Mike Cassese, the award-winning photojournalist who shot for Reuters and was a former Toronto Sun photographer, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 53 on Dec. 27. He was remembered by 300 people at a service on Monday, the Toronto Sun reports.

Mike Cassese, the award-winning photojournalist who shot for Reuters and was a former Toronto Sun photographer, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 53 on Dec. 27. He was remembered by 300 people at a service on Monday, the Toronto Sun reports.

Former Sun colleagues spoke his praises after learning of his death, and as Ian Robertson reported for the Sun, friend and former Sun photographer Frank Thornhill said in his eulogy that Cassese “set a standard of excellence” in his coverage, though also spoke of Cassese as a family man who was “a father first,” “a consummate brother” and who loved his wife.

Reuters has put together a slideshow of some of Cassese’s best photographs.