She hated red tape and wasn't much fond of meetings, either. Most of all, when it came to advocating for the poor, Mary Boland hated to stop.

And she never did, until, that is, Jan. 4, when she died of cancer while in hospice care at her Denver-area home. She was 65.

On Thursday the feisty and well-known social services advocate and former vice president of Catholic Charities was honored at a memorial service at St. John's Episcopal Cathedral.

"We've known her for a long time, through a whole maze of different ways," said Sister Kathleen O'Malley, a member of the Sisters of Loretto Catholic order.

Miss Boland grew up in Chicago and came to Denver in the late 1970s. She served at the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver and became especially known as director of affordable housing. Then a Catholic, she was formally associated with the Sisters of Loretto order and its social justice work but didn't take vows as a nun.

In the mid-1990s, Miss Boland joined the Episcopal Church, which she loved, said her life partner, the Rev. Deacon Sally Brown of St. Andrews Episcopal Church.

"It was a delight to have her in my life," Deacon Brown said. "I will miss her desperately, and those without a voice in this community, whom she served, will miss her desperately."

Sister Mary Catherine Rabbitt saw Miss Boland's innovative ideas firsthand, shortly after Rabbitt became president of the Sisters of Loretto in 2001.

The order had 5.5 vacant acres at Hampden and Dartmouth avenues. To Miss Boland, that wasn't vacant land - that was the future home of Mount Loretto, an apartment complex for the poor.

At the time of her death, Miss Boland was working on housing for Vietnam veterans and a project for seniors, said her boss, Lynn Johnson, executive director of the Jefferson County Department of Human Services. Since 2007, Miss Boland was director of Jeffco's community assistance division.

Miss Boland had stepped away from the workload to do contract work for the county while being treated for a rare form of cancer.

"The Thursday before she passed away she sent me an e-mail," Johnson recalled. "She said, 'I know I'm supposed to start contract work for you Monday, but can you give me an extra week? I'm just really tired.'

"That is the history of Mary. Anybody who knew her, knew she never stopped."

Besides Deacon Brown, Miss Boland is survived by brothers Peter, James and Terrence and sister Kathleen. Memorial contributions can be made to Sisters of Loretto, 4000 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Littleton, CO 80123; St. Andrew's Church, 2015 Glenarm Place, Denver, CO, 80205; Maxfund, 1025 Galapago St., Denver, CO 80204.