Jack Shearer was not only Dean of Belfast but also dean of charity and dean of partnership, the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Dr James Mehaffey, has said.
Dr Mehaffey was speaking in St Anne's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Belfast at the funeral of Dean Shearer, who died on Friday, aged 74, after a heart attack on New Year's Eve.
Dr Mehaffey focused on two aspects of the dean's ministry - his ecumenism and his charity fundraising.
Dean Shearer was credited with playing an important role in developing relations between the Church of Ireland and the Catholic Church in Belfast. Dr Mehaffey acknowledged, however, that the dean was perhaps best known for his annual Christmas sit-outs in aid of charity outside St Anne's Cathedral.
"The image of the balaclavaclad `Black Santa' in Donegall Street has been indelibly imprinted on the minds of thousands of people," he said.
The dean had recently completed his 14th and most successful sit-out, when he raised over £400,000 for charities. As well as fundraising campaigns, the dean worked tirelessly to improve cross-community relations, according to Mgr Tom Toner, of St Peter's Catholic Cathedral, on the Falls Road.
The two men, who in 1998 established a partnership between their respective cathedrals, were good friends, said Mgr Toner.
"I'll miss him on a personal level for the figure he was and for the vigour he injected into the Belfast cathedrals partnership," he said.