Kathleen “Kate” Grimm, a civic-minded woman who touched many lives, died peacefully, at her New York City home, on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. She was 68.

Mark Grimm, of Guilderland, said his sister was his hero.

“What a great sense of duty she had,” he said. “She was a great leader, someone you always wanted to follow.”

He said integrity was a lifestyle for his sister, which made her a great role model, for her siblings and for all women.

Ms. Grimm was born in Troy on March 21, 1946, the eldest of nine children born to the late Frederick H. Grimm and Helen Johnson Grimm.

Raised and educated in Troy, she was a graduate of Saint Patrick’s School and Catholic Central High School.

She received a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart. She held a juris doctor from New York Law School and a master of laws degree from New York University School of Law.

“Kathleen had a lifetime devotion to her family, friends, and service,” wrote her family in a tribute. “From an outspoken, civic-minded family, she learned the value of collaboration early on and developed a ‘can-do spirit’ that sees the opportunity in every challenge.”

Ms. Grimm’s first job after college was as a missionary, teaching English at an elementary school in northern Mexico.

She brought her 12-year old brother, Mark Grimm, with her, and together they traveled in her Volkswagon beetle.

Despite the multiple obstacles they faced, Mr. Grimm said his sister remained “unflappable.”

“It was a trait that would serve her, and her beloved City of New York, well,” he said.

When Ms. Grimm returned to the United States from Mexico, she moved to New York City, where she worked as a social worker, a licensed nursing home administrator, and then an assistant director at the Menorah Home and Hospital for the Aged.

She worked as an Internal Revenue Service estate tax attorney and in private practice, first with the Parker Duryea law firm, and later as a sole practitioner.

She served five mayors, one comptroller, seven commissioners, and four chancellors.

She was first deputy commissioner of the New York City Department of Finance, New York City deputy comptroller for the City of New York, and for the last 13 years she was deputy chancellor at the New York City Department of Education.

In charge of operations, she oversaw a $20 billion operating budget and a $12 billion capital budget.

Over the years, she oversaw several massive transformations of the city’s education system, an impact felt today by the more than one million children the district serves.

Ms. Grimm was a board trustee and alumni association president for Manhattanville College and New York Law School, an advisor to the Center for New York City Law, and an adjunct law professor.

She received the prestigious President’s Medal from New York Law School and an honorary degree. She was also recognized with a “Star of the Administration” award from Mayor Edward Koch.

“You might think someone so committed to work would have to miss out on family,” said Mr. Grimm. “It was just the opposite. Her family meant so much to her, and she meant so much to us.”

“Patience, incredible generosity, and wisdom — she had an endless reservoir of the most potent kind of love,” her brother said.

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Kathleen Grimm is survived by her two sisters, Barbara Grimm, of Brunswick, and Paula Grimm, of New York City; her sister brothers, Karl F. Grimm, of Troy, Gary Grimm, and his wife, Theresa, of Latham, John Grimm, and his wife, Ann Marie, of Richmond, Virginia, Peter D. Grimm, of Troy, Mark E. Grimm, and his wife, Karen, of Guilderland, and David Grimm, of Babcock Lake; 10 nieces and nephews; and three grandnieces and nephews.

A mass of Christian Burial was held on Feb. 21 at the Church of St. Catherine of Siena in Manhattan. Interment will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery, in Troy. Arrangements are by the McLoughlin and Mason Funeral Home in Troy.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Kathleen Grimm Government Service Scholarship Fund at New York Law School by visiting www.alumni.nyls.edu/grimm-scholarship.

— Anne Hayden Harwood