GREENFIELD – Gordon Randall Kehler was many things to the people in his life: father, brother, friend, pacifist, war tax objector and social justice activist, to name a few.

Kehler, known to loved ones as Randy, died at his home in Shelburne Falls on July 21 at age 80. His friends and family gathered for a celebration of his life Friday at Second Congregation Church in Greenfield, where there was not a single empty pew. Organizers even placed extra chairs in the hallway to help accommodate the hundreds of people who gathered before the service.

At the ceremony, Randy’s story was told in words and song, as his friends and family shared their fondest memories of Kehler as well as some of his favorite poems and songs.

According to his relatives, Kehler was a spirited man who loved language, word games, poetry, music and sports. He was a hard-working and incredibly compassionate person who did what he could for others and for the world.

Kehler was active in several anti-war organizations in the 1960s and 1970s and was one of the leaders of the anti-nuclear weapons movement in the early 1980s. He was also considered Daniel Ellsberg’s initiator for the publication of the Pentagon Papers.

At Friday’s ceremony, Kehler’s younger siblings Charlie Kehler and Mary Liz Kehler spoke about how Kehler’s involvement in activism began, starting with playing with toy soldiers in her childhood.

“He had hundreds of them … dressed in army green with little guns pointed at each other,” Charlie Kehler said. “You can look at it another way. It was about group organization and what it means to run a campaign and what a well-organized group can accomplish.”

It was only years later, when Kehler was a teenager, that he truly became an activist.

“There, Randy got into trouble with his boss because he pushed his coworkers, mostly blacks and Latinos, to stand up for their rights,” Mary Liz said. “Randy later claimed that the only reason he wasn’t fired was because he was the only one in the plant who knew how to use the fryer and could make a decent batch of French fries.”

Kehler was active in dozens of causes throughout his life, including the anti-Vietnam War movement, pioneered the anti-nuclear weapons movement, and spoke out openly against the federal income tax. Later in his life, he devoted himself to climate change and, in his final days, reminded his loved ones to never give up fighting for the causes they believed in. In particular, he urged them to continue their activism on the climate crisis.

“He told me that no matter how insignificant your actions may seem to you, never think they are unimportant. You can never predict what impact you might have. All you can do is do your best and hope that your example inspires others to act,” Mary Liz recalled.

His niece Molly Kehler, son-in-law Kristian Whitsett and grandson Axel Whitsett read poems, including some haiku, that Kehler wrote when he lived in Colrain. In addition, his daughter Lillian Whitsett shared some of her favorite memories of her father, including singing silly songs and writing fake certificates that called Lillian “unusually gifted and artistic.”

Whitsett said she feels “incredibly lucky” to have these memories with her father and is proud of everything he accomplished throughout his life.

“Even though I may not always have understood what he was doing, I knew my father was working for peace,” Whitsett said.

As the evening progressed, more memories and stories about Kehler were exchanged amid tears and laughter.