When Ah Quon McElrath made the last formal speech of her life Nov. 1, during a banquet in her honor hosted by the Hawai'i People's Fund, her physical frailty was apparent while she was being helped up to the podium on stage.

But the clarity of voice and thought that resonated from the microphone reassured everyone in the hall that "A.Q." still had the spirit that powered her through a life of leadership within the labor movement, and still maintained her support for the community's poorest citizens.

Even the $1,000 honorarium paid to her after the fund's dinner was returned in the mail with a note from the honoree, instructing the nonprofit's leaders to use the money for its grants program.

McElrath, who died Thursday at 92, had retired in 1981 as a social worker for the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union. She was most famous for her pioneering work for unions during the sugar plantation and longshoremen's strikes of the 1940s but persisted as an advocate for social justice causes to the end of her life.

In 1954 she became the union's first social worker, counseling members on substance abuse, mental-health issues and other problems. She was a familiar face lobbying at the Legislature up until last year, and served as a University of Hawai'i regent until 2003.

McElrath could speak with authenticity for the poor because of her humble beginnings; she knew their struggles. Her own father died of a ruptured appendix at home in 'Iwilei because the family had no money to pay for a doctor's care.

And she could speak with eloquence because of her scholarship and the breadth of her experience. McElrath's career had her witness the ravages of poverty far from Hawai'i's shores.

But the Islands remained her life's focus, said civil rights activist Amy Agbayani, who cited A.Q.'s courageous advocacy for labor causes long before it was a popular stance.

"She always favored the side of the groups that had no voice," Agbayani said.

A.Q.'s voice now will resonate through the beneficiaries of her life's work. This champion of social justice has left a bright, indelible mark in Hawai'i's history.