She has a soft voice and a tender smile, but a strong will is what Sister Consuelo Tovar may be most remembered for after she leaves Dallas next week.

As one of the most prominent organizers of the largest march in Dallas' history, the 60-year-old Catholic nun's legacy will be felt in the coming years, said many who worked alongside her.

"She was instrumental in not only getting so many people to the march, but also in getting them to register to vote," said Criminal District Court Judge Lena Levario, who also helped organize the mega-march. "She has a very strong personality and great organizational skills. She's going to be missed."

Sister Consuelo, a senior organizer with Dallas Area Interfaith, is leaving Monday to "take a break from organizing and get a different perspective on this country," she said last week. She's headed to Reynosa, Mexico, to an immigrant center run by her order, the Daughters of Charity.

Her order is consolidating four of its five provinces into one, largely because of declining numbers.

The order was one of the first to serve the Hispanic community in Dallas. It started out at St. Ann School in Little Mexico, the heart of the Mexican-American community in Dallas.

When Sister Consuelo leaves with the remaining nuns, the order will no longer have a presence in the Dallas Diocese, she said.

A Mass in their honor will be held today at 1:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 3811 Oak Lawn Ave.

Willie Bennett, lead organizer for Dallas Area Interfaith, said Sister Consuelo's departure will be deeply felt.

"I feel like I'm losing my right arm," he said. "She did a great job at developing leadership in the community."

As an organizer for the multi-ethnic, multi-denominational organization, Sister Consuelo helped train people for the mega-march two years ago this month.

She believes the march will have a lasting, positive impact.

"People are engaged and staying involved in local issues, especially the young," she said. "This will carry into the next election, I believe."

Over the last five years, she also worked to train other organizers from some of the 60 congregations in Dallas and Collin counties that form the membership of Dallas Area Interfaith.

She was emphatic in talking about the group's mission: "This is a university of the people. This is how a democratic society works."

Training citizens in the art of civic work seemed a natural part of the nun's religious mission, Judge Levario said.

"She really was a civil rights activist, which is what the Catholic Church should be doing – helping those who can't help themselves," Judge Levario said, referring to immigrants.

Mr. Bennett said the nuns were a key element in the organization's work.

"Without the nuns, we would not succeed," he said. "They make great sacrifices so that others who have families can stay involved."

The hardest thing to replace, after the nuns leave, will be the "nun mystique," he said.

"A nun has instant credibility. You can't replace that. It's hard-earned and well-earned."