Raymond Chouinard, an accountant-turned-folk singer whose passion for Franco-American culture led him to start the popular C’est Si Bon Band, has died.

He was 76 and had cancer.

Chouinard was born in Lewiston, the son of deeply musical French parents. Growing up, family gatherings revolved around the piano, around songs and around musical shows put on by the children.

“Music was always part of his life,” said his daughter, Ann Brown. “He always was the entertainer.”

Chouinard attended Lewiston schools and graduated from St. Dominic Regional High School in 1949. He got an accounting degree from the Maine School of Commerce in 1951 and worked as an accountant and purchasing agent at shoe factories throughout the area.

But Chouinard always wanted to share his Franco-American heritage: The food. The history. The music.

For years he’d performed with the Bob Renaud Band, the Dick Demers Trio and the Fascinations, playing cover songs that were popular at the time. Then in the 1970s, he formed the four-person C’est Si Bon (It’s so good) Band to perform the music he’d grown up with. The band debuted at the first Lewiston Franco-American festival.

“There was nobody else that could play French music,” said Lionel “Nel” Meservier, who played keyboard for C’est Si Bon. “It became an instant hit.”

For decades, the band played festivals throughout Maine and New England. It also performed at the Quebec Winter Carnival in Canada for several years.

Chouinard sang and played the spoons. A friendly, gregarious man, he served as the band’s emcee, booking agent and public relations person.

“It became his thing. It became his passion,” Meservier said.

Chouinard enjoyed celebrating his heritage so much, his family said, that he played a large part in starting several Franco-American festivals, including La Kermesse in Biddeford and La Bastille in Augusta. He also began teaching schoolchildren about Franco-American traditions, such as crepe making and playing spoons.

“He knew Franco-Americans struggled in this area to make a life. He was so proud of how hard they worked,” Brown said. “He wanted people to know that heritage, and the music was the best part.”

Chouinard and C’est Si Bon remained popular and continued to play weddings, festivals and dances until 2000, when the band members retired. They had recorded at least three albums over three decades. Many fans said they bought the music to help teach French to the next generation.

“His legacy, a lot of it, is in those records,” said Ed Boucher, a friend who played guitar in C’est Si Bon. “That’s something that’s going to go on.”

Chouinard remained active in the Franco-American community and continued to teach local schoolchildren about the culture after the band’s retirement.

Chouinard was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer less than two weeks ago, his daughter said. He died at home Wednesday.

A funeral will be held today at 11 a.m. at the Holy Family Church. The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his memory to the St. Dominic Regional High School Memorial Fund, 121 Gracelawn Road, Auburn, ME 04210.