McCrea said the couple was frugal, shopping at used clothing stores and traveling on a budget, and gaining the ability to donate to support learning.

"We had tiny salaries but quickly paid the mortgages in 3 1/2 years," wrote Merritt, who was born in Missoula. "Savings grew and we bought other houses so I could exploit my growing skills as a maintenance man … I loved to buy and repair old houses & we had lots of them in SF! … "

"We started helping the university library with driblets of money or books."

In a journal entry from 2006, he notes the way another donation to the library came about: "Erling Oelz came to my house in SF with his laptop connected to the Mansfield catalogue. We chose 414 books from my collection to send to Missoula."

The Mansfield Library has experienced deep cuts as UM has struggled with its budget, but McCrea said the money from Merritt isn't intended to backfill earlier decreases. Rather, she said it's to support the needs and activities of archives and special collections.

She said Merritt didn't want recognition while he was alive, but an internship and scholarship will be named after him and support the lifelong love of books.