HAVERHILL — William "Red'' Slavit loved the Merrimack River — whether he was boating on it or telling tales of pirates who frequented the waterway centuries ago.

As the city's harbormaster, he patrolled the river for decades. He rescued boaters from it. He operated tour boats on it.

Yesterday it provided a fitting backdrop for his final tour of Haverhill.

Slavit's funeral procession left the Kevin B. Comeau Funeral Home about 9:30 a.m., and traveled through the center of the city — down Main Street to White's Corner at the edge of the river, where a police officer held up traffic. For a few moments the city's busiest square fell all but silent.

Drivers and pedestrians watched as the procession turned onto Water Street and hugged the river's edge on its way to St. John the Baptist Church. The send-off would have been fitting for a mayor. Although Slavit had run for that office in past years and was never elected, he was one of Haverhill's best-known residents.

Slavit died Friday in a local nursing home surrounded by his wife and nine children. He was 86. Comeau said he brought the procession along the river in tribute to Slavit, known to most people as "Capt. Red.''

On one street corner watching the procession stood Louis Champagne, 77, a resident of the Merrivista elderly housing complex. He'd met Capt. Red about eight years ago while taking a walk near the Groveland Bridge.

"He told me about his life and how much he enjoyed the river," Champagne said. "I had gone on some excursions on his tour boat, and he told us all kinds of stories about the river and about pirates who lived on the river. He had so many stories to tell I wish I could remember them all. I can't think of anyone who loved the river more than him."

Roger Oberle, 77, also watched the procession and recalled the first time he encountered Capt. Red. It was 20 years ago and Oberle had just moved into the River's Edge Apartments at the corner of Water and Main streets.

"It was after dark and I heard what sounded like a boat on the river," Oberle said. "I went to my window and looked down. I think Capt. Red saw me because he pointed his light at my window. He did this every night for about a week. A few years ago I finally met him in person. I wish I'd had a chance to take a ride on one of his riverboats."

Slavit was a colorful man who once bought 30 gallons of gasoline from aviator Charles Lindbergh after Slavit's seaplane had run out of gas on North Haven Island, Maine. Slavit was there to see a helicopter lift off in 1939, after he had helped design the mechanism that enabled the copter's blades to rotate.

During yesterday's funeral Mass at St. John the Baptist Church, City Councilor William Ryan, who was mayor from 1982 to 1987, presented a eulogy, which included a story about Slavit.

"He said that when he was mayor, Red came into his office to argue for a salary increase as harbormaster," Slavit's son Dick Slavit said of Ryan's eulogy. "He pushed the envelope further by having (son) Tim (Slavit) appointed as assistant harbormaster."

Members of the Coast Guard and the state police attended yesterday's burial service at Elmwood Cemetery.

"From his plot you can see the river," Dick Slavit said.

Standing beneath trees, Slavit family members were surprised to hear the sound of airplane engines approaching.

"Eight planes flew over us along with a helicopter," Dick Slavit said. "The helicopter landed next to St. John's. It was a Bell helicopter, the same kind my dad used to own. The pilot knew Red and joined us for lunch at the church."