PICKERING, Ont. — An emotional yet uplifting funeral for Cape Breton musician John Allan Cameron began with the mournful strains of a bagpipe but ended with the spirited cheer of a fiddle -- with friends, family and fans clapping their hands and shouting aloud to Cameron's beloved Celtic tunes.

The lively outburst followed a traditional Roman Catholic ceremony Monday in which moments of grief overcame Cameron's widow Angela, who wept as she followed his casket into the church, and son Stuart, who fought back tears as he neared the end of a brief eulogy.

Rev. Leo Campbell told more than 500 people gathered for the ceremony that he will most remember his talented friend for his charm rather than his musicianship.

"It was the personality, it was the joy, it was the life and the vitality," said Campbell, who first got to know Cameron in their home of Cape Breton.

"For me, my favourite characteristic of John Allan was the humour. He could see the humour of things and if it wasn't there, he would invent it and put it there," he said to laughter.

Cameron, who moved to Pickering several years ago, was known as the godfather of Celtic music for taking the beloved reels and jigs of his home in Mabou, N.S., to the international stage.

He died last week after a lengthy battle with bone marrow cancer and leukemia. He was 67.

Among the notable personalities who came to pay their respects were rocker Tom Cochrane, Blue Rodeo's Greg Keelor and Walter Gretzky.

East Coast singers Damhnait Doyle and Tara Maclean sang "Amazing Grace" while more than a dozen pipers in kilts and Ghillies - traditional shoes with laces that run up the leg - stood watch from the back of the church.

Campbell noted that Cameron suffered greatly over the past year with an "insidious disease that wracked his body."

Cameron was in hospital for more than a year before finally succumbing to his illness. Cameron's wife Angela, who he affectionately called "Lala", was by his side every day.

Stuart, who was with his father when he passed away in the early hours last Wednesday, read aloud parts of a journal Cameron kept to record his beliefs and principles.

"Mom, you know how much he loved you," Stuart added, his voice cracking slightly.

The sombre mood turned around with Campbell's lighthearted homily and transformed into a rousing celebration by the end, when all rose to sing and clap along with Cameron's signature song, "Lord of the Dance."

After the ceremony, mourners were full of kind words for the gifted guitarist and storyteller.

"He used to always come to the Wayne Gretzky golf tournaments, tennis tournaments, baseball games that we had," said Walter Gretzky.

"All we ever had to do was phone and say John we need you... and he would say 'What time and where?' "

"He was just a real inspiration, as much for his acumen and his decency as a human being as his music," said Cochrane.

"He was a big influence and taught us some great songs," said Keelor.

Brian Good of the Good Brothers, a country trio originally from Bathurst, N.B., said Cameron was now in a better place.

"It was merciful in a way because he was suffering and so was the family," said Good, a friend for about 35 years.

A black-and-white image of the charismatic Cape Breton performer stood near the front door by a guest book where dozens of family and friends had expressed condolences.

A devout Roman Catholic who ditched the seminary for the stage, Cameron was known as the "ministering minstrel" for taking the music he loved from the kitchen parties of his native Mabou, N.S., to the stages of Nashville and Las Vegas.

He studied for the priesthood and took vows of chastity and poverty before leaving six months before he was to be ordained.

He began his career in the 1960s on "The Don Messer Show" and "Singalong Jubilee," recorded the first of several albums in 1968, and performed the following year at the influential Newport Folk Festival.

In the 1970s, he opened for Anne Murray on several tours and had his own half-hour show on CTV from '75 to '81.

He was named to the Order of Canada in 2003.