Even in the final few days before she succumbed to heart failure, Alicia C. Rasin found the time and energy to assist others in need.

“She got a phone call at home last week from a family who had lost someone,” her sister, Pamela Smith, said Monday.

“She could not walk and she could barely talk. But she told the family to come over the next day and she would try to help them. They came over and she told them what to do for the funeral.”

Known as the city’s “Ambassador of Compassion” for the decades she comforted hundreds of mourning families of homicide victims and served others in the community with her tireless love, Ms. Raisin died two days later, Friday, Oct. 9, 2015, at VCU Medical Center in Downtown, surrounded by her three sisters — Pamela, Albertina Walker and Rita Edwards. She was 62.

She had spent much of the past few years battling serious health issues.

Fittingly, family and community members are scheduled to honor Ms. Rasin with a candlelight prayer vigil 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, in Jefferson Park, 21st and Marshall streets, across from the Church Hill home where she was raised by her parents, Malachi and Australia Rasin, and lived her entire life.

A wake will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, at Chiles’ Funeral Home, 2100 Fairmount Ave.

Ms. Rasin’s life will be celebrated during a service 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Saint Paul’s Baptist Church, 4247 Creighton Road, in Henrico County.

On Monday evening, dozens of people gathered at Ms. Rasin’s home to share hugs, tears and warm memories of her life.

Born Dec. 28, 1952, Ms. Rasin “always cared more about everyone else than she did about herself,” said her sister, Ms. Edwards.

“I remember when she was 8, we would be in the kitchen and she would bring homeless people in off the street and ask our parents if they could stay and eat. My parents usually said yes,” Ms. Edwards said. “She would always say her calling to help others was God’s gift to her.”

Ms. Rasin graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in 1970 and earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from Virginia State University.

When Ms. Rasin was in her early 20s, doctors at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore removed a brain tumor when she was taken there after experiencing blindness, her sister, Ms. Walker, recalled.

Her sight was restored, but Ms. Rasin was physically disabled for the remainder of her life with a series of other illnesses and afflictions, Ms. Walker said.

Undeterred, she stayed true to her calling, becoming a beacon of love in the community the remainder of her life.

In the early 1990s, Ms. Rasin formed Citizens Against Crime to comfort the victims of violence in the city.

“Everyone knows what’s inside the yellow tape at homicide scenes,” said Ms. Walker, a retired captain with the Richmond Police Department.

“But Alicia did her greatest work with people outside the yellow tape, working with families of homicide victims and other community members to prevent them from becoming the next victims.”

She organized prayer vigils for the victims and later followed up with their families.

Her dedication for more than two decades helped the grieving, hurt and lost during a time when Richmond’s murder rate dramatically increased — with more than 100 murders each year from 1990 to 1997, and a high of 161 in 1994.

Mayor Dwight C. Jones, who also serves as senior pastor at First Baptist Church of South Richmond, praised Ms. Rasin’s efforts.

“I have lost a dear friend and very loyal supporter with the passing of Alicia Rasin,” he said in a statement Saturday. “Alicia was a compassionate voice and a real haven of peace for families and victims of violent acts.

“While I am saddened over this loss, I also celebrate the life of Alicia Rasin,” the mayor added. “She was a special soul and has been a rock in our community for many years. She helped sustain our city during our toughest times. May she rest in peace.”

Charles Willis, a longtime community advocate and the executive director of Citizens Against Crime for more than 10 years, said Mr. Rasin filled an urgent role that no one else would or could.

“It just seemed like no one cared, but Alicia was always there,” he said.

He said he will continue to lead Citizens Against Crime to advance Ms. Rasin’s mission.

Mr. Willis recalled the dozens of gifts wrapped under the brightly lit Christmas tree in Ms. Rasin’s living room throughout the year.

“When children brought their report cards by here, even if the report cards were not always good, she would always give them a gift and an encouraging word,” Mr. Willis said.

He said Ms. Rasin would take gifts and food to the families of homicide victims and others in need during the Christmas and Thanksgiving seasons.

He said she would welcome strangers into her home and visited senior citizens to spread cheer.

“She epitomizes the story in scripture of the Good Samaritan,” said Dr. Emory Berry, pastor at Fourth Baptist Church, where Ms. Rasin was a longtime member.

“While others passed on the other side of the road past the man (who had been robbed and beaten), Alicia was the one who always stopped to help the ones most in need.

“She was a living, breathing example of helping others when they are in their most vulnerable state,” he said.

In addition to her sisters, Ms. Rasin is survived by other family members and a grateful community that she deeply touched.