Town stunned after farmer's funeral

KCCI reports that much of Western Iowa has been buzzing ever since Edwin 'Bud' Skalla was laid to rest.

The frugal farmer never married, and most people who knew him admitted that he wasn't exactly a 'people person.' The 92-year-old was quite a lone wolf, and Skalla's executor says Skalla wouldn't even sit with him to have a cup of coffee.

He's been described as a 'quirky' guy who never dressed lavishly and was basically a total mystery.

After his death, his priest (who also didn't know him so well) got a call. 'You're going to be on the receiving end of a very large bequest,' Father John Dorton said. 'How big is big?' he wondered.

A few days later, he got his answer: $3 million worth of farmland left to his parish.

'I've been a priest 43 years and I've never seen one like this,' Dorton said.

Then, surprises started to pop up everywhere. Break out a calculator and you're talking about a bequest that's in the neighborhood of about $10 million. He left that money to churches in 13 different towns, and each parish could be looking at a bequeath of $500,000.

In life, Bud Skalla had a reputation. In death, he earned a new one ... while teaching a lesson. Sometimes, you can't judge a book by its cover.