Foundation. “We’ve been fortunate to receive many generous bequests from Lexingtonians in support of Cary Library. Folks who plan to make a bequest to the Cary Library Foundation are invited to join our Maria Hastings Cary Legacy Society, where we honor them and their support.”

The Toscanos settled in Lexington in the late 1950s, at the end of Patrick’s naval career. Maria taught at elementary schools during the Navy years. “She loved kids,” recalled neighbor Nina Cotran. The couple particularly enjoyed attending programs at Cary Library. Maria managed to attend even after she stopped driving, after Patrick’s death in 2017, frequently asking her neighbor for a ride.

“She was a kind lady,” Cotran reminisced, “Patrick was completely devoted to her.” Cotran recollected the couple taking neighborhood walks and gardening together at their home, one of the first built in the neighborhood. Patrick, an electrical engineer, enjoyed fixing anything and everything, both in their home, and often for others. Cotran smiled, remembering how Patrick restored and gave a vintage camera to her son.

Maria and Patrick were both Rhode Island natives; and both attended the University of Rhode Island. They were very drawn to their home state, and especially to the ocean, often spending their weekends at a Rhode Island beach. Maria passed away two years after Patrick, in 2019.

This gift comes at a key time for Cary Library. Koren Stembridge, Director of Cary Library, says, “The Library Trustees have elected to establish a named endowment fund with the proceeds of the Toscano family’s bequest. This fund will generate an annual distribution to be spent for the purchase of new materials. Legacy gifts such as this one are profoundly touching to all of us at the library – we have the opportunity to see how a family’s generosity benefits the community for generations to come.”