There’s customer loyalty, and then there’s Karen Parker Gray’s level of loyalty. Parker Gray, who was an heiress living in New York’s prestigious Upper East Side, passed away in August of a heart attack, but just days before the 72-year-old’s death, Karen Parker Gray wrote out an unwitnessed, handwritten will that shocked many who worked for her over the years.
In Parker Gray’s 10-page hand-written will , she made sure to take care of those who were always faithful in taking care of her, reports New York Daily News . To her favorite nail technician, a married Korean immigrant named Jenny Kim — who Parker Gray had visited twice a week for the last 12 years — the heiress left a whopping $50,000. The 60-year-old nail tech said she was deeply saddened when she learned of Parker Gray’s passing on August 24, but that sadness became surprise when she learned that she had received such a large sum of money from her faithful customer.
“I feel good that she remembered me like that — not about the money. She enjoyed having a massage on her hands and legs. She liked it nice and quiet so she could relax. She was a nice lady, very kind.”
Kim wasn’t the only one to greatly benefit from Karen Parker Gray’s generosity. Yahoo News reports that Parker Gray also left substantial amounts of money to Elie Camaro, her hairstylist at Frederic Fekkai, as well as her “favorite coat check woman at Fekkai,” who, like Kim, each received $50,000.
To add to the list of those touched by her kindness, an unnamed doorman of Parker Gray’s was left another $50,000, while her personal housekeeper was given $10,000.
The daughter of Jack Parker — Vice President of General Electric and later director of Pan Am and the Smithsonian Institution — it remains to be seen exactly how much Karen Parker Gray was worth, but it is known that she was incredibly liberal with her benevolence. She had three stepchildren who were all remembered in her will, as were many of her friends. One unnamed friend inherited her house “if he wants it,” and another, named only as Shaun in the will, was given Parker Gray’s Lexus, “for all those midnight runs with the alarm going off.” She even bequeathed enough money to various couples, ordering that they “take a vacation to Scotland.”
Among the beneficiary institutes listed in her will were the Hoover Institution, the Heard Museum in Arizona, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was “a huge source of pleasure” for her. In total, the kind and generous Karen Parker Gray bequeathed around $3 million to those people she felt played a special part in her life.
[Image Credit: Brad Barket/Getty Images]
