Robert M. Coard, the leader of the city’s most prominent anti-poverty agency for more than 40 years, died yesterday after being stricken with heart trouble over the summer. He was 82.

Coard’s death came just five days after 1,500 people, including Attorney General Martha Coakley and Mayor Thomas M. Menino, feted his retirement from Action for Boston Community Development at a gala event on Friday at the Boston Marriott Copley.