What can you say about a woman who ran with the wind – the wind of adventure, travel, family and love? May Sams Ameen embodied all that we aspire to become; a loving, present and seeringly intelligent matriarch whose fierce love of her family was a force to behold. She touched all that knew her; her laughter was infectious as was her love of life, adventure and family. We can chronicle her life, but rest assured, the most important fact for us to recognize is that May Sams Ameen brought joy and laughter to all who met her – in every aspect of her life.

May Sams was born in Bay City, Michigan on September 14, 1928 to immigrant parents from Lebanon. While she was born into the Druze religion (an offshoot of Islam, and more of a theosophy than a religion), she was brought up as a Presbyterian. She and her family were among the first group of Americans to visit Beirut, Lebanon at the end of World War II. After graduating from college she spent a number of years working in New York City for the International Institute for Higher Education. She later met and married Dr. Lane Ameen, and moved to New Haven, Connecticut where Dr. Ameen was a practicing psychiatrist and Associate Professor at Yale University. Her philanthropic endeavors included being President of the Connecticut chapter of Planned Parenthood, a member of the New Haven Historical Society and reader of applications to Yale University, which she did for over 35 years.

An avid traveler and lover of the arts, May Ameen became an aficionado of the artists, intellectuals and writers of what would come to be known as the Bloomsbury Group, and supported their paintings, pottery and fabrics. She brought the Pre-Raphaelite scholar and potter, Quentin Bell, who was Virginia Woolf's nephew, to speak at Yale.

May Sams Ameen is survived by her daughter, Nancy Ameen, her son, Robert Ameen and four grandchildren.

Donations may be made to American Near East Refugee Aid, an non-profit dedicated to helping refugees in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan (anera.org) or to Planned Parenthood.