LEWISTON — The farewell party was mostly a dry-eyed occasion until Kate Speer got up to speak.

The daughter of Library Director Richard Speer, she told a packed room what it was like growing up with the man who would lead the city library for more than three decades.

“While Rick Speer may have had the world’s greatest job,” Kate said, “I can without a doubt say I have the world’s greatest dad.

“You were lucky to find the world’s greatest job,” Kate told her father. “Well, we are so lucky to have been marked by your vision, your leadership, and your generosity.”

That’s when the sniffling began.

In the expansive space above Museum L-A, well over 100 people were on hand Friday night to say goodbye to Speer, who announced his retirement in January.

As the ceremony progressed, an outsider might have thought Speer was a rock star rather than a beloved library director. Everywhere he went, cameras flashed and crowds formed. Everybody wanted to have their picture taken with the man who had done so much for the city library.

“Your legacy,” City Administrator Ed Barrett said, “is embedded within the very DNA of the Lewiston Public Library.”

The people who worked with and for Speer described him as the sun around which revolved all others within the library system.

“How do you thank the sun?” wondered Jan Phillips, chairwoman of the library board of trustees.

Area politicos talked in almost awed tones about how Speer oversaw the transformation of the library from humble card catalogs into the computer age, and how he guided the facility’s growth from a modest, 13,000-square-foot building into the 46,000-square-foot modern library that sprawls between Park and Lisbon streets.

“Rick deserves all of this,” said library supporter Ben Lounsbury. “He deserves all the recognition. I don’t know how they’re going to find someone to replace him.”

Through all of the pomp and accolades, Speer smiled warmly. He posed for photos and accepted gifts with his legendary quiet grace.

“Rick always has that calm about him, no matter what’s going on,” observed Museum L-A Director Rachel Desgroseilliers. “While everyone else is getting excited about this point of view or that one, he just has that calmness.”

Well, sure. That is, until his daughter stood before him, waxing nostalgic about her dad and about the library he so loved.

“One of the greatest gifts from my father is my love of books and of reading,” Kate said. “There wasn’t a night that went by in our home when we didn’t read before going to bed. My dad reminded me that he used to fall asleep while reading to me, and I’d have to pound his chest to keep him going.”

Kate shared personal details about her father that surprised most in the room: Who knew that Rick Speer had been a football quarterback in high school? Who knew that he was enrolled for a time at West Point?

But mostly she talked about the excitement her father would express when good things were happening at the library.

“As your daughter, I am so proud that I got to watch you dive into your passion every day,” Kate said, “and now I get to see you sign off on this adventure for the next on such a high note.”

By the time Rick Speer himself got up to speak, his eyes were wet, his voice choked with emotion.

“I”m overwhelmed,” he said. “I’ve been so blessed.”

He almost felt guilty, Speer said of the glowing praise from so many people. He could never have accomplished so much, he insisted, without the devoted support of so many.

“I could go around the room,” he said, “and tell stories about you all.”

Speer will officially retire on the last day of May, and the search will be on for a replacement who can match the man in both ability and passion for the job.

“He loved what he did and he loved the people he worked with,” Desgroseilliers said. “He always cared.”