Orange County

Community gathers to remember life and legacy of civil rights leader Father Nelson Pinder

ORLANDO, Fla. — Hundreds of people gathered at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke on Saturday to pay their respects to a civil rights trailblazer.

READ: Orlando civil rights leader Father Nelson Pinder passes away

Several leaders remembered Father Nelson Pinder as a person who treated everyone with equal, dignity and respect.

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Pinder was a civil rights icon who came to Orlando in 1959 and is remembered by a community for his role in shaping the city.

Photos: Community gathers to remember life and legacy of civil rights leader Father Nelson Pinder

“The very infrastructure of our city of our county can attribute the equality of services to a lot of work that Father Pinder did,” said Pinder’s friend, Dr. John Robertson.

Pinder spent much of the 60s at the forefront of the civil rights movement.

WATCH: Father of Orlando’s civil rights movement describes what living in the city was like in the 60s

He helped to organize sit-ins at lunch counters, and vocally opposed segregation in Orlando hospitals, schools and public transport.

“He was someone who believed in stirring the waters, to make things better for all of us,” Robertson said.

Pinder worked with businesses and law enforcement to build bridges as he pushed for civil rights.

WATCH: Central Florida paying respects to Orlando civil rights leader

It meant Orlando’s civil rights era was very different from other southern cities.

“Orlando was one of the few places that didn’t blow up in the 60s,” Robertson said.

Former Florida Supreme Court Justice James Perry said Pinder’s legacy extends beyond his role on the forefront of the civil rights movement, and that his longtime friend made everyone feel like their voices mattered.

“He could walk among kings and princes and homeless people, and treat them with the same dignity and respect,” Perry said.

Loved ones said Pinder was an activist and advocate until his death.

See more in the video above.

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