Vashon’s Quaker community is hosting an unusual version of a celebration of life this Sunday; the group is honoring someone who is still living.

Dorothy Hall-Bauer has been active with the Quakers for many years and wanted this type of event, said Barabara Wells, one of the organizers.

“She made it very clear she wanted a celebration while she was still alive, and the Quakers were happy to do it,” Wells said. “Frankly, I think a lot of people are taken with the idea. I think you will see this a lot. As usual, Dorothy is a trend setter.”

Hall-Bauer, now 96, is known to many people on the island, her home since she moved here in her 60s.

She is perhaps best known for a series of books she began writing in her 80s. Called “Islanders, Meet your Neighbors,” there are seven books in print and an eighth in production at Vashon Print and Design. Each book included 14 essays about a wide range of islanders, from former Washington governor Booth Gardner to peace activist Joy Goldstein. She donated the proceeds from her book sales to the Interfaith Council to Prevent Homelessness, donating more than $1,400 from her first book alone.

Hall-Bauer’s community efforts did not stop there.

She held annual birthday celebrations for seniors, including on her 90th birthday, when guests were treated to music and flower leis.

She often held Community Conversations in her Burton home, opening it to anyone who wanted to come address a particular topic, ranging from restorative justice to the Mennonite tradition.

Two years ago, she began Take a Senior to Lunch day. Several island restaurants participated, offering people who took a senior to lunch on the 28th of the month a 10 percent discount.

“I just got on the bus and went to all of the restaurants and talked to them,” Bauer stated at the time about how she organized the effort.

Hall-Bauer grew up in Tacoma and Seattle and camped on the island in the summers for a decade for her mother’s health, according to information from Wells. She hoped at the time she would live on Vashon when she grew up.

She went on to earn her degrees in social welfare and landscape architecture from the University of Washington, took many writing courses and worked for King County.

Hall-Bauer raised four children in her first marriage, Sylvia, Robert, Laurie and Bill. The marriage ended when her children were grown. Later, she married and divorced Wolf Bauer, a founder of the Seattle Mountaineers Club.

In her 60s, she fulfilled her childhood dream of living on Vashon and moved to the island, quickly becoming active in the community, including with the Vashon Quakers.

While the Quakers are hosting the event, some of Hall-Bauer’s relatives plan to be there as well, including her son-in-law Floyd Smith, who said that Hall-Bauer has spoken repeatedly in recent months about wanting an event like the one set for Sunday. Her 102 year-old-sister will be there as well. Years ago, the sisters circumnavigated Vashon together in a rowboat.

Hall-Bauer has experienced some health challenges in recent years, as well as losses of people close to her this fall.

Wells, though, who has known Hall-Bauer for quite some time, is quick to point out her friend’s enduring sense of adventure, noting that she went to the Galapagos Islands at age 92.

“She is a force, that woman,” Wells said.

The celebration for Hall-Bauer will be 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, in the Burton Community Church, 23905 Vashon Hwy SW. It will be followed by a community potluck. Those who attend are requested to bring a dish to share. Parking will be available at Lewis Hall behind the church.