A late Albert Lea resident found it in his heart to leave almost a half-million dollars to the American Heart Association.

The Association announced Tuesday that it has received a donation of $450,000 from the estate of farmer Arnold Pacovsky, a former resident of Albert Lea. The donation is one of the largest donations ever received by the AHA’s Northland Affiliate, a business unit consisting of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Pacovsky died Feb. 2 of this year at age 83, but it took a few months for the estate to be sorted out, and the AHA just learned of the donation.

Pacovsky was born in Shell Rock Township. He served in the army during World War II and was recognized for 500 days of combat against the German Panzer unit. After his discharge he returned to farming with his brother Ed. He moved to St. John’s Lutheran Home in 2000.

According to a statement by the AHA, Pacovsky became aware of the tragic impact of heart disease and stroke when he lost his brother to cardiovascular disease in 1998. At that time, he donated $10,000 to the American Heart Association.

&uot;This was a wonderful gesture and a great way to make a lasting impact toward the fight against heart disease and stroke,&uot; said Doug Martin, Ph.D., president of the American Heart Association’s Northland Affiliate. &uot;The money from this donation will help the American Heart Association fund important research and educational programs and bring us closer to our impact goal of reducing coronary heart disease and stroke risk by 25 percent by the year 2010.&uot;