As bagpipes play ”Amazing Grace” during the service Saturday afternoon, Dennis Maloney's family and friends hold back tears.

While Dennis Maloney was nationally known for his work in criminal justice, his absence is perhaps most keenly felt in Bend, the community he called home since 1986.

Maloney, 55, died Tuesday of natural causes. He collapsed while driving on Reed Market Road and hit a rock wall. A devoted family man, he is survived by his wife, Nancy, and five daughters, Tracy, Shannon, Caitlin, Kelly and Molly.

At the memorial service held Saturday afternoon, several hundred mourners packed the pews, squeezed into the lobby and spilled out the doors of the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in downtown Bend. Many of Maloney’s former colleagues at the Des-chutes County criminal justice department, where he worked for 16 years, were in attendance.

Bagpipers opened and closed the service, led by Father Luis Manuel Flores-Alva. It was interspersed with hymns and other music, including the Irish-American song ”Danny Boy,” and a rendition of a traditional Irish blessing, a nod to the family’s heritage.

Flores-Alva encouraged attendees to think of Maloney’s passing not as the end, but as the next step.

”We are celebrating life,” he said. ”Another phase of life, but in the end, life.”

Several people who attended the service said afterward that it is impossible to overstate Maloney’s impact, whether professional or personal.

”You can see by all the people who are here (that) he touched many, many lives,” Bend resident Dave Markham said after the service. Markham said he met Maloney through civic involvement.

He said he would miss Maloney’s energy and optimism.

”Denny was always positive, uplifting and visionary,” Markham said. ”It’s a big loss for everybody, but then we celebrate what Denny did and everything he accomplished.”

Maloney helped advance a new approach in corrections known as ”restorative justice,” where offenders pay restitution and complete community service to pay for their crimes.

Aside from his work in corrections, Maloney helped create the Oregon Youth ChalleNGe program, which provides education and job training to at-risk youth, and was instrumental in the formation of the Latino Community Association, formerly known as El Programa de Ayuda, a resource for Hispanic residents.

He also was founder and president of Community Justice Associates, a Bend firm that promotes preventative and restorative approaches to criminal justice.

Individuals around the country, hailing from locations including Allentown, Pa., Reno, Nev., and Maloney’s former home of Green Bay, Wis., wrote e-mails to The Bulletin saying that they were shocked and saddened to hear news of his passing.

Portland resident Paul Snider, who attended Saturday’s service, said Maloney was always a man who offered his help without waiting to be asked. They met professionally when Maloney was the Deschutes County’s juvenile community justice director.

”(I) got stranded in Sunriver a few years ago … and called him to see if he knew a mechanic,” Snider said. ”He said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll come out.’”

Snider said Maloney drove out and loaded up his own car with Snider’s luggage, which included an 80-pound electric guitar amplifier that Maloney, a former football player who stood 6 feet 5 inches tall, handled like it weighed no more than a deck of cards.

Maloney’s generosity toward friends also showed in his work, Snider said.

”His heart for kids in trouble was so wonderful,” he said.

Bend resident Don Minney, who worked under Maloney in the community justice program, said Maloney earned his genuine admiration and respect.

”(He was) just down-to-earth. There was nothing arrogant about him,” Minney said.

Minney said Maloney was ”a shaker and mover,” a man who got things accomplished but wasn’t interested in taking the credit.

The two also went on several fishing trips together, Minney said, adding that he also will miss Maloney’s smile.

”There was only one Denny, and he was a hoot to be with,” he said.