Nurse gifts $800,000 house to charity

The house in John St, Ponsonby, that was bequested to Oxfam by Yvonne Knipe-Ackerman. Photo / Dean Purcell

Yvonne Knipe-Ackermann believed everyone deserved a second chance.

Now the former nurse has given her house to provide chances for thousands of people.

Ms Knipe-Ackermann, who died in January on her 73rd birthday, left her Ponsonby home to Oxfam. The house sold for $800,000, making it the biggest bequest in the history of the New Zealand arm of the charity.

The house sale was settled yesterday and her friend Wayne Knight joked that she would have tried to drive a harder bargain for the charity.

"She ... would have said she thought the house was worth more."

Friends were not aware of Ms Knipe-Ackermann's plan until her will was sorted out, he said.

But nothing about the gift struck her loved ones as out of the ordinary for the generous woman who died after a battle with bowel cancer.

"She saw a need and got on with things, she was pragmatic. Giving it to charity isn't a surprise to us."

Ms Knipe-Ackermann's niece, Norma Bott, said her aunt was a no-nonsense woman who lived life with gusto and had a huge circle of friends. After finishing her training in Auckland she worked in Europe with friends before a long period living on a First Nations reservation in Canada.

"She was way out in the middle of nowhere. She said she was like the mayor, the sheriff and everything else because it was so isolated," Ms Bott said.

Mr Knight said that once she returned to New Zealand she became a probation officer, a career where she believed compassion counted and which lasted more than 30 years.

"She believed in second chances, the majority of people she felt were good. There were only a handful of people she thought deserved to be dumped on an island."

Ms Knipe-Ackermann had married and divorced but did not have any children.

The new owners of the three-bedroom villa, Jacinta Khiu and Paul White, were checking out their home yesterday and were happy their funds were headed towards Oxfam.

"I feel like it's gone to a good cause rather than lining someone's pockets," Ms Khiu said.

Oxfam executive director Barry Coates said bequests were extremely rare. In his seven years at the organisation it had received only one other, worth just over $100,000.

"It's an absolutely lovely thing to do and we're touched. We'll use it to contribute to a number of projects in our own Pacific neighbourhood."

The money would be spent over several years, Mr Coates said, potentially helping thousands of people.

"The lovely thing about a gift of water is a little bit goes a long way - it's not terribly expensive to help people with water supply and benefit whole communities."