Friends are remembering Sirdeaner Walker, the Springfield woman who spearheaded a statewide anti-bullying law after her son committed suicide in 2009.

“Sirdeaner took that tragedy and she turned it into a force of nature,” said Helen Caulton-Harris, Springfield’s commissioner of health and human services.”

Caulton-Harris has known her since Walker was in high school. She observed walker’s work as a housing advocate and her efforts to combat bullying after her son’s death.

“I will miss her because having that kind of force in your life and around the city of Springfield, particularly, is something that we all really strive to be,” she said.

Walker, who died this week following a decade-long battle with breast cancer, was 51 and is survived by two daughters and a son.

Funeral arrangements are pending.