Hundreds gather to celebrate life of Alaska Special Olympics leader Jim Balamaci

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 15

Darci Owens joined other Special Olympics Alaska athletes on stage who shared stories about President/CEO Jim Balamaci as hundreds attended the Celebration of Life during the closing ceremony of the Special Olympics Alaska Winter Games at the Alaska Airlines Center on Sunday, March 11, 2018. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Hundreds gathered Sunday to celebrate the life of Alaska Special Olympics advocate Jim Balamaci at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

The event also marked the closing of the Alaska Special Olympics 2018 Winter Games.

The audience included Alaska's entire congressional delegation and Gov. Bill Walker, Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and Anchorage Police Department Chief Justin Doll. It also included many of the athletes that Balamaci devoted his career to serving. They remembered Balamaci's catchphrase — a hearty "Oh yeah!" — his love for the Seattle Seahawks and his knack for making people feel welcomed.

[Jim Balamaci, steadfast advocate for Alaska's Special Olympians, dies at age 63]

Balamaci was responsible for Alaska's having "the best Special Olympics training facility in the world," U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan told the crowd.

Balamaci died on Feb. 1 at the age of 63. His cause of death has not been revealed. He had been the director of Alaska Special Olympics since 1996. Under his leadership the organization serving athletes with intellectual disabilities flourished, growing to serve more than 2,000 athletes statewide and adding a $7 million, 28,000-square-foot training facility in Mountain View.

"Jim was a good man," U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski told the crowd. "He was just good. That really describes what he did and who he was."