Raffaelina “Lee” Kost, 90, died April 4 at Bayonet Point Hospital, Hudson, Fla., after a long illness. She was born in Pozzallo, Sicily, to Giovanna (Frasca) and Salvatore Emilio and emigrated to the United States at the age of 9.

A graduate of Stratford High School, she attended the University of Bridgeport where she met her future husband, William Kost, in a Spanish class. Later she and William would spend many summers living in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The Kosts moved to Newtown in 1956 where they raised their five children, while her husband was a Bethel High School teacher. An accomplished cook and baker, Mrs Kost worked for many years at the former Mrs Anderson’s Foods on Queen Street,  preparing gourmet food items, until the Kosts retired to their home in Hudson.

During her retirement, Mrs Kost’s outgoing personality and fluency in several languages made her a sought-after traveling companion for senior trips abroad. In her final years she helped to translate for fellow residents at her nursing facility and was known to chatter away with staff members in their native language.

Four daughters, Linda Schulz, and her husband Patrick, of Newtown, Elisa Checkoway, and her husband Steve, of Franklin, Mass., Debbie Sue Hume of Massapequa, N.Y., and Diane Tso, and her husband Stan, of Short Hills, N.J.; a son, Robert Kost, and his wife Donna, of Seneca, S.C.; nine grandchildren, Michael Checkoway, Hilary and Melody Kost, Emily and Laura Checkoway, Courtney and Kayla Hume, and Amanda and Catherine Tso; one sister, Josephine Denaro of Damascus, Md.; several nieces and nephews; and her dear friends Ellen and Jerry Jimerson of Hudson survive Mrs Kost. She was predeceased by her husband.

Funeral services took place April 11 in Hudson, at the Prevatt Funeral Home, with burial in the Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, Fla., alongside her husband.