HERSHEY — Five of former Pennsylvania Gov. George Leader’s successors were among the nearly 500 mourners at his funeral Thursday as friends and family members remembered him as an innovative, energetic and compassionate leader.

Gov. Tom Corbett and former governors Ed Rendell, Mark Schweiker, Tom Ridge and Dick Thornburgh were seated together at the front of Derry Presbyterian Church in Hershey. Former Gov. William Scranton did not attend.

Leader, a Democrat who was 95 when he died May 9, served as governor from 1955 to 1959.

He was the state’s second-youngest chief executive, sworn into office at age 37.

As governor, Leader fought to rid the state government of political patronage and make special education a requirement in Pennsylvania schools. After serving the maximum one term allowed by law at the time and making an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate, he remained involved in politics and advocated for prison reform while building a successful business career.

His three children delivered separate eulogies to their father during a 90-minute service that opened with the singing of “We Shall Overcome” and concluded with the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

David Leader, the youngest son, humorously contrasted his father’s post-politics success in the field of nursing homes and assisted-living centers with his ideas for other businesses that included turning the family’s York County farm into a wild-animal park or opening a restaurant that served eggs exclusively.

“Dad believed in challenging the status quo at every turn,” he said. “He had lots of brilliant ideas and, in fact, he called all of his ideas brilliant ideas for his whole life.”