Mourners have remembered a “political giant” and a “friend to many” at the funeral of former first minister Alex Salmond, which took place in Strichen, Aberdeenshire, on Tuesday.

Salmond’s niece Christina Hendry told the private service that in the period after the 69-year-old’s sudden death in North Macedonia earlier this month, his family had “felt the grief of a nation, and beyond”.

The former SNP leader, who went on to found the pro-independence Alba party after a falling out with his successor as first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, had been speaking at a conference on youth leadership when he suffered a heart attack.

The coffin, draped in a saltire flag with a wreath of white roses resting on top, was carried into the church in the bright autumn sunshine.

Delivering the eulogy, acting Alba leader Kenny MacAskill, who was justice secretary in Salmond’s government, hailed him as “a giant of a man, the leader of our country, the leader of our movement”.

Salmond, who forged the SNP into an election-winning force, and then took Scotland to the brink of leaving the UK in the 2014 referendum, was “a man who through his lifetime’s efforts restored pride in our nation and took us so close to his dream of independence”, said MacAskill.

Paying tribute to the man who served as first minister of Scotland between 2007 and 2014, he added: “The legacy he bequeathed is all around. From roads and bridges to rights such as free prescriptions and no tuition fees.”

Speaking at the service at Strichen Parish Church, which was attended only by family and close friends, Hendry said: “For everyone in this room we have felt the loss differently. Uncle Alex was an important person to many, but to us he was a husband, a brother, an uncle, a colleague and a dear friend.”

The service was attended by his wife, Moira, and close friends including Alba party chair Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, former SNP MP Joanna Cherry and SNP MSP Fergus Ewing. The former Commons speaker John Bercow also attended.

Speaking ahead of the service, the Rev Dr Ian McEwan, a close family friend who conducted the service, said: “These are desperately sad circumstances and anyone who has been through grief will understand that this is an incredibly difficult day for the family.

“There is palpable shock over Alex’s passing and folk can well imagine the distress and sorrow within the family.

“He was the life and soul of the party and played a leading role in his family, and the privacy of the funeral is to give them space to grieve and say farewell to a husband, a brother and an uncle whom they loved dearly.”

After the funeral, piper Fergus Mutch, who worked as a senior adviser to Salmond during his time as first minister, led a procession to the cemetery at Strichen for a private service.

On Wednesday, first minister John Swinney will lead tributes to Salmond, who twice led the SNP and was first minister from 2007 until 2014, in a motion of condolence at the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.

A Scottish government spokesperson said that, at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, the first minister and cabinet recorded their sympathies to Salmond’s wife Moira and their wider family.

A public memorial service to remember the former first minister is expected to be held at a later date.