( CNN ) -- Scores of mourners packed a Memphis , Tennessee , church Wednesday for the funeral of Dr. Benjamin Hooks , a civil rights leader described as deeply inspirational and widely influential . Hooks , who led the NAACP from 1977 to 1992 , died last week at the age of 85 after a lengthy illness . Neighbors , friends , family and political and civil rights figures filed into the Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ , where they watched a film that showed Hooks making a rousing speech and a montage of pictures celebrating his career and life . The historical imagery was accompanied by rocking spiritual music . Speakers delivered eulogies as Hooks ' casket sat in front of the church pulpit . Noting that civil rights leader Dorothy Height , who died Tuesday , had been known as the `` godmother '' of the civil rights movement , Benjamin Todd Jealous , president and CEO of the NAACP , told the audience that they gathered to honor the `` godfather of the NAACP and the civil rights movement . '' `` Dr. Hooks leaves big shoes behind , and none of us can fill them , '' Jealous said . Marc H. Morial , National Urban League president and CEO , praised Hooks ' collaborative bent . He believed in groups working together and not engaging in turf wars , Morial said . Hooks , he said , believed `` civil rights was a lifelong commitment , '' and while he was known for his strong oratory , his work in the trenches and his juggling of responsibilities were the qualities that made him effective . Morial said Hooks believed that `` if you choose to serve , it can not be a part-time thing , it can not be a sometime thing , it can not be a pretend game . ... It must be in your heart , soul and DNA . '' The Tennessee House canceled its activities so lawmakers could attend the funeral in Hooks ' hometown . Hooks , who grew up in the segregated South , was `` a vocal campaigner for civil rights in the United States , '' the NAACP said when it announced his death . He was a lawyer and an ordained Baptist minister who joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and led the NAACP for 15 years , it said . The organization `` was suffering from declining membership and prestige when Hooks assumed his role as executive director , '' a University of Memphis biography says . The NAACP added several hundred thousand new members during his tenure , it says . The civil rights organization worked with Major League Baseball on a program that expanded employment opportunities for African-Americans in baseball , including positions as managers , coaches and in franchise executive offices , the NAACP said . Hooks was nominated to the Federal Communications Commission in 1972 . He became the agency 's first black commissioner and was with the agency for five years before leaving to serve with the NAACP . He also worked with colleagues to set up a program in which more than 200 corporations agreed to participate in economic development projects in black communities , the NAACP said . President George W. Bush awarded Hooks the Presidential Medal of Freedom , the nation 's highest civilian honor , in November 2007 . `` As a civil rights activist , public servant and minister of the gospel , Dr. Hooks has extended the hand of fellowship throughout his years , '' Bush said . `` It was not an always ... easy thing to do . But it was always the right thing to do . ''
NEW : He `` leaves big shoes behind , and none of us can fill them , '' NAACP chief says . NEW : Urban League president praises his work in the trenches , juggling of responsibilities . Hooks , 85 , died last week after a lengthy illness , NAACP officials said . Hooks led the NAACP from 1977 to 1992 .