Betty Kamihira, 80, EPA administrator

One of the memories Gil Spencer has of his sister, Betty, was the time she stole his pony.

Gil - F. Gilman Spencer, retired editor of the New York Daily News and former editor of the Philadelphia Daily News - was always a lover of horses.

Over the years, he owned race horses, rooted for race horses and still owns one, so losing a pony at the age of 18 to a sibling was tough to take.

"She was 14 at the time," he said. "She took the pony to Marlyand, where she was going to school, and that was that. The pony was hers."

Of course, that's not the only memory Gil has of his sister, Elizabeth Spencer Kamihira.

"She was fun," he said. "And very smart."

Elizabeth, a retired administrator for the Philadelphia office of the Environmental Protection Agency, and who raised seven children on a farm in Cheyney, Delaware County, died Friday of natural causes. She was 80 and living Northern Liberties.

Betty was married to the internationally famous artist Ben Kamihira, a Japanese-American who went from an internment camp during World War II to startle the art world with his vivid impressonistic work, died in 2004.

The Spencer family was from Swarthmore, where Betty attended Swarthmore High School. She graduated with honors from Penn State University and then attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

It was there that she met Kamihira, who was teaching at the academy.

Betty was born in Philadelphia to F. Gilman and Elizabeth Spencer.

"She was a Phillies fan, and, of course, I turned her on to horse racing," Gil said. "She was devoted to her family, and supported her husband in his art career."

Besides her brother, she is survived by two sons, Owen and Eben; four daughters, Miyo, Tomi, Anita and Ronda, and seven grandchildren. She was predeceased by another son, Paul.

Services: A memorial service will be planned by the family at a later date.

Donations may be made to Friends for Life, Action AIDS, 1216 Arch St., Philadelphia 19107.