Loretta (Di Domenico) Balla, former owner of the Seaview Hotel in Oak Bluffs and a well-known figure on the Vineyard in her day, died May 28 at the Royal Nursing Center in Falmouth with family and friends by her side. She was 98 and was the wife of the late Dr. Ernesto A. Balla, prominent physician and surgeon in New Bedford where he practiced for 60 years.

Born Lorenza Maria Agnes Di Domenico in New York city on August 25, 1911, she was one of eight children of immigrant Italian parents. A favorite story she loved to tell was when her father was to receive his nationalization papers. When her father was asked where Canada was, he replied, in his heavy Italian accent “up a U.S.;” she intervened and explained to the judge, that he meant on top or north of the United States.

She sang with her brothers Jasper and Jerry in the early days of radio. She translated Italian movies into English subtitles and English movies into Italian subtitles. During World War II she worked concessions and as a hat check girl at the La Rue Restaurant, a prominent New York high society entertainment spot on East 58th street. When it was discovered that there were two Laura’s, the manager changed Laura to “Loretta” and it stuck. During a benefit for Britain, Hollywood stars like Bing Crosby dropped by to entertain; during one of his performances she was asked to join him. Other prominent stars frequently stopped by the restaurant, like James Cagney, who on many occasions would tell stories of the Vineyard.

While at the La Rue, she meet and married her first husband, Albert Brito. As the story goes, he was a driver to a prominent Mafia kingpin. The marriage did not last and they divorced. Soon after, she gave birth to her first child, Richard. She left New York and moved to New Bedford where she was introduced to Dr. Balla through friends. They were married on Valentine’s Day 1945. Two years later their daughter Joann was born. They were together until his death in 1986.

She purchased the Seaview in the mid 1940s, with its grand ballrooms and elegant chandeliers. The women wore evening gowns, the gentlemen tuxedos and ties. For the next 40 years, she would run two cottages and a 50-room hotel with many Islanders and help from her family, including her late sister and brother in law Antoinette (Nettie) and Joseph Auletta of Holtsville, N.Y., and their children, Rosemary and Jack. She would greet guests and escort them to their rooms and she could be heard singing as she returned to the front desk.

In addition to the Seaview, she owned many properties, including land in Gay Head. At one time she and Dr. Balla owned the Corbin house on Ocean Park, now known as the Corbin-Norton house.

Summers in the 1960s and 1970s drew crowds at the Seaview to drink, talk and listen to local musicians and bands. Many got their start playing at the Seaview, including Chip Taylor Smith and The Visitors, who sang Rockin’ the Seaview, recorded in 1981. On many occasions Loretta would sing her signature Ukulele Lady. While she entertained in the dining hall, Johnny Perry, better known as Johnny Seaview, tended bar. He always wore a cowboy hat, mixed the best drinks on the Island, told jokes and talked about horse racing. Before the 1 a.m. closing time, Loretta would ring the bell to announce last call and walk around with her baseball bat, pounding on tables; as a last resort she would pull people up by the ears to get them out on time.

The Seaview was not just a gathering for local bands. The hotel hosted birthday parties and wedding receptions, one for Nancy Cronkite, the late Walter Cronkite’s daughter. Every year Loretta would spend countless hours and hundreds of dollars hosting a Toys for Tots Christmas party for the Vineyard kids. Each child would receive gifts, refreshments and a visit from Santa.

Once a week or so she would visit the Doctor, as she called him, in New Bedford. While waiting for the ferry she would eat at her favorite breakfast spot, the Black Dog restaurant in Vineyard Haven. She would order the same breakfast: two eggs any style, home fries, choice of bacon or sausage, toast and black coffee. Manager Joey Hall added it to the menu and called it the Loretta. It’s still there.

She befriended many people; one such longtime friend was Jeffrey Heal of Rhode Island whom she referred to as her second son. They were friends for over 30 years until his death in 2008. Her barmaid Gaelin Hereford, who worked for her in the 1980s, recalled: “It was wild and crazy, but we had fun. It was one of the best times of my life.” Loretta also befriended animals — dogs, cats and even two kinkajous.

She sold the hotel in November of 1986, and split her time between her small home in Fairhaven and West Palm Beach, Fla., where she loved to gamble on cruise boats. Starting in the late 1990s she lived in Fairhaven year-round, enjoying trips to Foxwood and Mohegan Sun and visiting family on Long Island. She was an avid Red Sox fan, read the Boston Herald, Cape Cod Times and the Vineyard Gazette and regularly played the lottery and scratch tickets, winning many times. She sold her Fairhaven home in 2003 and moved to Mashpee until a fall forced her to seek rehabiltation at the Royal in 2006.

A private graveside service was held. She is survived by her son Richard Brito and his wife Diane Vose; daughter Joann Balla Carvalho; granddaughters Nicol Carvalho, Natasha Carvalho, Vanessa Burnes and several nieces and nephews.