Maria Franziska von Trapp passed away on Tuesday at the age of 99 while at her home in Vermont.
Von Trapp was the last of the original members of the Trapp Family Singers, who are often best known for the film The Sound of Music, which was based upon their life, reports The Associated Press. In the film, she was portrayed as Louisa (played by Heather Menzies-Urich), who was the second youngest girl in the family.
Her brother, Johannes von Trapp, confirmed his sister's passing and commented she was a "lovely woman who was one of the few truly good people."
Von Trapp was one of seven children from Georg von Trapp and first wife, Agathe Whitehead, according to CBS News.
She met Maria Augusta Kutschera, who Julie Andrews played in the film, after she was brought to their house to tutor her as she recovered from scarlet fever. She was part of the Trapp Family Singers who made a name for themselves in the 1930s, even after they escaped Austria from the Nazis.
After visiting Vermont during a singing tour, the family ended up opening a lodge there in 1942. While there, she wrote The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, which is what got adapted into the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.
Von Trapp was also a lay missionary in Papua New Guinea for a time.
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