Betty H. Kogen died on Jan. 15 in Westport, Conn. She was 94.

Betty was born on Jan. 1, 1931, and lived her life with joy and appreciation. Born in Philadelphia, she married David H. Kogen, the love of her life. She had friends, young and old, and was frequently at the post office sending notes and birthday cards. She never missed the opportunity to express a kind word to the people in her life, from her cherished clockmaker to her adored up-Island auto mechanic and favorite cashiers.

She loved Martha’s Vineyard. “The Kogen Barn,” the name of David and Betty’s summer home in Chilmark, was a gathering place for family and friends for over forty years. For Betty, all holidays were occasions to be marked and celebrated. The front door of her home reflected her celebratory spirit, the decorations changing with each red-letter day on the calendar. On the eve of Halloween, after baking dozens of ginger snaps, decorating the house and dressing up in costume, her husband David would admonish her not to have more fun than the children.

Her hands were always busy, books piled by her bedside. There was no creative project she could not tackle and accomplish without alacrity and ease. She often would say, “If you can read, you can cook.”

Self-taught, her cooking and baking skills were marvels, and she was the consummate hostess. She canned fruit and preserves, churned ice cream, knit beautiful sweaters for her family, and sewed dresses and coats for her daughters.

Her strong sense of civic duty led her to serve on the condominium boards of her longtime Connecticut residences in East Norwalk and Westport. She launched programs that enhanced these communities, from clothing drives to instituting flu shots, blood drives and speaking events for her fellow residents. She suffered lasting effects from an acoustic neuroma brain tumor for half of her adult life but never dwelled upon it.

Before living in Connecticut, she had a long history of contributing to her Maplewood, N.J. community, where she received the prestigious Woman of the Year award in 1974. She served on the boards of the League of Women Voters, the NJ Symphony Orchestra’s Women’s Society, and the board of the Maplewood Memorial Library. She served as president of the parent-teachers association board.

She was a true patriot, loved this country and thoroughly celebrated her great fortune to live in a democracy. She never missed the opportunity to work at the polls on election day, well into her eighties.

She worked for Lit Brothers Department Store (Philadelphia) and became public relations director for Bloomingdale’s (Short Hills, N.J.). She organized special events and had many colorful stories. Always seeking to find the humor in situations, she loved to retell this one in particular: she had volunteered to pick up Julia Child at Newark Airport for an in-store cooking demonstration and book signing. The renowned and quite tall chef was not particularly pleased to fold herself into Betty’s yellow Volkswagen Beetle. Generally quite the conversationalist, Betty said the car ride to and from Bloomingdale’s was unusually quiet.

Betty was predeceased by her beloved husband David; her parents, Mary and Samuel Hubsher of Philadelphia; and her brother Stanley, who died while serving in World War II and received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart Medals for Distinguished Service. She is survived by her children, Michael, Bonni (Andrew) Brodnick and Pamela (Michael) Morandi. She also leaves her grandson David Brodnick (Libby Mattern), granddaughters Annaclaire Brodnick (Veneel Bhupathiraju) and Rebecca Kogen, and great-grandson Bowie Brodnick.

A celebration of Betty’s magnificent life will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Waveny Hospice. New Canaan, Conn.