Iconic Nova Scotia taxi driver leaves $1.68 million to local hospital in his will
Global News
John MacLellan, who went by Johnny, left $1.68 million to St. Martha's Regional Hospital, marking the largest single donation in its history.
It was no surprise that beloved Antigonish, N.S., taxi driver John MacLellan gave what money he had to the local hospital in his will, family friend Margie Zinck said.
“But we were very surprised by the amount,” Zinck said, reached by phone Wednesday at her home in Antigonish, in the province’s northeast.
MacLellan, who went by Johnny, left $1.68 million to St. Martha’s Regional Hospital, marking the largest single donation in its history.
He spent 63 years as a taxi driver in Antigonish before retiring at 89 after a stroke. MacLellan was always frugal, Zinck said, adding that she believes he made some of his money in the stock market.
“He always kept saying he’d leave a lot of money to the hospital; he was always saying that,” Zinck said, adding that she never imagined how much money he would give.
MacLellan died in 2018 at age 96, and he gifted $1.68 million to the hospital in increments spread over several months. The hospital received the final payment from MacLellan’s estate in June 2021. The generous gift was only made public earlier this month, however, when the St. Martha’s Hospital Foundation released a video tribute to MacLellan.
Foundation chair Meghan MacGillivray-Case said her group didn’t realize the true size of the donation until it received the last payment.
“We are so very grateful to John MacLellan,” she said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s just so impactful to the community here.”