Carmacks' first elected mayor is being remembered as a hard worker who took great pride in his community.

Luke Lacasse died early Monday morning in Whitehorse. He was 80 years old.

Lacasse was the community's first elected leader after it became incorporated in November 1984.

He was mayor from 1985 to 1991, and again from October 1996 until his retirement in 2003.

He currently holds the record for the longest-serving mayor for the community of about 500.

"He was a real leader because he listened even if he disagreed with what you were saying,” former councillor Karen Gage told the Star today.

"That's an important skill, and it was something I really respected.”

Lacasse was at the helm of the community for a number of significant developments.

He was proud of his positive relationship with the Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation, and the Carmacks Recreation Centre which was built under his watch, Gage said.

Current Carmacks Mayor Elaine Wyatt called Lacasse's contribution towards the community's growth "immense.”

Wyatt was present in May 2012 in Whitehorse when Lacasse was given the Association of Yukon Communities' (AYC's) Hanseatic Award.

The award recognizes a current or former Yukon municipal politician who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of Yukon municipal government.

"He was instrumental in becoming incorporated,” Wyatt said. "The village put his name forward for his number of years of service.”

Larry Bagnell, a former Yukon MP and AYC executive director, remembers Lacasse as a leader with a quiet confidence and a sense of humour.

"He was a very down-to-earth, practical and sensible mayor,” Bagnell said this morning.

Not many people from small communities have been recognized with the Hanseatic Award, he added.

No funeral plans have been made public yet.