LIHU'E — During a memorial service held yesterday for Kaua'i Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste, who died unexpectedly last month, a crowd of more than 1,000 showed their love for the man Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann called "Mayor Aloha."

Near the end of a three-hour celebration of Baptiste's life at the Kaua'i War Memorial Convention Hall, Bernard Carvalho read aloud some words carved into a koa urn: "Inspirational, passionate, generous, visionary, dedicated, compassionate."

Carvalho, Baptiste's campaign manager and later director of county parks, said, "He could relate to people from all walks of life." He also held aloft a small potted plant, Baptiste's signature calling card when campaigning for office on this rural island where he lived all of his 52 years.

State Rep. James Kunane Tokioka recalled how the mother of one of Baptiste's opponents marveled when he came to her remote Kalaheo home seeking her vote. "She told me: 'The hill to my house is so steep, not even my own kids want to come and visit me.' But he took the time to come to that house, delivering a potted plant."

At 9 a.m., when visitation began, hundreds were already waiting in a line that stretched around three sides of the convention hall.

"If the whole island isn't here, it's about three-quarters," said Rudy Abara of Lihu'e.

Among those waiting to go inside was Kaua'i resident Natividad Barisbali, who said: "He's the best. He's fair to everybody, young and old. He's really good."

Baptiste's wife, Annette, and children Brandon, Heather, Lauren and Preston, received countless hugs in the two hours preceding the service. Dozens of local musicians took turns providing Hawaiian and spiritual music as a slideshow of Baptiste's life played on a large screen.

During the service, Baptiste's oldest son Brandon said, "This would mean a lot to my dad — just to see the outpouring of the people, coming in and waiting in line." Choking back tears, he said, "He was always about other people, me, my brother and sisters, and the people of Kaua'i."

Brandon Baptiste said his father didn't want to be mayor but "nobody else would do it," prompting a roar of laughter in the auditorium.

Baptiste, in his second term as mayor, died June 22 at Wilcox Hospital after suffering cardiac arrest at his Kaua'i home. On June 13, Baptiste had undergone heart bypass surgery in Honolulu. The surgery was scheduled after routine medical testing.

The Kaua'i County Council will meet this morning to appoint a member to serve as mayor until Dec. 1. A new mayor will be elected in November to serve the final two years of Baptiste's term.

Baptiste's daughter Lauren had the crowd howling when she recounted how her father had spooked a hospital nurse who asked if he'd had surgery before. After Baptiste told the nurse he'd had some toes amputated, "she started to slowly lift the sheet, and he'd go 'Ah!' like it hurt, and she screamed."

Kaua'i police officers and firefighters in uniform, with black ribbons over their badges, served as honor guards for the Baptiste family. Dozens of volunteers handled event details from parking and seating logistics, to refreshments and placement of the dozens of floral wreaths.

The Kaua'i Bus, which normally doesn't run on Sundays, operated from each section of the island to Lihu'e for the service, as well as shuttle service from the airport.

Gov. Linda Lingle, Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, U.S. Reps. Mazie Hirono and Neil Abercrombie, state Adjutant General Robert Lee, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo, and the mayors of Honolulu, the Big Island and Maui attended the service, as did the full Kaua'i County Council and the island's state legislative contingent.

In a statement issued by Hannemann's office following Baptiste's death, the Honolulu mayor said: "I thought he was 'Mayor Aloha,' in that he exuded a unique local style of leadership. Bryan was quick to smile, put people at ease, and said just enough to get his point across, yet make people feel comfortable with a decision-making process."

The Royal Order of Kamehameha, which counted Baptiste as a member, offered a special prayer at a table draped with lei and other gifts left near a large photograph of the mayor.

A poster put together by the Kapa'a High School Class of 1973 informed memorial attendees that back in the day, Baptiste was a dramatist, singer, tennis and baseball player, school newspaper writer and a megaphone-toting, boisterous supporter of his alma mater's athletic teams.

Lingle said Baptiste showed that enthusiasm when yelling for the University of Hawai'i's Warriors football team in her box at Aloha Stadium last year.

"When they made Bryan, they broke the mold," Lingle said during the service. "He was a unique and special person," she added, to thundering applause.

Baptiste "could combine the seriousness of his kuleana, take that responsibility so seriously and yet never take himself too seriously," Lingle said, noting that even in recuperation he was lobbying her for Kaua'i projects.

Baptiste stayed at the governor's mansion in Honolulu last month before and after his heart bypass operation at The Queen's Medical Center. He suffered the cardiac arrest at his Wailua home one day after returning to Kaua'i.

"He told me the only reason he agreed to the surgery was that he had been promised by his doctor he'd be able to make the trip to Portugal in three weeks," Lingle said.

During the service, many friends and family echoed the sentiment that while Baptiste was proud of his own Portuguese, Chinese and Hawaiian heritage, he seemed to think of all people as part of one big 'ohana.

Kaua'i resident Kawika Cutcher said, "I thought he was a good man, an honest man, hard-working and local all the way through."

In keeping with the Baptiste way of doing things, people did not go home empty-handed.

Many left the convention hall carefully carrying small potted flowers with a Baptiste sticker on the pot.