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Saying that Shirley Brey was ``very connected'' to natural resources in Half Moon Bay may be an understatement. According to former Mayor Dennis Coleman, Ms. Brey was instrumental in bringing down the proposed Wavecrest Village Project, which would have swallowed up the last undeveloped beachfront bluff at the south end of town.

Coleman was a candidate for city council in 1995. By the time ballots were cast, Ms. Brey's audacious attempt to recall the mayor had set the stage for the development's demise two years later, he said.

Even though Ms. Brey's recall attempt failed, Coleman said the mayor, city manager, city attorney and the council member he defeated resigned after the election. It was a turning point for City Hall, he said -- and a feather in her cap for Ms. Brey.

Shirley Brey was diagnosed with cancer eight years ago, said Lisa Randolph, Ms. Brey's daughter. As the days dwindled, a steady stream of visitors lined her mother's bed, including John Brey, Ms. Brey's ex-husband, she said.

Ms. Brey died in her Miramonte neighborhood home in Half Moon Bay on March 1. She was 73.

``Shirley Brey was irascible and irreverent, did not tolerate fools or liars -- and there are plenty of those around when $500 million projects are at stake,'' Coleman said.

Ms. Brey was born Feb. 26, 1933, in the south side of Chicago. She sailed through school, earning degrees in nursing and teaching from Northwestern and De Paul universities respectively. By 1958, she and John Brey were married on the way to California, and scaled Tioga Pass in a four-cylinder English Ford.

The Breys eventually settled in Mountain View. After giving birth to five children in seven years, Ms. Brey resumed her career full time as an operating room nurse.

``My mom was unlike all the other moms in our neighborhood, and I was proud of that,'' Randolph said. ``Super Mom'' described her during the day, she said. By nightfall, Ms. Brey had changed into her nursing uniform.

At the same time, Ms. Brey was a Girl Scout leader, an active member of the PTA and American Association of University Women, a trophy-winning tennis player and fixture at her son's Little League games.

Ms. Brey's early years were spent on the Los Altos School Board. She taught Japanese brush painting in Los Altos school classrooms, and served on the Santa Clara County Board of Education and the Governor's Task Force on Education.

Ms. Brey took her brood to church on Sundays. And it was her idea to visit American Indian powwows, celebrate Passover meals with Jewish friends and dance at Palo Alto Buddhist Temple's Obon festivals.

``My mom supported the Equal Rights Amendment, the American Indian takeover of Alcatraz and Cesar Chavez when he was doing his thing,'' Randolph said.

Mrs. Brey was also big on the outdoors, including camping, fishing and hiking and open space, Randolph said, which is why her mother was drawn to Half Moon Bay 20 years ago after her divorce.

The Half Moon Bay Open Space Trust became the focus of Ms. Brey's activism, and the Coastside Opportunity Center, Senior Housing Rehabilitation and Neighborhood Alliance, her venues for community service. And her new church community became Alcoholics Anonymous.

Her ex-husband, John Brey of Mountain View; daughters, Lisa Randolph of Hyampom and Jennifer Brey of Moss Beach; sons, Chris Brey of Mountain View, Phil Brey of Portland, Ore., and Tim Brey of Hyampom; 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Donations in Ms. Brey's name can be sent to Half Moon Bay Open Space and Trust, P.O. Box 3205, Half Moon Bay, Calif. 94019.

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