The woman who touched the hearts of thousands of West Australians by rattling a tin for the Salvos has died.

Shirley Mort, who raised a staggering $1.7 million for the charity during her 26 years at the Perth train station footbridge, passed away peacefully in a Woodvale nursing home on May 6, aged 92.

She retired just last year and her incredible legacy is fresh in the minds of the countless people who dropped a coin in her tin.

The Salvos’ single biggest collector, Mrs Mort will be remembered for her giving nature and no-nonsense demeanour.

“She would help anyone. She would take money out of her own pocket to help people,” Salvation Army soup-run founder Andrew Murfin said.

“She was a real Trojan, but if you crossed her you would know about it — she would not put up with any nonsense.”

Mr Murfin, who knew Mrs Mort for almost 30 years, recalled what would happen if she gave money to people who spent it on alcohol. “She would remember that person and never give them anything again,” he said.

Mrs Mort started working with the soup kitchen in 1989, after her husband died and because she wanted to help people in need. Up at 5am every day to make sandwiches for Perth’s homeless, Mrs Mort was integral to the soup run for 16 years.

For many of those years, she would spend the morning giving out sandwiches, go home to get changed, then head back into the city to collect.

Camera Icon Shirley Mort, then 90, at her long-term collecting post on the Wellington Street overpass in the city. Credit: Picture: Nic Ellis

Salvation Army spokesman Warren Palmer said Mrs Mort would be remembered as an advocate for homeless people.

“She gave her time and skills without reservation on a volunteer basis, which exemplified her kind and compassionate spirit,” he said. “During her years on the overpass on Wellington Street, her selfless act of considering others before herself defines who she was and will stand as a symbol of community and love for humanity.”

Mrs Mort was a Senior Citizen of the Year award recipient.

Her family will hold a private funeral.