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It is unlikely the Milwaukee area will ever replace the level and breadth of charitable giving that Jane Bradley Pettit bequeathed to the community.
There may be people with comparable fortunes in years to come, but Pettit chose to keep her wealth in Wisconsin, even though for tax purposes it made much more sense to move out like so many others.
"Few people will ever have the assets or the willingness to set an example in giving the way she did," said Fran Croak, a partner at Cook & Franke S.C. in Milwaukee who was Pettit's personal lawyer and adviser.
In 2000, Pettit contributed more than 160 grants to Milwaukee groups, ranging in value from $5,000 to millions of dollars, Croak said.
Croak and Margaret Lund, Cook & Franke's managing partner, are two of the surviving board members of the Jane B. Pettit Foundation. Pettit died Sept. 9 at age 82.
"The foundation will continue, but it will not make gifts of the magnitude Jane did," said Croak. "It won't have the same assets."
It is not unusual for someone with Pettit's wealth to give above and beyond what her foundation contributed to the community, said John Bannen, a Milwaukee lawyer who specializes in estates and trusts.
Judging by some of the huge grants, Bannen said Pettit probably gave away a considerable amount of her personal wealth, in addition to the...