Fallen soldier remembered as 'spectacular hero' at Toronto funeral

Friends, family and members of the Greater Toronto Area's close-knit Lebanese community packed a church in Toronto's west end on Monday for the funeral of a Canadian soldier killed earlier this month in Afghanistan.

As a children's choir sang the hymn For the Glory of Your Name, eight soldiers carried the flag-draped casket of Trooper Marc Diab into Our Lady of Lebanon church on Queen Street West, where Diab had played keyboards and taught Arabic.

Moments earlier, firefighters and police officers saluted as the soldier's casket passed them while passers-by on the street paused to honour the procession.

Diab, 22, was a member of the Royal Canadian Dragoons based at CFB Petawawa in eastern Ontario.

He was killed March 8 by a roadside bomb northeast of Kandahar city, becoming the 112th Canadian soldier to die as part of the Afghan mission and the fourth in less than a week. Four other soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Soldier prepared farewell video

During the service, which was conducted in Arabic and English, the church's pastor, Father Emmanuel Nakhle, spoke of the loss Diab's death will mean to the community and the sacrifice he made, the CBC's Jasmin Seputis reported.

"You lived as a spectacular hero, and you died as a spectacular hero," Nakhle told mourners.

Charbel Barakat, the father of the woman Diab was going to marry, told the assembly Diab said to him, "I will make you proud of me."

"Well, you really did it, son," he said. "Everybody is proud of you. Rest in peace, soldier of peace."

The assembly also was shown a video prepared by Diab himself in case he didn't survive his tour. The video showed pictures of him patrolling in Afghanistan and on the beach with his girlfriend, along with the caption, "Tomorrow, we'll meet again."

Julia Shemali, who knew Diab through her son, told CBC News the entire Lebanese community in the GTA was touched by his death but also "really very proud of him."

"He paid a very, very high price, but it's his wish to serve the country," she said outside the church.

Diab was to be laid to rest in a Roman Catholic cemetery in his adopted hometown of Mississauga.

The family moved to Canada from war-torn Lebanon in 2000.

Jihan Diab said her son was proud to be a soldier and had dreamed of a military career since he was eight years old.

Her son wanted to continue his military career after his five-year stint was done in 2011, she said.

He was also planning to marry long-time girlfriend Mary Baraka after she finished university, buy an apartment and start a family, she added.