MEMRAMCOOK, N.B. – Romeo LeBlanc was remembered today as the ``the great gentleman of Acadia" by the prime minister who appointed him Canada's 25th governor general.
In his eulogy at a state funeral for LeBlanc, Jean Chrétien said he first knew his old cabinet colleague as a journalist working for the CBC, a man who was "informed, deliberate and smiling."
"I never met anyone who did not like him," Chrétien said.
Canadians from all walks of life, among them some of the country's leading politicians, business people and academics, were among those to pay their final respects to LeBlanc, the first Acadian to be named to the vice-regal post.
Dignitaries, including Governor General Michaelle Jean and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, began arriving for the funeral two hours before the Roman Catholic mass began.
Harper and Chrétien were among those to file by LeBlanc's casket this morning at the Memramcook Institute, where he was lying in state, before the funeral at the nearby Saint-Thomas Church.
A funeral procession, led by a military honour guard, later made its way through the small parish of Memramcook in southern New Brunswick.
Fisheries officers lined the procession route, a tribute to LeBlanc from his time as fisheries minister in Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau's cabinet in the 1970s.
LeBlanc died June 24. He was 81.
His Acadian roots and importance to New Brunswick's francophone community were remembered by Rev. Arthur Bourgeois, who delivered the homily.
He described LeBlanc as a warm man, someone who worked to improve the lives of others.
"Whatever he undertook, there was this constant theme of consideration for others, respect for people and tolerance for the difference of others," Bourgeois said.
His son Dominic, the Liberal MP for Beausejour, recalled that his father went to work in Ottawa with people like former prime minister Lester Pearson, then Trudeau and Chrétien.
"My father was proud to be included in this group. They all share a vision of a compassionate Canada and each of them had an unyielding faith in the generosity and tolerance of Canadians," he said.
"The country has lost a devoted Canadian who did his best to serve with humility and compassion."
Dominic also remembered his father as a devoted family man.
"Dad, we love you," he said before bowing his head and laying his hand on the flag-draped casket.
Acadian historian Naomi Griffiths, who first met LeBlanc as a student in Paris, said her friend had an empathy for people and a talent for friendship.
"Once you became his friend, it was forever," she said.
"He never lost his belief that politics mattered, that people should be engaged in the political process and that politicians were people who cared for their country."
LeBlanc left his mark on the federal government as fisheries minister and became a senator in 1984, before he was appointed governor general in 1995.
A number of senior Liberal MPs, including party leader Michael Ignatieff, attended the funeral.
More than 1,000 people attended the funeral in the church, while the service was also broadcast live on CBC.
People spent the last two days remembering how LeBlanc touched them.
Many spoke of his folksy, unassuming ways and the ordinary charm that saw him invite strangers into his home in Grand Digue in southeastern New Brunswick, or regale people he barely knew with stories as they passed by his house.
Chrétien, his wife Aline, New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham, Liberal MP Justin Trudeau, and former Liberal cabinet minister Marc Lalonde were among 32 honorary pallbearers.
The institute where LeBlanc lay in state was formerly known as the University of Saint-Joseph, the first a francophone and Acadian university in the region. It is now primarily a resort and conference centre.
LeBlanc was an important player in the federal Liberal party, serving as press secretary to Pearson and Trudeau, before being elected as a New Brunswick MP in 1972.
As fisheries minister, he was called the "fishermen's minister."
LeBlanc had Alzheimer's disease and suffered a stroke in the months before his death.
He wielded considerable influence in his home province as an MP – tagged as the Godfather of New Brunswick for his ability to control patronage and government projects.
LeBlanc was born in 1927 in the Memramcook Valley and spent his childhood there.
Ill health forced LeBlanc to leave Rideau Hall early in 1999 before his five-year tenure was up.
