PLEASANT POINT (AP) – So many people filed into Saint Ann’s Roman Catholic Church for the funeral of Passamaquoddy Gov. Melvin Francis on Tuesday that some mourners who couldn’t get inside had to watch a television feed from a nearby school.

The service combined a funeral Mass along with Passamaquoddy traditions including Indian drumming and a smudging ceremony inside the small church.

The ceremony, which lasted nearly three hours, was delivered in Passamaquoddy and English to about 300 people who packed the church, standing along the sides and in the back. Across the street, more people watched the live video feed at the Beatrice Rafferty School.

Francis, 60, was remembered for a life of service and for a leadership style in which he acted as a peacemaker to bring parties together.

His wife, Carol Francis, addressed the church and delivered special words to each of their children, telling each what they meant to their father.

Sen. Olympia Snowe called the service “an extraordinary tribute to a remarkable man.”

“He was deeply loved, respected and revered, and held in high esteem for the way he led his people. That’s the mark of a true leader,” she said.

Francis died when his pickup truck hit a patch of ice and slid into an oncoming tanker truck Thursday evening as he was returning home from an event celebrating Citgo Petroleum Corp.’s decision to provide discounted heating oil to four Maine tribes.

“Until his very last moments he was fighting for his people to get affordable home heating oil and traveling to whatever lengths he could to make sure he did whatever he could for his people,” said Maine Gov. John Baldacci.

Baldacci, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff, delayed his annual State of the State address to the Maine Legislature until Wednesday so he could attend the funeral.

Joining Baldacci and Snowe were Rep. Michael Michaud and a legislative delegation, along with leaders from the Passamaquoddy’s Pleasant Point and Indian Township reservations, and the Penobscots, Maliseets and Micmacs.

Francis, whose four-year term as governor was set to expire this year, was a strong supporter of a proposal by an Oklahoma energy developer to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on tribal land at Pleasant Point.

He also supported an Indian-operated racetrack casino in Washington County. Baldacci vetoed a bill authorizing such a facility, but supporters are pressing for a referendum.

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