Josh Ferrin, the 2004 Locher Award winner, recently relocated back to Salt Lake City and this week closed on the purchase of a house. This weekend he went up into the attic and found several old ammunition cases filled with money. An estimated $50,000 squirreled away by the previous owner who passed away last November.
“I’m not perfect, and I wish I could say there was never any doubt in my mind. We knew we had to give it back, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t think about our car in need of repairs, how we would love to adopt a child and aren’t able to do that right now, or fix up our outdated house that we just bought,” Ferrin said. “But the money wasn’t ours to keep and I don’t believe you get a chance very often to do something radically honest, to do something ridiculously awesome for someone else and that is a lesson I hope to teach to my children.”
The money was returned to the previous owner’s children.
Hats off for such honesty. Such a rare attribute these days. Well done, Josh!
“there goes the LAST way to make a living at editorial cartooning.”
-Anonymous cartoonist
Of course, Josh neglects to mention he actually found 100,000. 🙂 Well done, sir. A credit to cartoonists everywhere.
What need of money do cartoonists have? They already have the adoration of the public.
Well played, Josh.
I wonder how many people are checking their attic right now?
With all the press he is getting hopefully he is on the phone to his literary agent making a deal to write a book about the virtures of honesty and will make 10Xs that much.
Cool story. I had a similar thing happen but it was not recently stashed money, $3,500 in bills & change in a jar at the bottom of a chimney, which we were tearing down during a big house remodeling project. This was in 2000, and the most recent coin in the jar was about 1975. The bills were pretty fragile but not quite old enough to turn to dust in our trembling hands!
This story is giving him a lot of exposure. That’s worth more than the money.
And as we all know, cartoonists want the exposure over the money any day!
“Thank goodness you found them! I was wondering where I left all those aluminum boxes! When will you be sending them?
I too hope to have an attic one day.