TORONTO (AP) — Hundreds of people paid their last respects to Canada’s first black member of Parliament on Friday, rising to their feet as a jazzy rendition of Lincoln Alexander’s favorite song —”How Great Thou Art” — rang out in an Ontario theater hall.

Alexander, a beloved national figure known to Canadians by his nickname “Linc,” became a member of Parliament in 1968 and served as Ontario’s lieutenant-governor from 1985 to 1991. He died last week at the age of 90.