Dignitaries, friends and local admirers gathered Saturday to say goodbye to former Liberal cabinet minister John Munro in Hamilton, Ontario.

The Trudeau-era cabinet minister died earlier this week of a heart attack at the age of 72.

Heritage Minister Sheila Copps confirmed his death and attended his funeral service along with 500 others.

Munro served in parliament for more than 22 years and held numerous ministerial positions during his time in the nation's capital.

In recent years, he made an unsuccessful bid to become mayor of Hamilton in 2000.

Munro struggled with the taint of scandal after he was charged with more than 30 counts of fraud in 1989.

The charges, which were dropped in 1991, dated back to his days in cabinet.

Although he eventually won $1.4 million in compensation from the federal government, much of the money went to pay legal fees and taxes.

Munro came from a Hamilton family with a long history of community and political involvement.

His youngest daughter Anne Munro remembered her father as "one of the most courageous men" she has ever known.