Ana Mahoney

Longtime Mendocino County resident Ana Mahoney, widely known both as an efficient administrator and an optimistic and effective altruist, died Tuesday of heart failure. She was 68.

"She was a truly remarkable woman. She was dedicated to our community. Rich, poor, fortunate or not, it didn't matter. If she could help, she would," said Larry MacLeitch, a board member of Plowshares Peace and Justice Center, which serves meals to people who are down on their luck.

Mahoney had long been involved with Plowshares and was its director for the last year.

"She absolutely loved Plowshares. It wasn't a job, it was a vocation," said Carmel Angelo, Mahoney's partner and Mendocino County's chief executive officer. "Her heart was there. She wanted to help everyone there."

Mahoney was undergoing chemotherapy for recently diagnosed lymphoma at St. Helena Hospital when she suffered heart failure, Angelo said.

Mahoney was born Ann Ruth Boyce in San Mateo on Feb. 28, 1944, along with her twin brother, Phil Boyce, of Saratoga, according to Angelo.

She grew up in Saratoga and attended Los Gatos High School.

Mahoney graduated from San Jose State University in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in experimental psychology. After graduation, she became a Peace Corps volunteer in Yap, Micronesia and later a consultant with the organization in Saipan, where she married Francis Mahoney, of Berkeley, in 1967. They were married for 12 years.

Mahoney worked as an engineering analyst and division administrator for MITRE Research Corporation in Washington, D.C., from 1970 to 1975. She then returned to California, where she worked as an administrator at the city of Berkeley's public health department, the Center for Education and Manpower Resources and the County of Mendocino. She was administrator of the Mendocino Community Hospital from 1987 until it closed in 1990. From 2005 to 2006, she served as the county's interim director of Health and Human Services.

Mahoney also operated her own consulting firm, A.R. Mahoney & Associates, for several decades.

She moved to Mendocino County 33 years ago.

"She, like a lot of people in the '70s wanted to go back to the land," Angelo said. Mahoney purchased property in Willits with three other women and built a house on the land. She and Angelo most recently lived in Ukiah. Mahoney served on numerous boards, including North Coast Opportunities, the Community Foundation of Mendocino County and the Community Development Commission. She also was a member of the South Ukiah Rotary.

Mahoney always was looking for ways to help people, Angelo said. She recalled a woman in her 20s who had lost direction and purpose in her life. Mahoney took her under her wing and found her a job. The young woman went on to college and a successful career path.

"If Ana saw a need, she somehow managed to put it out in the universe and find the perfect solution," Angelo said.

At Plowshares, she would make time to talk to all the mealtime guests, focusing on those having a particularly difficult time or who were acting up.

"She sensed what people wanted and needed" and had an instinct for defusing volatile situations, MacLeitch said.

"She was somebody who blessed everybody's lives she crossed. Everybody's," said Carrie Brigham, Plowshares' interim director. Plowshares "guests" are grieving Mahoney's death and counselors were on hand to help them cope with the news.

"You'd meet Ana and then fall in love with her spirit," Brigham said.

She maintained that spirit over the last few weeks as she underwent grueling in-patient chemotherapy, Angelo said. She was reading a motivational book and offering encouragement and support to her doctors and nurses.

"She would say, 'You can do it. You're part of my 'A Team' and I'm an 'A' patient,'" Angelo said.

In their five years together, Angelo said Mahoney also encouraged her and made her a better person.

"Ana taught me heart. Ana was my heart," she said.

In addition to her partner and brother, Mahoney is survived by her niece and nephew-in-law, Sharon and Rick Bender and their twins, Ava and James, of Saratoga.

Mahoney was buried Friday during a private ceremony at her family's plot in Saratoga, Angelo said. A community celebration of her life is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sept. 29 at the Plowshares Peace and Justice Center at 1346 South State St. in Ukiah.

--Glenda Anderson