Ann Brahms, an accomplished author and well-known former columnist for the Portland Press Herald, died Saturday after a suffering a heart attack. She was 78.

Mrs. Brahms published seven books, ranging in subject matter from murder mysteries to her passion for training dogs. She also wrote two memoirs about her life in Portland and love of family.

She and her husband of 59 years, Paul Brahms, raised five children.

Members of her family laughed and cried Tuesday as they shared stories of her strength, resilience and humor. She also was described as charismatic and fun. Two of her daughters compared her to Lucille Ball, the late actress and comedian.

Her daughter Darien Brahms recalled how their home was open to family, friends and kids in their neighborhood. She said her mother would always have pot of coffee on and food ready to go.

“She loved nothing more than sitting around the kitchen table for hours, drinking coffee and swapping stories,” her daughter said. “She had this self-deprecating humor. She was always recalling funny stories that were entertaining to people. She would use her own exploits to make people laugh. There was always laughter in the house.”

There was also a lot of healing around her kitchen table.

Mrs. Brahms was a devoted mother and loyal friend who would drop everything to help a loved one, her family said.

“It didn’t matter what she was doing or what was going on in her life,” said her daughter Cathy Wenzl. “If you called her, she stopped everything to listen to you and make it better. Nothing was more important than what her kids had to say. That was so beautiful.”

Mrs. Brahms had plenty to say and many stories to tell.

Around 1981, she began putting her stories on paper. She wrote a book of short stories and co-authored a book with her husband called “Puppy Ed.”

Darien Brahms said her mother was fearless in her creative endeavors and pursued her writing with a vengeance. She encouraged and inspired each of her children to follow their own passions in life. Darien’s siblings include an inventor, two chefs, a fine arts painter and a teacher.

“My mom, along with my dad, are 100 percent responsible for turning me into the musician and scholar that I am today,” Brahms said. “They encouraged me to write songs, to stop writing songs, and pursue a Ph.D. in history. She taught us that it’s never too late to make profound changes in our lives if it was going to make us happy.” She modeled this behavior. She had guts.”

Building on her passion for training dogs, Mrs. Brahms and her husband volunteered for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. They raised and trained dogs for several years and were honored for their work in 1991.

“We loved it,” her husband said.

Mrs. Brahms was also a columnist in the former Your Neighbors section of the Portland Press Herald. In some of her columns, she shared her experience volunteering for the Guiding Eyes organization.

Mrs. Brahms lived most of her life in Portland and was a South Portland resident at the time of her death.

She had a following of nearly 5,000 on Facebook.

“My mother would make friends with everyone,” said her daughter Audrey Castro. “She would post these things every day. She gathered people. She was like a magnet to people. She was very charismatic.”

On the day she died, Mrs. Brahms was surrounded by her family and closest friends. Her husband held her hand and whispered in her ear before took her last breath. He began sobbing on the phone.

“I hugged her and kissed her,” he said, remembering the moment. “I told her I loved her. I said, ‘Relax. Just let go. You’re going to be OK.’ I told her I loved her – that I always had and always will,” he recalled.