When Janet Roberts moved to Boulder in 1948, she probably didn't anticipate all the titles she would soon accumulate.

In addition to City Councilwoman and Planning Board member, Roberts also was a charter member of the PLAN-Boulder County group and an active member of the League of Women Voters of Boulder Valley.

But to friends and professional partners, she also earned the titles of role model, tactful leader, political pioneer for women and leading environmentalist.

Roberts, a Boulder political icon who scribed pivotal legislation throughout her years of service, died Thursday night of natural causes at Balfour hospice in Louisville. She was 89. Roberts became the fourth woman to hold a City Council seat when she was elected in 1959. With more than 30 years of experience in city affairs, her contributions included 13 years on the City Council and three years on the Planning Board. Roberts received the Camera's Pacesetter award for community service in 1988.

"She was a quiet person, thoughtful," said Al Bartlett, a professor emeritus of physics at the University of Colorado and a founding member of PLAN-Boulder County. "She did her homework, she was well-informed and could discuss (issues) rationally, effectively." Cynthia Jessel, who worked with Roberts in the League of Women Voters, called Roberts a "wonderfully balanced human being."

"She was a reasoner and a wonderful straight thinker and could straighten out a meeting of people struggling to find an agreement," Jessel said.

In a 2002 interview, Roberts told the Camera: "I'm not really an advocate as much as someone who tries to be as well-informed as I can and make the best judgment I can." Though she lost two bids for the state Legislature in the late 1960s, Roberts still helped pave the path for women's role in politics.

"She's just been my role model for decades," said Ruth Wright, who served as a state legislator from 1980 to 1994. "Just running in that era was one of those important steps for women in politics."

Wright said Roberts was a leader in creating Boulder's first comprehensive plan for cooperation between the city and the county.

Former Mayor and City Councilwoman Linda Jourgensen agreed, adding that Roberts' specialty was her work on land use. Citing Roberts' craftsmanship of the city's first comprehensive plan in 1957, she said Roberts was interested in the growth and development of the city but just as concerned about its protection.

"I've had a chance to really get to know someone for whom I had always had a great deal of respect," she said. "Janet is one of the very clearest thinkers I have ever had the pleasure of being around."

As an active member of the League of Women Voters of Boulder Valley for more than 50 years, Roberts will be remembered for "her knowledge and her wisdom and her understanding," said former league President Debra Hayes.

"She just loved city government, and she just loved to follow whatever was happening," Hayes said. "Her enthusiasm and her interest was very contagious."

Roberts was born in Lakewood, N.J. In 1940, she married Walter Orr Roberts, who later served as the first director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. He died in 1990.

She is survived by three of her four children; three grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.