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St. Francis of Assisi Church in East Palo Alto was filled with mourners Friday morning as family, friends and community members gathered to say farewell to the city's first mayor, Barbara Mouton.

Mouton died March 15 after a period of failing health. She was 82.

Mouton helped lead the city's incorporation in 1983 and was elected the city's first mayor by her City Council colleagues. She served as mayor until 1986 and was on the council until 1990.

Current and former city officials were among the people crowded into the church. A community wake had been held the previous night at the church.

"This is the first state funeral in East Palo Alto," Father Lawrence Goode, pastor of St. Francis, said during the funeral Mass.

Many of the community and family members who spoke at the end of the service told personal stories, including several grandchildren who spoke emotionally about missing their grandmother.

"You know of her greatness and her deeds or you wouldn't be here today," Mayor David Woods told the congregation.

"She was an icon of the community," said Mary Ford Bates, who had known Mouton since Bates was 16. "She was a woman of grace, intellect, beauty and power."

"Barbara was my friend when I needed someone to stand by me," longtime friend Gertrude Wilks said. "I miss her an awful lot because she was a sweet person, but she was a person about action."

Barbara Mouton was interred next to her late husband, David Paul Mouton, Sr., at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto.