Janet Haas Kane of Sarasota, Fla., and Vineyard Haven, Bedford Hills and New Rochelle, N.Y., died peacefully on Saturday morning, Nov. 7 with her husband of 61 years, Stanley, and one of her three daughters by her side. She was 83 and had spent 81 of those years in perfect health without even a minor surgery. The day before her death, she worked on her beautiful orchids, which always filled her home, blooming year after year under her loving care. In the evening she enjoyed a dinner of gray sole, zucchini seasoned with cinnamon and oven-roasted potatoes, all the while commenting on how delicious everything was.

Janet was a devoted wife. Try as her daughters did to whisk her away on any number of girls’ weekends, she would always reply, “Oh, I couldn’t possibly leave your father.” She first met Stanley when they were youngsters in New Rochelle, but it was after he returned home from the war that she stole his heart. They married and raised three daughters — the Kane girls — in New Rochelle and then Bedford Hills. Since then and forever after, Janet would tout her daughters as her greatest achievement.

Janet and Stanley moved to Sarasota in 1984 where they quickly became pillars of Sarasota society, equally known for their great parties and philanthropy. Janet was both the belle of the ball and a YMCA first citizen. She had an unrivaled zest for life. Wherever she went, people loved being near her. Her enthusiasm was infectious, her generosity enormous. She was brilliant and could talk about everything from politics to literature, fashion to food. Always witty and insightful, she lit up every room with her glowing warmth and spirit, so much so that people often called her before scheduling their parties, to make sure that she’d be there. She was a thoroughly glamorous party girl who created fun everywhere she went. She was delighted by the dresses, piqued by the gossip, and thrilled by everyone’s plans. Your joy was her joy, your sorrow her tears. She had the rare gift of making you feel entirely special, as though you were the most important person in the world. In her eyes you were beautiful, brilliant, and talented. She was everyone’s greatest fan, which in turn made her everyone’s favorite friend.

In 1998 the Kanes bought and renovated the old farmhouse at Tashmoo Farm in Vineyard Haven. Along the way they became smitten with the Vineyard, among other things hosting a huge fundraiser for the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation one summer. “Stanley and Janet Kane have taken a beautiful old house and saved it from collapse. They have become supporters of various Island causes . . . They have made friends here,” wrote Laura Roosevelt in a story for the Martha’s Vineyard Magazine in the winter of 2006-2007.

And Janet fell in love with a rooster named Henry who lived next door to the farm; each summer when the Kanes returned Henry would move over to their place. “The pickings were far better,” laughed DiAnn Ray, the Tashmoo Farm neighbor who housed the rooster during the remainder of the year. But one spring Henry was killed by a raccoon and when Janet returned she was heartbroken when she learned the news. In a letter to the Gazette, she wrote an elegant eulogy for Henry. “We had a funeral. We all cried.

“I loathe and despise raccoons.

“I miss Henry, the sound of him, the sight of him, the cock-a-doodle dialogue we shared in the garden daily,” she wrote in part.

Lively, brilliant, generous, irreverent, a pistol, a firecracker, a Scrabble player and a flirt, Janet Kane was above all else a cherished wife, an adored mother, a prized grandmother, and a friend to all. She will be sorely missed.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by her daughters, Katherine Kane, Betsy Kane-Hartnett and Priscilla Kane Hellweg; her sons in law, Olin West, John Kane-Hartnett and John Hellweg; her seven grandchildren, Meghan Kane-Hartnett, Jesse Kane-Hartnett, Liza Kane-Hartnett, Jonah Kane-West, Daniel Kane-West, Jasper Kane Hellweg, and Brendan Ellis Hellweg; her twin brother, George Haas; four pugs; and one ring-necked parrot.

Services were private; a celebration of her life will be on Nov. 28, with time and location to be announced.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Forty Carrots Family Center, 1500 S. Tuttle avenue, Sarasota, FL 34239 or Sarasota Family YMCA Foundation, 1 S. School avenue, No. 302, Sarasota FL 34237.