Wielding a pair of clippers in his Halifax shop, Leroy Bennett wasn't just your barber.

Known affectionately as the mayor of the north end, Leroy was also part therapist, part jokester who loved getting his clients riled over Donald Trump.

Leroy, who died Aug. 21 at the age of 70, began working with his father, Chris Bennett, at the eponymous Bennett's Barber Shop in 1984.

Leroy Bennett (left) pictured here with his father, Chris Bennett. (John Davis )

"He had this steel outer shell but he had the softest heart," said Leroy's youngest son, Torzano Bennett.

"He was kind of like your bartender, your psychiatrist ... all-in-one type idea."

His passing is a loss to the neighbourhood where he and his eclectic shop on Almon Street, filled with antiques and collectibles, were considered north-end institutions.

Some of the supplies at Bennett's Barber Shop on Almon Street in north-end Halifax. (Robert Short/CBC)

People knew they could depend on the barber when they needed help. Leroy would make house calls if one of his longtime clients became too ill to come into the shop for a haircut.

His eldest son, Cracean Bennett, reckons his father earned the nickname of "mayor" simply because he was so popular.

"Wherever he went, people knew him," he said in an interview inside the barbershop.

On second thought, he joked, his father might have given himself that title.

Cracean Bennett sits in his father's barbershop in Halifax. (Robert Short/CBC)

Born in Stephenville Crossing on Newfoundland's west coast, Leroy moved to Nova Scotia when he was 12 years old.

Bruce Sponagle, who knew Bennett for some 55 years and was also a longtime customer, said Leroy "was like our Fonzie in the neighbourhood," referring to the smooth-talking Lothario in the hit TV show Happy Days.

"He's four years older than me and so when I was 12, he was 16 … and we always used to be quite impressed with his girlfriends," said Sponagle.

"He always wore tight black shirts and that kind of stuff and always liked cars and working on old trucks."

Leroy worked as a mechanic before following in his father's footsteps and becoming a barber.

In early 2017, Bennett's Barber Shop caused a stir after posting a sign in its window with U.S. President Donald Trump's rallying cry, "Make American Great Again!"

Trump election sign inside Bennett's Barber Shop in Halifax. (Robert Short/CBC)

Cracean said he thinks his father liked Trump but he especially enjoyed "torturing the people that didn't."

"And then he would put it on like he didn't," said Cracean. "It was quite funny."

Inside the shop, Leroy displayed more Trump memorabilia: a MAGA mug and a "Build the Wall" card that topped his mirror.

"He'd get all the three or four people that were always there involved in the conversation — having everybody laughing, chuckling and talking about Donald Trump," said Sponagle.

"He took the side of Donald Trump only because it would create a little bit of controversy. He liked that and he could joke about it. It was just fun to go there because it was a real social event."

Cracean said his father liked to have a good laugh. One time, while reading the newspaper, Leroy joked darkly that no one would attend his funeral because all his buddies were dying.

Bennett's Barber Shop has been a fixture in the city's north end. (Robert Short/CBC)

By all accounts, he was a great barber who would take at least 30 minutes with each customer, talking to everyone who stopped in. If someone had a question, Leroy Bennett had the answer.

"I think the whole ambiance of the shop was comfortable," said Cracean. "It's not like your modern-day hairdressing shop."

Walking into the barbershop is like stepping back into time. There's nothing fancy here.

An antique oak and black leather barber chair from the 1800s sits in the centre, with two other red antique chairs on each side.

There are guns, old black and white photographs of Elvis and cowboys, vinyl records and an array of military crests covering the four walls.

The decor inside Bennett's Barber Shop includes pictures of Elvis, cowboys and Donald Trump memorabilia. (Bennett's Barber Shop Facebook page)

Old-fashioned barber's tools, tattered boxes of facial soap and short strands of hair still sit on Leroy's cluttered workspace. More strands of hair are scattered across the floor.

Some of the items came from customers, others Leroy himself collected.

Cracean described his dad as a real "country boy." He owned horses and often wore a cowboy hat and boots. In his off time, he was a country musician well-known around town.

"Dad would take photographs off the computer, like all the cowboys," he said. "He thought he was a cowboy."

After hours at the shop, Leroy would gather with friends and hold jam sessions, playing the guitar and harmonica. Hank Williams, Jim Reeves and Merle Haggard — "the whining and crying sort of stuff," said Cracean — were among his father's favourites.

"He was playing the fiddle — sounded like two cats fighting — but he tried," he said.

An antique chair inside Bennett's Barber Shop. (Robert Short/CBC)

For the last five years, Leroy played at the Vimy Legion in Halifax every second Sunday. He would fill the place.

His obituary listed "wine, women and song" among the things he loved the most — aside from the barbershop.

Torzano and Cracean have followed in their father's footsteps and already operate barbershops with the same name in Dartmouth and Porters Lake.

Halifax barber Leroy Bennett and his partner, Donna DeCoste, played music together. (Robert Short/CBC)

Reflecting on the future of his friend's Almon Street shop, Sponagle said he'd like to see it operating in the north end for some time to come.

"You'd walk in and three chairs but he was the only barber," he said. "I just hope the boys keep the Halifax barbershop going, at least for a while."

A celebration of life for Leroy will be held Saturday between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at St. John's Hall on Lake Major Road in Westphal.​