Barbara Bell died peacefully at home in Palm Beach, Fla. on March 3. She was 90.

Barbara, or Bobby, as her friends called her, was the wife for over 68 years of her devoted husband and partner Hank Bell. Bobby and Hank did just about everything together and they were the love of each other’s lives.

Bobby was the fifth child of a family of four boys and herself. Her mother, Rose (Brazel/Okrent), came to America from Russia by herself as a 13 year old at the turn of the last century, and her father Sam Otis (Otezky) also arrived from Russia near the turn of the century as a teenager. Bobby always considered herself as part of an enduring family over generations. As the youngest by 14 years of her four brothers, much of her young childhood oriented around “the boys,” their care for her, and her care for her mother. She loved her brothers unconditionally. Throughout her life, Bobby carried with her the challenges that her mother faced, and she emulated her mother’s determination, strength, and willingness to fight for what she believed.

A graduate of Hunter College, she continued her strong connection to her alma mater and her sorority sisters. This was an anchor of continuity throughout her adult life. She was a voracious reader, though she would often start books from the end, then if merited read the beginning, and finish with the middle. She was a good athlete, an active tennis player, and avid skier. When one of her children needed a crew in sailboat racing on Martha’s Vineyard, Bobby was always the first to jump in. Her energy was endless and she filled her life with vitality, adventure, and passion.

She was very active in Jewish and political affairs, and participated in the 1963 March on Washington for civil rights. She decided that she wanted to develop and renovate buildings, which she did successfully on the west side of Manhattan. Most of all, she was devoted to her large and extended family and for decades she cherished hosting and organizing family gatherings around the Jewish holidays and other events.

Bobby was a remarkable mother who devoted herself to, and live for, her three children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. From her own life and through direct exhortation, she persistently inspired each to reach for their potential and to never settle in any aspect of their lives. She extended herself to her many cousins and their children with love and mentorship.

She is survived by her husband, Hank; her children: Lawrence Bell and his wife Janet, Robin Bell and her husband Thomas, and Leonard Bell and his wife Linda; her grandchildren Sarah Wechsler and her husband Jay, Jennifer Levine and her husband Joseph, Bess Kalb and her husband Charles, Will Kalb, Jessica Bell and her husband David, Jonathan Bell and his wife Jackie, and Alexander Bell; and her great-grandchildren Eliza Wechsler, Zachary Wechsler, and Joshua Levine.

Funeral and interment will take place on March 6 at 1 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center in Vineyard Haven. A memorial service will be held on March 7 at 1 p.m. at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, N.Y.