‘RENÉ WAS A GIANT’
Celebration of Angélil’s life draws dignitaries from politics, music and beyond.
MONTREAL— The entertainment world said goodbye to René Angélil, the savvy but soft-spoken business mind behind the musical empire of his wife, Céline Dion.
But for Dion, and Angélil’s six children, Friday’s elaborately planned funeral service highlighted the life of an affectionate husband and father, an inveterate gambler and food lover. One who, according to his eldest son Patrick, taught his children to say “please” and “thank you,” to look both ways when crossing the road, and to double down in blackjack if you draw a five or a six.
Despite Angélil’s great public success managing Dion’s career over more than three decades, it was his private, personal legacy on display for a largely Québécois audience of friends, family, entertainers, athletes, politicians and other dignitaries who gathered at Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica.
All eyes were on Dion, just as they have been since Angélil died Jan. 14 of throat cancer, but it was the couple’s son, René-Charles, who turns 15 on Monday, who drove home for mourners the great private tragedy in Angélil’s death.
“Fifteen years is not a long time for ason to get to know his father,” René-Charles said in English to about 2,000 people in attendance.
Addressing his father’s polished black casket, he said: “You had a busy life but we were communicating through golf, hockey, poker and smoked meat and a lot of other wonderful food, bonding more and more as time went by.”
The boy also promised to pass his own memories of Angélil, as well as the lessons he had learned, to his two younger brothers, 5-year-old twins Eddy and Nelson.
“I promise you that we’re all going to live up to your standards,” René-Charles said. “Je t’aime, papa.”
If the funeral focused on Angélil’s attributes as a father, the guest list and music were reminders of the mark that he left on the entertain- ment world, first as a singer, then as the manager who discovered Dion as a 12 year old and developed her into one of the world’s most famous musical talents.
Among the songs was a duet with legendary crooner Frank Sinatra, “All the Way,” and “Trois heures vingt,” one of Dion’s early French songs that played as she walked into the church at exactly 3:20 p.m. with her youngest sons on either side of her and her older son walking behind with his grandmother, Dion’s 88year-old mother, Thérèse.
One of Dion’s brothers, Jacques, confirmed to reporters that Angélil meticulously planned out every aspect of the funeral service before his death.
“Right until the end he played the role of producer and manager,” he said.
Notable guests included Quebec actor Patrick Huard ( Bon Cop Bad Cop), TV producer Julie Snyder, musicians Jean-Pierre Ferland and Éric Lapointe as well as legends from the hockey world including Montreal Canadiens Guy Charbonneau, Vincent Damphousse (who started his NHL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs), José Theodore and current Canadiens coach Michel Therrien.
In the place of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, his wife, came to the service along with Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly.
Former Quebec premiers Bernard Landry and Jean Charest were also there. Current Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard flew back from Davos for the funeral, a gesture that speaks to Angélil’s standing in the province.
“René was a giant,” said former prime minister Brian Mulroney. “And together (with Dion) they created the biggest success story in showbiz in the history of Canada, I think.”