Cathy Janson, a Bucks County artist, illustrator, and teacher died following an apparent heart attack while at her home on Martha's Vineyard on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017. She was 67.

For the past five years she and her husband, Francis Janson, an attorney in Langhorne, split their time among homes in Yardley, Pa., Nokomis, Fla., and Vineyard Haven, Mass. on Martha's Vineyard.

In addition to Mr. Janson, she is also survived by her three children, their spouses and her five grandchildren, Michael and Anna Janson of Silver Spring, Md. and their children, Isaac, Samuel, and Miriam; Merritt Janson and Benjamin Wertheimer of Brooklyn and their children, Sebastian and Margot; and Patrick Janson of Manhattan. Cathy is also survived by her mother, Helene Selig of Philadelphia; her father, Bob Mosk of Glenside, Pa.; and her sister, Barbara Houten of Philadelphia.

Cathy Faith Moskowitz was born in Philadelphia at the Albert Einstein Medical Center on Dec. 15, 1949. She attended schools as Cathy Barlow in Philadelphia and some summers went to Camp Galil in Ottsville, Pa., where she met some of her longest lasting friends.

After attending Philadelphia High School for Girls and graduating from Olney High School in 1967, Cathy began working as a stenographer with her mother's court reporting business. She graduated from Temple University with a degree in Urban Studies in 1973. Later, she earned a Master's degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. Her master's thesis was about the challenges women face when re-entering the workforce after raising children.

She met her husband in Philadelphia while reporting a deposition. Cathy and Francis were engaged on Miryam's Farm, in Pipersville, Pa., where Cathy lived for a summer. In 1973, Cathy and Francis traveled to Venezuela where they were married in La Guaira. Cathy and Francis lived in Center City Philadelphia and then moved to Bucks County, living first in Langhorne, Pa., and then in Yardley, Pa. Cathy was active in her community, working with the Lower Makefield Parks and Recreation Board and the American Association of University Women.

Cathy championed her children in their individual endeavors, triumphs, and passions. She was as devoted in her roles as den mother of Cub Scouts, theater parent at school performances, and the driver shuttling kids to and from sports practices when they were young as she was to hearing them give speeches before academic conferences, perform in professional theaters, and compete internationally as adults.

She traveled throughout the United States and Canada to see her youngest son play lacrosse. When her daughter studied theater in Moscow, Cathy brought the family there, too. When her oldest son wanted to take part in the bike ride across Iowa, known as RAGBRAI, she was there with her bike, ready to ride.

While she held a career fair's worth of jobs during her lifetime, working at times as a court reporter, real estate agent, and college math professor, her passion was visual art. Painting, drawing, and illustrating were always a part of her life. She illustrated 'Whale of a Tale,' a children's book written by her sister Barbara, in 2005. Cathy created many pictures for her children and home, and continued to paint until her death.

Bubbling with energy and optimistic to her core, Cathy was constantly improving her mind and body and expanding her world. There was hardly an activity -- indoor or outdoor, artistic, or intellectual -- that she hadn't tried. She was in book clubs and bike-riding groups; she took dance classes and knitted hats and sweaters for her children and grandchildren; she loved walking her dogs. She waded through a swamp in alligator-infested water in the Everglades and experienced the wildlife of the Galapagos. In the past few years she had taken up rowing, playing with a ukulele group, volunteering at a local playhouse, and this past summer she enjoyed learning how to tap dance.

Travel was such an important part of Cathy's life, particularly as a way to share special time with her family and friends. She walked along the Great Wall of China, hiked the Appalachian Trail, and traveled on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Cathy visited with lifelong friends in Israel and saw the mountains of Kenya and Peru. Together with her daughter she spent time volunteering for children in need in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Healthy eating was a way of life for Cathy and she loved to share her enthusiasm for whole unprocessed foods with friends and family. For a time she taught classes on preparing raw foods. She deeply loved bringing people together to share healthy food. And often above the festivity, her laughter could be heard.

Cathy's family will host a celebration of her life at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22, at the Janson's home in Yardley. For further details, please call (215) 757-0005.

In lieu of flowers and in her honor, please donate to the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation, Vineyard Haven, Mass., www.sheriffsmeadow.org. When donating, please note that the donation is being made in Cathy's name and dedicated to the preservation of Brightwood Park, a nature sanctuary that Cathy frequently visited and loved.