Noreen Baker died on Sept. 25 of glioblastoma. She lived for nearly four years with a disease with an average life expectancy of 15 months, a testament to her unrelenting optimism.

Noreen uncluttered houses, hand-stitched hats, wrote poetry, swam gloriously in the ocean well into November and welcomed boats to Vineyard Haven’s harbor. She nurtured relationships that only strengthened, and friends were drawn to her infectious warmth and positivity.

“Most of us would be grateful to have just one of the friendships Noreen had,” said MaryBeth Buhler, Noreen’s college roommate who supported her through her illness. “She had nine or 10 women who would do anything for her. Everyone gave up their time and their jobs and sat by her side.”

Born into a large Catholic family in West Yarmouth, she attended Regis College in Weston graduating with degrees in sociology and religion. Eventually, she decided to seek a more creative, bohemian lifestyle, and moved to the Island.

In her 20s, she worked briefly selling ads for the Vineyard Gazette and later as a hostess at the Shiretown Inn.

“Every morning, I came into work, I would say, ‘Hi Noreen, how are you?’” recalled her friend Laura Entner, then a waitress. “And she always said, ‘Just ducky.’ ” I thought, how can you be so happy every day? We hit it off.”

Ms. Entner, who for a time put her up in a tee-pee in her backyard and whose children called her “Auntie Reeny,” was struck by her friend’s positive disposition, even through her illness. 

Phyllis Vecchia met her in 1989 as part of a group attempting to form a relationship between Martha’s Vineyard and Nicaragua. Ms. Vecchia recalled how Noreen was playful and loved to dance, and the two spent much of their 30s out on the town. When Ms. Vecchia was starting her own theatre business, she helped her launch the effort.

She became a boat captain in those days and later served on the Tisbury Finance Committee.

“There were layers to Noreen,” Ms. Vecchia said. “She was one of the most authentic people I have ever met. She loved this town and her Island so much.”

In the late 1990s, she coordinated sailing programs for Sail Martha’s Vineyard then spent nine years working at the Edgartown Council on Aging. She was perhaps best known for her 20-year stint as Tisbury Wharf Company operations manager where she ran the show, her beloved golden retriever, Winslow, at her side.

That’s where she bonded with Phyllis Detwiler, a fellow sea captain who had grown up not far from the Baker family.

“Noreen was the public face of the wharf company — a bright, smiling, knowledgeable, welcoming presence,” she said. “She knew instinctively where to put a boat, depending on its length and beam and what else was coming in.”

As much as she loved the Island, she loved escaping to faraway places, too. Aquinnah Witham was one of her many travel companions.

“We didn’t know each other well, but one day, I saw her in a parking lot, and without saying hello, she said, ‘Do you want to go to Myanmar?’ I said yes.”

Ms. Witham recalls her “blissing out” at the ancient Shwedagon Pagoda. They also traveled to Vietnam, Mexico and, most recently, Puerto Rico. She also visited Japan and China, among other destinations.

She had no children but was a favorite auntie to her siblings’ offspring. Europa Baker-Brathwaite, whose mother, Mary, is her sister, said her aunt “cracked the code” on keeping her young nieces and nephews busy, once instructing them all to give her a back massage simultaneously.

Ms. Baker-Brathwaite grew to appreciate her aunt’s artistic vision and approach to life and all it offers.

“She loved everything so deeply,” she said. “She was so invested in life, but she also understood non-attachment, that everything is fleeting and there is something bigger and greater for us.”

Noreen is survived by her sister Mary, brothers Steve, Dan, Kevin and Michael and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her brothers Bill and Brian and parents Ann and William.

A celebration of life will be held at the Old Whaling Church at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25. A potluck reception follows at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury.