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Ask her friends and the answer is simple. It was impossible to say no to Teresa Dellar.

The co-founder and executive director of the Kirkland-based West Island Palliative Care Residence died Aug. 19. Dellar died at the Royal Victoria Hospital after a long battle with cancer. She was 58.

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On Tuesday, friends spoke of her determination, selflessness and compassion. And they remembered her wicked sense of humour.

“It’s not for print,” close friend Yolande James said with a laugh.

James, a former Quebec cabinet minister who serves on the board of the West Island Palliative Care Residence Foundation, first met Dellar while working as a student at former Liberal MNA Russell Williams’ riding office. Williams co-founded the WIPCR with Dellar.

“I naturally gravitated towards her. She was a compassionate leader,” James said. “For Teresa, it was about the joy of living, even in the worst of circumstances.