Ruth Epstein died peacefully at Armbrook Village in Westfield on Sept. 28, with loving family by her side. Most who knew her would say she was an inspirational 99 years young.

Born in Holyoke on July 13, 1925, the daughter of Morris and Lillian Leitzen, Ruth was an artist, an entrepreneur, a collector, a world traveler and an ardent lover of books and films who lived her remarkable life to the fullest.

After graduating from Syracuse University, she was hired as a buyer at G.Fox & Co. department store in Hartford, Conn. This fortuitously led to a romance and whirlwind engagement with her future husband, A. William (Bill) Epstein, when she purchased furniture for her apartment from Bill’s Holyoke store, Epstein Furniture Co., and Bill offered to deliver it personally. They married and departed on a dream honeymoon voyage to Europe on the ocean liner SS Îsle de France. Thus began Ruth’s passion for travel which would bring her to visit more than 50+ countries.

Through the early years of her marriage Ruth worked as an interior decorator and became known for her eye for design and fabulous sense of style. Later, she and her sister Dolores opened their unique, jewelry and giftware boutique Metro Arts, in Springfield, and then Longmeadow and Edgartown.

She was an ardent collector of art, antiques and artifacts during her travels and her thrice annual trips to Brimfield Flea Markets. One of her phenomenal collections included nearly 150 hats ranging from 19th-century stagecoach bonnets to Victorian hats adorned with plumed ostrich feathers to formal sealskin top hats. She also loved movies, and she developed and programmed a weekly film series at her winter residence in Florida. As an enthusiastic cinephile, one of her greatest thrills was attending the 1989 Academy Awards ceremony.

In 2008, after the death of her husband, Ruth moved into her daughter Lisa’s Lambert’s Cove guest house and made Martha’s Vineyard her permanent residence. She loved living in her little cottage that she nicknamed “Grammy’s Tree House,” and was grateful to be embraced by the Island community. Through her years on the Vineyard, she was involved in numerous activities, including aqua-aerobics classes, Up-Island COA and West Tisbury library events, MV Hebrew Center activities, and more. She often remarked that she thought she had the perfect life, spending seven months on the Island and wintering in South Palm Beach.

A highlight of her Vineyard years was her 2014 show at Featherstone entitled Retrospective of a Creative Life, which included seven decades of work in nearly as many mediums.

She had an innate need to be busy and learning, and every 10 years she would embark on mastering a new art form. In the 1960’s she painted and sculpted in clay, in the 1970s, she learned to weave, in the 1980-90s, she was a quilter, photographer and stone sculptor. She created a line of one-of-a-kind dolls called “Sweet Memories,” followed by a collection of art dolls inspired by folklore, myth and fantasy, for which she received a first place award at Agricultural Fair and a special award from the Martha’s Vineyard Doll Club. In the 2000s, she shifted mediums again and became a master collagist.

Ruth was a remarkable woman who led a very full and creative life, but undoubtedly she received her greatest joy of all from her children and grandchildren. She leaves her daughter Lisa Epstein and her husband Ivory Littlefield of West Tisbury, her sons Mitch Epstein and his wife Susan Bell of New York City, and Rick Epstein and his wife Susan McFarlin of Westfield. She also leaves behind her grandchildren Sam and Hannah Epstein, Lucia Bell-Epstein, Leah Isabelle Littlefield, and step-granddaughter Maria Littlefield O’Day and her husband Martin O’Day, plus two step-great-grandsons, Luka and Hunter O’Day, as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was predeceased by her youngest son, Danny Epstein, and by her beloved husband of 56 years, Bill Epstein, as well as her parents and sister, Dolores Hutner.

The family is grateful to Barbara Mikuski and Celeste Hart-Legere for their devoted care of Ruth and also to the wonderful staff at Healing Hands and Armbrook Village, where she spent her final years.

A memorial gathering and exhibition of her artwork is to be held at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center on Sunday, Nov. 10, from 2 to 5 p.m. with a service at 3:30 p.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to The Arc of Massachusetts (thearcofmass.org), an organization committed to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a mission close to Ruth’s heart.