dead of gun shot wounds hours before being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of income tax evasion. His death was ruled a likely suicide, but May maintained that he was murdered. The incident resulted in May falling out with her brother Richard, and by extension the family advisors that were shared between her and the family, as she came to the belief that her brother was somehow responsible for the death. Afterward, May lived reclusively, corresponding mostly by mail with new friends such as the activist John Tanton. Death On January 26, 2005, May died at her home, Cold Comfort Farm, in Ligonier Township, Pennsylvania at age 76, and was cremated. The cause of death was suicide by asphyxiation after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. She was survived by her estranged brother Richard, with whom she had partially reconciled in 1999. Political and philanthropic donations May made charitable donations to land conservation, watershed protection, environmental education, and population causes. When her mother died in 1965, May inherited a sizable portion of the Mellon fortune. She would distribute tens of millions of dollars to charity through the Laurel Foundation, Colcom Foundation (established 1996), and directly, most on the condition her name not be revealed. Most of the Colcom Foundation's donations go to anti-immigration causes. May was routinely listed on the Forbes list of the wealthiest Americans; in 2004, the year before her death, she had a net worth of $825 million and was #363 on Forbes' list of wealthiest Americans. In 1951, May established Laurel Foundation, a private foundation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1996, May established Colcom Foundation. May served as the chairman of both foundations until her death in 2005. In the year 1972, May was the single largest contributor to candidates running for Congress. In 2005, the year of her death, May gave more to charity than any other individual in the United States. Her charitable donations for the year were almost one-tenth of the $4.3 billion donated by the nation's leading philanthropists. Pittsburgh area initiatives May's largesse helped fund a number of projects in the Pittsburgh area, including the Pittsburgh National Aviary, the Montour Trail, the Riverlife Task Force, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, and the Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. Population control May became aware of overpopulation issues in childhood, when she was introduced to the work of Margaret Sanger by her