There was a sad homecoming Monday for RCMP Sgt. Mark Gallagher, who died in the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti.

The RCMP plane carrying Gallagher's body arrived around 3 p.m. AT at the Greater Moncton International Airport where a ramp ceremony was held.

Two RCMP officers got out of the plane, one carrying Gallagher's Mountie Stetson while the other carried a United Nations flag. They were presented to Gallagher's wife, Lisa, and their two grown children, Shane and Heather.

One of the officers, Cpl. Christine Briand, worked in Haiti with Gallagher, and she tried to save him and another colleague trapped under the rubble.

"Mark was one of them and it was very painful and we kept on hoping and hoping because we kept on pulling people out who were alive," Briand said.

Lisa Gallagher took time to hug or shake hands with her husband's colleagues, and to thank everyone who had showed up or sent her kind words.

'We kept on hoping and hoping because we kept on pulling people out who were alive.'—RCMP Cpl. Christine Briand

"Over the past week, we have heard story after story about that kindness from people, either directly or indirectly, about how Mark touched their lives. The hundreds of people who have signed condolence books either in person or online are truly appreciated," she said.

"Thank you to everyone for your kindness and support. Mark, our hero, is back home in New Brunswick."

Eight officers dressed in red serge then carried Gallagher's flag-draped casket to a hearse, which transported his body to Woodstock. Two RCMP cars accompanied the hearse on the journey.

Emergency workers, colleagues and friends lined parts of the Trans-Canada Highway as Gallagher's remains passed in the first ceremonial motorcade of its kind in New Brunswick.

Gallagher's funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at St. Gertrude's Roman Catholic Church in Woodstock.

Open funeral

At the request of the family, the funeral will be open to the media so the public can share in the tribute to Gallagher and the celebration of his life.

Following the funeral, an open reception will be held in the gymnasium of Woodstock High School, beside the Civic Centre.

Gallagher's body was uncovered on Jan. 14 in the rubble left by the quake in Port-au-Prince. He had been training local police in Haiti's capital as part of a United Nations mission called Project Co-ordination.

Gallagher, 50, worked as an RCMP spokesman in New Brunswick and more recently in Halifax before heading to Haiti in July 2009.

He had come home for Christmas and had just returned to Haiti when the 7.0-magnitude quake struck.

An online condolence book will remain open until sunset on the day of the funeral. Those condolences will be shared with the Gallagher family.