Remembering Rosie's Place Founder Kip Tiernan

A Boston woman who dreamed of ending homelessness died of cancer over the weekend at the age of 85.

Kip Tiernan was a longtime advocate for social justice and the founder of Rosie's Place, the first shelter for homeless women in the country.

Remembrances and accolades have poured in all day for Tiernan.

Fran Froehlich has been Tiernan's friend and fellow activist since they met in the mid-1970s. She said Tiernan's legacy is being a "moral witness."

When asked about how Tiernan became a life-long activist, Froehlich explained it was in her blood.

"For Kippy a lot of it was where she grew up. Her grandma always had meals on the stove ready for people who came by the house during the Depression," Froehlich said. "And that really stayed with Kim."

In addition to Rosie's Place, Tiernan helped establish the Greater Boston Food Bank and other agencies that helped Boston's poor and homeless.