Hundreds of people filled a South Jersey synagogue to bid farewell to former New Jersey Rep. John Adler.
"His legacy will be, I think, his intellect and absolute dogged persistence on things that he believed in," said NJ Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Voorhees).
Gov. Chris Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno were also among the dignitaries attending the funeral service in Cherry Hill on Wednesday afternoon.
"Congressman Adler was a fine public servant and a good person. His untimely death is an awful shock," said Christie.
Adler, 51, died Monday, weeks after undergoing emergency surgery for an infection in tissue around his heart.
He had grown up in Haddonfield and graduated from Harvard Law School.
The Democrat was a Cherry Hill councilman and was elected to the state Senate in 1991.
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He won his congressional seat in 2008 in a traditionally Republican district. But he lost re-election in November against former Philadelphia Eagles lineman Jon Runyan.
Adler is survived by his wife, Shelley, and sons, Jeffrey, Alex, Andrew and Oliver.
