BATON ROUGE - The Baton Rouge community mourned former Mayor-President Melvin "Kip" Holden at a funeral on Thursday. 

Funeral services for the Scotlandville native started at 11 a.m. at Greater King David Baptist Church. This followed a visitation at the Blount Road church.

The service was officiated by Rev. Dr. John E. Montgomery II and include reflections from former state representative Raymond Jetson, Holden's former police chief Jeff LeDuff and Southern University Chancellor John Pierre.

After the funeral, Holden will be laid to rest at the Heavenly Gates Cemetery of Baton Rouge on Veterans Memorial Boulevard.

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Holden was honored at Baton Rouge City Hall on Wednesday while he lay in state. The three-term mayor died a week ago; he was 72 years old. 

At the ceremony, current Mayor-President Sid Edwards and former mayor Sharon Weston Broome were among the politicians and civic leaders who reflected what his leadership meant to the city-parish.

"It is very fitting that we welcome him back to his City Hall today for so many decisions were made by Mayor Kip Holden and his team, decisions that impact our lives even today," Edwards said.

Broome said it was not a time to "mourn without hope."

"We are here to honor a life well lived, a leader who gave his all, and now rests from his labor. His legacy lives on in the communities he served and the people whose lives he touched," she said.