By Cliff Peale
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Most of the estimated $100 million value of the estate of Marge Schott will go to the charitable foundation established by Schott and her late husband.

READ THE WILL

• Marge Schott's will

Lawyers and relatives filed the will of the former Reds owner in Hamilton County Probate Court Thursday. The document includes $1 million bequeathed to each of Schott's four sisters, including money for their long-term care, and smaller amounts to several longtime employees.

Her minority stake in the Reds, left to the Marge & Charles J. Schott Foundation, is expected to be sold to other team owners for about $6.5 million, with the proceeds benefiting the foundation.

Schott signed the will May 13, 1991, and updated it three times, the last time on March 24, 2003. She died March 2 at age 75.

Bob Martin, Schott's longtime attorney who is one of four executors of the will and a director of the foundation, said he expects the foundation's disbursement of charitable funds to continue. "We intend to follow through with what she has been doing in the past," Martin said.

Schott earned national attention and suspension by Major League Baseball for her controversial comments as owner of the Reds.But she also was known locally for her generosity to nonprofit causes, particularly those involving children. Many of those gifts have been funneled through the Schott Foundation, which now will administer the bulk of her wealth.

Martin characterized the $100 million figure as "our best guess."

Throughout Schott's business career, she closely guarded the value of her wealth. She owned the University Plaza shopping center in Corryville, her home in Indian Hill and industrial property near St. Louis.She also held the controlling shares of the Reds from 1984 to 1999, a period highlighted by the team's World Series title in 1990.

In 1999, Major League Baseball forced Schott to sell her controlling stake in the team because of her controversial statements. A group led by Carl Lindner bought 51/2 of her 61/2 shares of the team, including the controlling shares, for $67 million.

The deal stipulated that if Schott's estate wanted to sell the remaining stake in the team, other Reds partners would have the right to match any offer. Through a spokeswoman, Lindner declined to comment Thursday.

After the Reds sale, Schott was mostly out of the public limelight. She was admitted to Christ Hospital Feb. 9 for breathing difficulties.

The will directs the foundation to use the Indian Hill home "for charitable purposes." Executors have the authority to sell other property, with the proceeds going to the Schott Foundation.

Schott has supported causes around Greater Cincinnati, including $1.5 million to St. Ursula Academy in East Walnut Hills and $1 million to the Dan Beard Boy Scouts Council.

In 2000, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, another recipient of Schott's contributions, opened a $6 million Schott-Unnewehr Vanishing Giants exhibit. (Unnewehr was her maiden name.)

E-mail cpeale@enquirer.com