Ruth "Teddy" Diamond, an early resident of Israel, recognized community volunteer and one of the original Levittown homeowners, died on Dec. 21st in North Wales at 97 after a brief illness.

Diamond was an adventurous spirit and legendary knish-maker, who cared not just for her family but those who crossed her path while also assisting her late husband William Diamond, a renowned master cabinetmaker.

At a time when baby boomers search for the secret to aging well, she and her husband of 75 years served as role models, leading full, purposeful, active and undaunted lives well into their 90s.

Diamond was defined by an irrepressible optimism, down-to-earth outlook and sense of humor, always open to new experiences. "Whose mother volunteers for the Israeli Army in her 60s, goes white-water rafting for the first time in her 70s and tries snorkeling in her 80s?" recalls her son David Diamond. "When she was 84, she traveled the length of Israel with family. I watched her swim 20 strokes on a single breath when she was 92."

Rabbi Erica Steelman is staff chaplain at the Abramson Center for Jewish Life where Diamond was a resident. She was struck by Diamond's warmth, playfulness, diverse interests and fiercely strong spirit in spite of health challenges. "When I think of Teddy I smile and feel myself stand up a bit straighter. She inspired those of us fortunate enough to know her," says Rabbi Steelman." She was a force of a nature who will be deeply missed and not forgotten!"

Born in 1921, the fourth of six children from an arranged marriage, she grew up in a two-bedroom row house in South Philadelphia. The children would wake before dawn to share breakfast with their father before he headed to work at the Fels Naptha Company. "We didn't realize that we were poor," Diamond often remarked.

In 1938, she met her husband, who was too shy to ask her out for their first date. Instead, a friend called on his behalf beginning an inseparable partnership spanning over 77 years.

The horrors of the Holocaust inspired her and her husband to sell the family's possessions and move their two young daughters in the spring of 1951 to the three-year-old nation of Israel. An early resident of Kibbutz Gesher Haziv, she worked as a cook, living in a tin hut on a hill above the Mediterranean Sea. A serious illness while pregnant forced the family to return to the Philadelphia area, traveling home in steerage. But supporting Israel remained an enduring commitment, returning many times, including two volunteer stints in the Israeli Army with her husband into their 70s.

After returning from Israel, they took advantage of the GI bill to buy a home in Levittown the nation's pioneering modern American suburb in Bucks County. In 1968, they moved to Langhorne where Diamond helped her husband establish his cabinetmaking business. His antique reproductions and restorations are featured in museums, synagogues, churches and homes worldwide.

Diamond thrived on helping others, earning her a reputation as an embracing mother to all. In addition to their four children, she and her husband raised an 11-year-old orphaned child who's remained part of the family.

They volunteered at the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia into their 80s. Her work with those in need included children with cerebral palsy, translating books into Braille, shopping for the homebound and helping Russian immigrants. Diamond and her husband turned down a Federation award for their service because they'd didn't want any recognition. While they lived frugally on a limited income, they donated annually to the Federation and other causes.

Eternally youthful and an avid swimmer, Diamond was happiest in her kitchen where she'd prepare hundreds of her signature knishes, even traveling nationwide to ensure that the bite-size delicacy was ready for every family celebration. Her good nature allowed her to overcome difficulties that would have hardened others, ranging from childhood tuberculosis to severe hearing loss to cancer to eventual blindness.

"She was a force, never letting her lack of hearing or her limited vision stop her," said her daughter Yona Diamond Dansky. "She always said she did not want to be like her blind grandmother who stayed on a sofa all day." Few at the Abramson Center realized Diamond was virtually blind. She sang in the choir by memorizing lyrics, taught a cooking class leader her recipes and, at 96, consumed books on tapes that included the historical tome Hamilton and musician Bruce Springsteen's autobiography.

When grandchildren called on birthdays in her tenth decade and asked how she felt, Diamond would express surprise. "You think you're going to get older and feel different," she'd reply. "But no matter how old I get, I feel like the same person I was when I was a girl. I'm still me."

Diamond donated her body to medical science and a memorial service was held in lieu of a funeral. She's survived by her five children: Marcy Diamond Garb of Bensalem (husband Gary Garb), Yona Diamond Dansky of Elkins Park (husband Howard Dansky), David Diamond of Kentfield, California (wife Tia O'Brien), Hedy Sturgis of Downingtown and Gill Diamond of Newberry, Florida (wife Lisa Ryan); eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.