For a quarter of a century, Blanche Abbatiello volunteered at the Butler Veterans Affairs Medical Center, logging more than 2,000 hours of service.

She volunteered even longer at Butler Memorial Hospital, where her job was to call the churches of patients who had been admitted to let them know a congregant was hospitalized.

"That was something she did for a long, long time," said her son, Doug Abbatiello, of Sharon, Mercer County. "She did that even longer than she volunteered at the veterans center."

Mrs. Abbatiello, of Butler, died June 28 at Butler Memorial Hospital. She was 83.

Paula McCarl, a spokeswoman for the veterans center, said Mrs. Abbatiello logged 2,397 volunteer hours in the physical therapy rehabilitation unit, starting her visits in 1981 and continuing until 2006. She would come to the center twice a month and spend three hours there volunteering during each visit.

Her son said his mother became interested in serving at the veterans center because her husband, Dr. Alfonso Abbatiello, had been the chief of pulmonary medicine there until 1982.

"The VA was always part of her life," he said.

Mrs. Abbatiello also volunteered at Butler Memorial Hospital in the pastoral care department and belonged to the hospital auxiliary.

An active member of her synagogue, Congregation B'nai Abraham in Butler, Mrs. Abbatiello was treasurer of the B'nai Abraham Sisterhood and a life member of the Hadassah.

"She also had been in charge of the planting trees in Israel program," her son said. The program is one that many U.S. congregations undertake to help plant trees in the once vast deserts of Israel to make the land more sustainable and inhabitable.

Mrs. Abbatiello enjoyed playing bridge and belonged to a number of bridge clubs. She also was an avid tennis player, enjoying the game until she was in her 70s.

"She was a loyal friend," said Sara Grossman, of Butler, who also was a neighbor. "We were always there for each other. She wasn't a phony."

"We lived on the same street and belonged to the same synagogue and played tennis together," she said. "We shared a lot of interests. I guess that's what made us such good friends."

Her son said his mother's friendships were important to her. "She had kept in touch with all her childhood friends from the Bronx [New York]. That says a lot about the kind of friend she was to people."

Mrs. Abbatiello also was a talented seamstress.

"When I was in high school, she actually made me some shirts and a coat that were pretty much on par or better than anything you could buy," her son recalled.

In addition to her son, she is survived by two brothers, Louis Kruh, of Merrick, N.Y., and Joel Kruh, of Naples, Fla., and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband.

Services were held Tuesday at Congregation B'nai Abraham Cemetery.