Jeanne Peltier Hewett, a longtime Vineyard resident, died peacefully on Feb. 26. She was 93.

She was born in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 10, 1929 to Pauline Bauman Marret and Henry D. Peltier. Her formative years were lovingly influenced by her great aunts Allie, Taddy and Rene, and her aunt Marghie, with whom she and her mother lived after the Great Flood of 1937. Later, Jeanne’s essays and fondest memories would center around the traditions, homes and cuisine of these honest and stalwart relatives.

Jeanne attended Atherton Girls High School and the Cincinnati Art Academy. At the art academy, she met Edward (Ted) Hewett, also of Louisville. He would become her husband of 64 years. Their Southern sensibility drew them together and they were open-minded people who yearned to travel. They spent happy years in Italy while Ted was on a Fulbright. When he became a professor of painting at Ohio State University, their life brimmed with art, music and ’60s “Happenings” in addition to parenting two young children.

Still seeking travel experiences, they moved the family to England in 1970. A year later, they settled permanently on Martha’s Vineyard. The Island had been the family’s summer home since 1966 and they loved its natural beauty and rich community of creative, thoughtful people.

Jeanne’s successful career as an artist and writer took hold on the Vineyard. She soon opened her colorful studio and storefront in Vineyard Haven, where she produced the iconic pillows, accessories and textile art appreciated by friends, celebrities and even a president. She loved volunteering as a judge for the textile art category at the Agricultural Fair each summer. She loved teaching her grandchildren how to sew.

She also blossomed as a creative writer. Her uniquely humorous and insightful essays were regularly published in the Vineyard Gazette and the literary journals published under the umbrella of Martha’s Vineyard Writing by Cynthia Riggs as a platform for the Howes House Writers.

Even at 93, Jeanne still enriched people’s lives with joy and grace. She was a talented gardener, mahjong player and master chef of eclectic Southern cooking. She was an avid reader of Victorian novels, current events and anything about China. She sang beautiful harmony with friends who would play guitar and banjo late into the night. Kentucky Derby parties, complete with betting and mint juleps, were an annual tradition

She was dedicated to her church community, the Unitarian Universalist Society of Martha’s Vineyard. She was counted on to make her delicious soups for all charity events. She was an engaged and loving mother and friend who listened, shared and rarely judged.

Jeanne is missed by her daughter Ainslie Vorel and her husband Joseph, son Robert A. Hewett and his wife Patricia, brother in law Ainslie Hewett, and grandchildren Jennifer and Gregory Vorel, Grace and Ruthann Hewett and Matt and Chris Barstow.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Unitarian Universalist Society of Martha’s Vineyard, P.O. Box 1236, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.