Agathe von Trapp | From musical family, 97

Agathe von Trapp, 97, a member of the musical family whose escape from Nazi-occupied Austria was the basis for

The Sound of Music

, died Tuesday at a hospice in the Baltimore suburb of Towson after suffering congestive heart failure, said her friend Mary Louise Kane.

Kane and Ms. von Trapp lived together for five decades and ran a kindergarten at the Sacred Heart Catholic parish in Glyndon, Md., until 1993.

Ms. von Trapp was the oldest daughter of Georg Ritter von Trapp, an Austrian naval captain. His seven children by his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von Trapp, were the basis for the singing family in the 1959 play and 1965 film, which won the Oscar for best picture.

The widowed captain had three more children with his second wife, Maria Augusta Kutschera. They performed together as the Trapp Family Singers.

Agathe, a guitarist, was represented in the film by 16-going-on-17 Liesl, played by Charmian Carr. But Agathe was far more reserved than the outgoing Liesl, Kane said.

Ms. von Trapp wrote her memoir, Memories Before and After The Sound of Music, published in September by Harper Paperbacks, to set the record straight, Kane said.

Johannes von Trapp, the youngest of the children, said Ms. von Trapp was a private person.

He said she would be buried in the spring at a cemetery at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vt.

The death leaves four surviving members of the Trapp Family Singers: Maria von Trapp, 96; Rosmarie von Trapp, 81; Eleonore "Lorli" von Trapp Campbell, 79; and Johannes, 71. - AP