Helen Kutsher dies: Beloved 'Borscht Belt' hotel owner was 89

Helen Kutsher, a woman known for running the Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club in the Catskill Mountains with her husband Milton Kutcher, has died. Se was 89.

Family members have reported that Kutsher passed away in a Philadelphia hospital on March 19. She had been living there for several years. Kutsher was beloved for being the face of her family's "Borscht Belt" hotel as its head of reservations and doyenne for generations, and was known for her prime rib and blintzes -- and penchant for attracting talent to the Kutsher's Hotel like Tony Bennett and Milton Berle.

"She was more than the greeter, she was the heart of the hotel," her daughter Mady Prowler tells the Associated Press. "She always sent people birthday cards and had little gifts for the grandchildren. She made sure people felt that they were pretty special."

Milton passed away in 1998, and their son Mark Kutsher took over the hotel business. Kutsher continued to greet guests at her hotel until she was in her 80s.