When she was able, she worked on charitable projects for poor families and funded other charitable activities. Largely unknown by her husband, she had a vast spiritual correspondence for many years. She was concerned about the "poor" or the "least," but her deteriorating health restricted her ability to respond to this concern. In 1907 her health deteriorated to the extent that she was forced to lead a primarily sedentary life, receiving visitors and directing her household from a chaise longue. In 1911 she had surgery and radiation for a malignant tumor, recovered, and then was bedridden by July 1913. She died from generalized cancer in May 1914.