"Secret Santa," R.I.P.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Larry Stewart's acts of goodness)

This past Christmas season was the last for a generous man who remained anonymous for years, known to the world only as "Secret Santa." He revealed his name, Larry Stewart, last November, only because he learned that he was dying from esophageal cancer. Mr. Stewart died on January 13.

Mr. Stewart called Lee's Summit, Missouri, his home for much of his life. He was a self-made millionaire, making his fortune in cable television and long-distance telephone service.

But Mr. Stewart was not always wealthy. His childhood and youth in Mississippi were very lean years. In late winter of 1971, Stewart was out of work and flat broke. He went into a place called the Dixie Diner, ordered a big breakfast, then pretended he had lost his wallet. Then the owner of the diner went over to the stool where Stewart had been sitting and picked up a 20-dollar bill off the floor, telling him: "Son, you must have dropped this."

On the way out of town, Stewart realized "that maybe nobody had dropped the money at all--maybe that fella just knew I was in trouble, and he helped me in a way that didn't embarrass me. I'd been praying for a few days before that, and right then I just made a little promise. I said, 'Lord, if ever you put me in a position to help other people, I will do it,'" he related to USA Today.

One day in December 1979, Stewart stopped at a drive-in restaurant in Independence, Missouri, feeling sorry for himself because he had just been fired. (This was obviously before he made his fortune!) It was, in fact, the second year in a row he had been fired the week before Christmas. One could understand if he had adopted a Grinch-like approach to the holiday.

"It was cold and this carhop didn't have on a very big jacket, and I thought to ...