Tracy Nelson, the co-owner of Ruth’s Diner who worked to revitalize the landmark eatery in Utah’s Emigration Canyon, has died.

“Tracy was a huge part of everyone’s life here at Ruth’s, and became a close friend to much of the staff, and many of the people that come to visit,” a post on the restaurant’s Instagram account reads.

She died March 1, according to the post. No cause of death was mentioned. She was 67.

Nelson and her husband, Erik, bought Ruth’s Diner in 2006. The original owner, the legendary Ruth Evans, started the diner in 1930 in downtown Salt Lake City — and when that building was sold and demolished, she hauled a trolley car up the canyon and relaunched the diner in 1949. According to a history on the diner’s website, Evans built an apartment attached to the trolley car, which later became the lower dining area and kitchen.

Decades after Evans sold the diner to other owners in 1977, the Nelsons bought the 4160 E. Emigration Canyon Road property. At the time, the kitchen was only 350 square feet — a cramped space that forced cooks to work shoulder-to-shoulder and waitstaff to bump trays. The single-unit restrooms often had customers waiting 20 minutes or longer.

In 2007, the Nelsons started a two-year remodeling project, which cost nearly $1 million, The Salt Lake Tribune reported in 2009. The project quadrupled the size of the kitchen, expanded the restrooms, and retiled the wall where Ruth Evans’ photo still looks out over customers.

The remodel maintained many of Evans’ original touches: The trolley car, the jukebox and her beloved flamingos, which were incorporated into a new neon sign welcoming guests.

According to diner employees who posted on Instagram, Nelson “was instrumental in making sure that a tradition started by Ruth herself continued to this day.”

The renovation was a matter of necessity, the Nelsons said in 2009, because the diner had outgrown its space. “It was restaurant warfare,” Tracy Nelson said at the time. “We made it work because we had to.”

The Instagram post said employees would “miss her colorful outfits, big personality, the treats she would bring up for the back of house staff on every single holiday, and her unmistakable presence on the end-of-summer employee trips to Wendover. Most of all, we’ll just miss her.”

A celebration of Nelson’s life, with live music, is scheduled for Wednesday, March 18, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Starks Funeral Parlor, 3651 S. 900 East, Millcreek.

“We invite everyone to skip the black attire and come in bright colors or fun patterns that remind you of her vibrant spirit,” the invitation on Instagram reads.