Mary Sansone, a pint-sized powerhouse social worker, founder of an Italian-American organization and a community activist who championed a wide variety of social justice causes died on Monday just one-month shy of her 102nd birthday.

The 4-foot-11 Sansone fought virtually her entire life for equal rights for women, the underprivileged, Italian Americans and people of all ethnicities. Her persistence made her a respected thorn in the side of virtually every politician in New York.