Two Heiresses Leave Bequests Totaling $226-Million to Several Groups

Two women have left large bequests to several charitable institutions.

Caroline Wiess Law, of Houston, whose father founded an oil company that eventually became ExxonMobil, died in December at age 85. Ms. Law left gifts of artwork and cash, valued at approximately $135-million, to:

• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which received 54 works of art — including pieces by de Kooning, Miró, and Picasso — with a collective value estimated at between $60-million and $85-million. Ms. Law, who was a trustee of the museum, also established a $25-million unrestricted endowment, which the museum plans to use for operating costs and the acquisition of new works. She also gave the museum several artworks during her lifetime.
• Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston, which received $25-million to endow a fund for academic programs.
• The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston, which received a $25-million gift, earmarked for cancer-prevention research, endowed professorships, and operating costs. The center expects to receive the money in March.

  Sally Reahard, daughter of a former executive of the Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical firm, who died in July 2003 at age 95, left bequests totaling $91-million to:

• The Nature Conservancy, in Arlington, Va., which received $70-million in cash, with $40-million earmarked for protection of coastal wetlands on the Eastern Seaboard and $30-million for the Indiana chapter, in Indianapolis, to acquire land. The conservancy received a payment of $30-million in December 2003, and expects another payment this summer.
• The National Trust for Historic Preservation, in Washington, has received stock valued at $15-million, for the endowment of Drayton Hall, a plantation house and National Historic Landmark, located in Charleston, S.C.
• The Indianapolis Museum of Art received $5.5-million for its decorative-arts collection and library programs. The first payment, approximately $2.5-million, has already been received by the museum, which expects to receive the remainder sometime next year.