Lowell Schoenfield, her attorney for several decades, said there wasn\u2019t a picture in her apartment when he went in after her death.<\/p>\n
Milton Landau is the only name attached to her life. She left her estate, in her 2015 will, to him, if he survived her. He didn\u2019t; he died in 2022. He was 95.<\/p>\n
![\"Milton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781533507_402_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Milton Landau is the only name attached to Janice Blazek’s life. She left her estate, in her 2015 will, to him, if he survived her. He didn\u2019t; he died in 2022. He was 95.<\/p>\n
Records show they lived together in Brooklyn, New York from the mid-1970s until they moved to Fort Myers around 2000. No record could be found of a marriage license, but neighbor Stephanie Pierre assumed he was her husband. Blazek was cremated and her ashes are next to Landau\u2019s at Fort Myers Memorial Gardens.<\/p>\n
Neighbor Loren Merrigan also assumed Landau was her husband. He said she took care of Landau, who was 10 years older and used a walker, for years, helping him up and down the stairs to their second-floor apartment.<\/p>\n
Pierre described Blazek as petite, not even 5 feet tall and barely weighing100 pounds.<\/p>\n
But she was a strong woman, Merrigan said. He would offer to help carry her groceries up the stairs and she would decline.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t look like she was in her 80s, he said. She looked 10 years younger and she drove everywhere.<\/p>\n
She was a walker, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe walked constantly,\u201d Merrigan said. \u201cShe was out at nighttime. She would walk during the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Merrigan was surprised of her millionaire status.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome millionaires are humble,\u201d Merrigan said. \u201cShe was one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t dress in expensive clothes, he said. She drove a Honda.<\/p>\n
Merrigan said most of his conversations with Blazek were of the “Hello, how are you?” types.<\/p>\n
Pierre, who has lived at Ashlar for six years, said most of their conversations were small talk. Landau once mentioned something about the military, and in a rare fit of anger when the apartment complex was going to put electronic locks on their door, he yelled that he was a veteran, Pierre said. But most of the time they would ask her about her children.<\/p>\n
Pierre became suspicious something was amiss around Christmastime of last year because she hadn\u2019t seen Blazek for a while, but Pierre had been in and out of town taking care of her father.<\/p>\n
She called police January 13 to do a wellness check after noticing Blazek had not taken out the trash and saw a notice on her door about not paying her rent. Pierre watched police maneuver the door open to get past a safety bar. Pierre didn\u2019t need to be told Blazek was dead.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could smell it because she had been there for a while,\u201d Pierre said.<\/p>\n
The death certificate did not give cause of death or when she died. Authorities ruled out foul play.<\/p>\n
![\"Lee](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781533508_711_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Lee County Board of County Commissioners agenda with information about the Blazek bequest.<\/p>\n
The county commission agenda item hinted there could be additional money coming.<\/p>\n
The food bank will use the money to help with operating expenses unless there are specific instructions, LeBer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe distribute millions of pounds of food every year and that costs money for diesel fuel, power to run our freezers and refrigerators, to pay staff, so we probably will use some if it in that direction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The $2 million won\u2019t be part of Animal Services\u2019 $9.1 million operating budget, Pendergrass said.<\/p>\n
Animal Services will use it for life saving programs, sterilization and free or low-rate adoptions.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe could have went and bought a $2 million house or a million-dollar house, but she probably was very happy the way she loved her quality of life, and she was probably very content with that,\u201d Pendergrass said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just so nice to know that she was thinking about \u2026 when she was gone the animals and the people of Lee County would be taken care of. And she did that.\u201d<\/p>\n