Loved ones and former and current elected officials said their final farewells Friday to former Nassau County Executive Tom Gulotta.

A funeral Mass for Gulotta was held at the Sacred Heart Church on Merrick Avenue in North Merrick.

Gulotta, a longtime resident of North Merrick, died Sunday at 75 years old.

Gulotta was a Republican who served as Nassau County executive from 1987 until 2001.

He first served as a state assemblyman and Hempstead town supervisor before becoming county executive.

Colleagues say they will remember the Republican leader as an old-school gentleman who loved meeting with and talking to constituents.

A police helicopter flew by when the funeral Mass was finished.

Gulotta's family has not yet released the cause of his death, but close friends say his it was sudden and unexpected.

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Services set for former Nassau County Executive Tom Gulotta
Former Nassau County Executive Tom Gulotta dies at age 75