Woman leaves $1.7M gift to local foundation

A longtime Durham resident who died last year left a $1.7 million gift to North Valley Community Foundation in her estate.

Donna Murrill moved to Chico after college with her husband, dentist Richard Murrill. They were married for 50 years before he died in 2012. Donna Murrill worked for 35 years in the Butte County Health Department. She supervised testing for many public health threats, including rabies, Lyme disease and tuberculosis.

In her trust, she left property to be sold, with half the proceeds designated for NVCF's wildfire recovery efforts.

A trustee for the estate said Donna Murrill was profoundly affected by the Camp Fire and its aftermath. She was evacuated from her home twice — first when the flames approached, then again a month later when flash floods hit the burn scar and caused Butte Creek to rise.

After seeing NVCF's work in the aftermath of the Camp, Bear and Dixie fires, she wanted to help with whatever comes next and left that designation in her trust.

“We are very grateful for Donna Murrill's incredible gift,” said Bill Hubbard, NVCF director of gift planning. “The trustees told us Mrs. Murrill wanted to publicly share her gift in the hope that others would do the same in their wills and trusts.

“She loved the small-town feel of this area — for example, she'd always go and support the Chico farmers market even though she had a huge garden of her own. The Chico area was important to her, and she wanted to make sure she left a legacy to help preserve that unique sense of place.”

To learn more about charitable planned giving, go to nvcfgiving.org or email Bill Hubbard at bhubbard@nvcf.org.