Lawrence.com

Palm Beach, Fla. — Ostentatious display was never his style, not even in death.

Perry Como's funeral Friday was as humble, genuine and warm as the man who worked as a small-town barber before captivating millions with his silken voice and soothing delivery.

There was no cascade of flowers, only a single red rose atop his white-draped casket. Celebrities among the estimated 700 mourners at St. Edward Catholic Church stayed in the background.

Singer Vic Damone and former talk-show host Mike Douglas were said by spectators to be among their number.

There was a scattering of fancy spring bonnets, Palm Beach suntans and pinky rings, but most who came to bid farewell to Pierino Roland Como, who would have turned 89 the day he was buried, were just plain folks.

"He was very sweet," said Lenore Little. The West Palm Beach, Fla., woman remembered seeing Como at a local restaurant some years ago. She resisted the temptation to approach. "I was too shy," she said. "Now I wish I had, just to say hello and tell him how much I enjoyed hearing him."

Como died last Saturday at his home in Jupiter Inlet Colony in Florida, sitting in a bedroom chair. For nearly seven decades the baritone delighted radio and TV audiences with novelty songs such as "Hot Diggity Dog Ziggity Boom," "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo" and "Papa Loves Mambo," as well as more mainstream hits like "Catch a Falling Star," "It's Impossible," and "And I Love You So."

Como's laid-back and likable style earned him fans' devotion as well as three nicknames throughout his career: "Mr. Jukebox," "Mr. Nice Guy" and later "Mr. Class." Bing Crosby, the crooner Como emulated, defined him as " the man who invented casual."

Though he once planned to give up singing and open a barber shop in his hometown of Canonsburg, Pa., Como later won Emmys for his television show in the late '50s and early '60s, and ultimately sold more than 100 million records.

Yet he always remained grounded in the pleasures of home and family, and enjoyed a 65-year marriage with his wife Roselle, who died in 1998.

"I've always been a simple guy with simple tastes," he once said. "I was a barber. Since then I've been a singer. That's it."

It was that honest simplicity, and Como's deep faith, that mourners celebrated Friday.

"Fame and fortune could not distract Perry from the love of God and the love of his family," Father Frank Lechiara said in his eulogy.

Como's daughter, Terri Thibadeau, of Jupiter, Fla., smiled as she recalled her father's common touch. "He was just Dad," she said. "We were taught that life in and of itself was an expression of love. Thank you for loving our father as we did."