"Once I was talking to him on the phone and he said the corn had come in, and I said, 'And why don't I have any of this corn?' In 20 minutes he was in my office," said Charleen Keitel, the family's accountant and longtime friend.

Before his death on June 19 last year, Mr. Wilson, 69, made the decision to donate his $2 million estate to Baltimore Washington Medical Center, one of the two largest gifts in the hospital's history. He was treated there for the lung cancer that eventually claimed his life.

Mr. Wilson's estate will be sold, and the proceeds will be invested in the eight-story patient tower currently under construction. Hospital officials plan to name the new Critical Care Unit in his honor.

"Philanthropy allows us to improve our facilities to meet population growth, to expand the programs we offer to the community we serve and help campaigns to educate our current and future workforce," said Beth Peters, vice president of development and head of The BWMC Foundation.

Among Mr. Wilson's assets are the main family house, two rental houses and the 1956 Chris Craft, the Polly Anna II. He bought the boat in 1958 and was always working on it.

"It was the love of his life," Ms. Keitel said. "He was always crabbing and fishing."

The gift's size came as a surprise to hospital officials. Mr. Wilson and his father both worked full careers at the old Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co., one of the firms that now makes up Verizon. Mr. Wilson also worked on the hospital when it was built in 1965, Ms. Peters said.

Part of the surprise was due to his famously frugal nature.

"One time he broke his glasses and, instead of buying new ones, he used a rubber band to keep them on," Ms. Keitel said. "I finally convinced him to buy new glasses, so he was buried with new glasses."

Ms. Keitel said she spoke with the county and Mr. Wilson about having the land preserved and turned into a canoe launch as a part of the John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. Mr. Wilson was adamant about giving the land to the hospital, and the hospital, in turn, tried to sell it to the county as a park.

Ms. Keitel said the county rejected the offer, citing budget constraints and the relatively small size of the property.

Mr. Wilson lived with his parents his entire life and was devoted to taking care of his mother when her health began to fail her. He refused to take her to a nursing home and asked for no assistance in the three years he cared for her. She died at age 99 in 2004.

By April 2005, Mr. Wilson knew he had cancer. The spot on his lungs eventually spread to his brain. He underwent his treatment at BWMC and was thankful for the care he received there.

"This is the most rewarding part of what we do here," Ms. Peters said. "Mr. Wilson was so moved and impressed by the care he received here that he wanted other people to receive the same thing."

The hospital opened its doors on July 4, 1965, with 75 doctors and 100 beds. Today the center has more than 600 doctors and 293 beds. The hospital is undergoing an expansion and received state approval to bump the bed total up to 335.

The $117 million project will include the patient tower, an expanded emergency department and women's health wing with obstetrics.

Other large gifts in the hospital's history include former County Executive Bob Pascal giving $2 million for the obstetrics unit; Creston and Betty Jane Tate's gift of $1.5 million for the Tate Cancer Center; and Joe and Doris Aiello's $1 million for the Aiello Breast Center.