Hilda Yates Warden had an unquenchable passion for helping the less fortunate.

“Her greatest achievement was guiding people in the right direction,” said her son, George Warden Jr.

Mrs. Warden, a Richmond native, refused to let racism stop her from serving others in the community.

In 1951, she was one of the first African-Americans to be accepted into the School of Social Work at Richmond Professional Institute, now Virginia Commonwealth University. She also worked in the Richmond Department of Welfare and the Richmond Department for the Aging.

She later came out of retirement to serve as a legislative assistant for 18 years to the late Sen. Yvonne B. Miller of Norfolk, who in 1983 became the first African-American woman elected to the General Assembly.

Mrs. Warden is being remembered following her death Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015. She was 97.

Her friends and family celebrated her life Thursday, Sept. 10, at her home church, First African Baptist on North Side.

Mrs. Warden was a whiz in school. She was 13 when she graduated from Armstrong High School in 1931 and just 17 when she graduated from Virginia Union University in 1935 with a degree in chemistry, her son said.

“She was exceptional and very studious,” he recalled.

Mrs. Warden also was one of the founding members in 1934 of the Beta Epsilon Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority at VUU and a charter member of what would become the Richmond Alumnae Chapter of the sorority.

In 2011, she was honored as the oldest living Beta Epsilon Chapter member and was awarded a 60th year certificate by the John Malcus Ellison Honor Society of the Virginia Union Alumni Association.

Mrs. Warden began her career teaching in a one-room schoolhouse near Roanoke.

She was married in 1941 to her husband of 62 years, the late George Warden Sr., and raised their two sons — George Jr. and Ronald — in their home in the Westwood community in the West End, then later in their home on North Side.

By 1950, Mrs. Warden was working for the Richmond Department of Welfare at a time when African-Americans were just beginning to be hired as supervisors. Realizing she needed to further her education to be promoted to supervisor, she applied to RPI.

She initially was barred because the RPI administration had not decided whether to admit African-Americans, who at the time largely were barred from attending state-supported colleges and universities except Virginia State and Norfolk State. The administration withdrew its objections to her application, but then threw up another roadblock.

While working white students were allowed to be part-time graduate students, Mrs. Warden and several other African-Americans were told they would only be admitted as full-time graduate students, requiring them to give up their jobs.

Undeterred, she went ahead. In 1951, Mrs. Warden was quietly admitted with four other African-Americans as a graduate student in the RPI School of Social Work and was awarded a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling in 1954.

She then was hired at VUU as a counselor, where she worked for 11 years and directed several federal programs.

After leaving VUU, Mrs. Warden worked at the Richmond Department for Aging from 1976 to 1983.

She also held positions with the nonprofit Offender Aid and Restoration program for people released from jail and the Virginia Commission on Human Relations. She was active in the Richmond Committee of Black Social Workers.

In 1984, Mrs. Warden became the legislative assistant to Mrs. Miller, who had just been elected to the House of Delegates as its first African-American female member. Mrs. Warden continued to work for Mrs. Miller after she made history again in 1987 as the first African-American woman elected to the state Senate. Mrs. Warden retired from Mrs. Miller’s staff in 2001.

Mrs. Warden also was a life member of the NAACP and received numerous awards for her community service. The YWCA of Richmond honored Mrs. Warden in 1989 as one of the Outstanding Women of Greater Richmond.

She also received an award from the Virginia State Library Board for homemaking and volunteerism from 1990 to 1994 and a certificate of appreciation in 1982 from the City of Richmond for her work with the Department of Aging.

Along with her son, Mrs. Warden’s survivors include three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.