The Pittsburgh Foundation has announced a $37.1 million gift from the estate of Raymond Schubart Suckling, an engineering executive and longtime resident of the borough of Sewickley.

Made through a donor-advised fund Suckling established at the foundation in 1993 with an initial gift of $6,000, the bequest will provide annual grants of about $500,000 to the Sewickley Public Library and the Sewickley Valley Hospital Foundation and a similar amount to the Pittsburgh Foundation for programs and services benefiting low-income youth through its 100 Percent Pittsburgh initiative. During his lifetime, Suckling donated a total of $670,000 to the fund and served as its primary donor-advisor, recommending grants totaling about $345,000 to area nonprofits, including WQED, the Cancer Caring Center, the Salvation Army, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Center.

Suckling, who died in September 2014 at the age of 93, was a World War II veteran who worked as a mechanical engineer at Koppers Company until his retirement in 1985. Although he never married and had no children, his closest friend and companion in later years was Betty Hallett, who died from cancer in 2002. After her death, Suckling continued to support cancer-related causes and maintained close relationships with Hallett's children and their families.

"Gifts of this magnitude are always very thoughtfully made," said Maxwell King, president and CEO of the foundation. "They serve as powerful testaments to the community foundation model and the compact between donors and staff that ensures their intentions will be honored beyond their lifetimes."