Roméo LeBlanc Dignitaries to descend on village this week

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Benjamin Shingler
Telegraph-Journal

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A collection of top dignitaries past and present will gather in Memramcook this week for the state funeral of former governor general Roméo LeBlanc.

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The Canadian Press

Roméo LeBlanc

Adam Huras/Telegraph-Journal

Memramcook Mayor Donald LeBlanc, photographed on the front steps of Saint-Thomas de Memramcook Church, where a state funeral will be held for Roméo LeBlanc on Friday.

The funeral will be held Friday in the small village south of Moncton, pop. 4,600, where he was born in 1927. Mayor Donald O. LeBlanc said hosting the funeral was a privilege for the village.

"It will give us chance to show where Roméo came from. He was well liked in Memramcook," said LeBlanc, who bears no relation to the former governor general.

"He was one of ours - a people's person," he said. "He always wanted to be called Roméo in Memramcook, not Mr. LeBlanc."

Pierre LaForest, the village's director general, said preparations are already underway.

"We're getting ready, we're trying to help with the ceremony and everything we can do," LaForest said.

Canada's current governor general, Michaëlle Jean, and a host of federal and provincial politicians are expected to attend.

"We didn't get any confirmation yet, but we expect a lot of dignitaries from Ottawa and many parts of the country," LaForest said.

LaForest said Memramcook residents are only now beginning to understand the extent of LeBlanc's accomplishments.

"He's the kind of guy that didn't brag about it, but the more you read about it, the more you find out that he was a hard worker for the region, the province, and the country," he said.

LeBlanc wielded great influence for New Brunswick during a long and respected career as governor general, Senate speaker, senator, federal minister, MP and, in his younger days, as a press secretary and news reporter.

LeBlanc died on Wednesday after a long period of failing health.

He was 81.

Father Arthur Bourgeois, based in Dieppe, is expected to preside over Friday's funeral service, which begins at 11 a.m. in Saint-Thomas Church. Seating will be available to the first members of the general public to arrive.

The lying in state will take place in the Memramcook Institute chapel all day Thursday, from 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.

LeBlanc is survived by his wife, Diana Fowler LeBlanc, and their four children.

His son, Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc, now holds the Beauséjour riding his father once represented.