Susan Saint James in 1970, via Wikimedia Commons.

Susan Saint James, the Emmy-winning actress best known for McMillan & Wife and Kate & Allie, died Oct. 26 at age 80 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, her representative confirmed to PEOPLE.

Her family remembered her as someone who was “generous with her time and energy, which she valued more than money, and instinctively drawn to whoever needed lifting up,” and who “taught her children to pause, be kind and look out for other people.” They added: “She never met a stranger.”

She won an Emmy in 1969 for her work on The Name of the Game and was nominated two more times. She starred as Sally McMillan in McMillan & Wife (1971–1976) and as Kate McArdle in Kate & Allie (1984–1989). After Kate & Allie she mostly stepped back from acting, with guest appearances including The Drew Carey Show, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Suits, and she was an early and longtime supporter of the Special Olympics.

Her Kate & Allie co-star Jane Curtin told Page Six, “We lost a decent person today. Susan St. James was a decent person who made ‘Kate & Allie’ a joy,” adding, “Susan was my friend, and working with her brought such laughter, community and family to the stage at the Ed Sullivan Theater. I’ll miss her.”

She is survived by her husband, Dick Ebersol, her four children — Sunshine Lucas, Harmony Lucas, Charlie Ebersol and Willie Ebersol — her seven grandchildren, her sister, Mary Mercedes Dewey, and her service dog, Lola. Her youngest son, Teddy, died at 14 in a Nov. 28, 2004 plane crash; her family recalled that weeks after losing him, she delivered his eulogy as a note to each of her other children and her husband, giving them words to heal.

Sources: PEOPLE, TMZ