BAKERSFIELD, Calif. --- — Delano's beloved baker Mary Ann Franklin has died, according to a family member.

Franklin was the owner of Mary's Heavenly Bites, which has been a local favorite in Delano since 2000.

Franklin, a Los Angeles raised talent, told 23ABC News in December, that cooking was not only a way of life, but a way to give back to others.

"This is what God put in me to do and I've been doing it ever since," Franklin said.

Owning a restaurant wasn't always part of the plan for Franklin.

“I thought I was going to work for the prison," Franklin said in December."I had filled out the application, was going through the interviews and everything... God had other plans. In a vision, he told me to open a restaurant."

Franklin said her faith has also encouraged her to serve others.

She would regularly feed homeless individuals and cook for local prisons.

In 2016, Franklin was diagnosed with Polymyositis, an inflammatory muscle disease, but it is not confirmed if this illness was her cause of death.