Leonard Cohen had already been buried at a Montreal cemetery before his death became publicly known.

The legendary singer-songwriter received a graveside memorial service on Thursday, according to a statement released by Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, an Orthodox synagogue in Montreal’s Westmount neighbourhood of which he “was a beloved and revered member.”

Cohen died on Monday in Los Angeles, though his death at age 82 was only made public on Thursday night in a post on Facebook.

The evidence of his burial lies beneath a conspicuous covering of fallen brown leaves in front of an unmarked gravestone, which cover the unsettled earth, wet cement and the tracks of an industrial digger.

Though an official at the cemetery refused to confirm the location of the singer’s gravesite when questioned by the Star on Friday, it appears to sit in a Cohen family plot that sits just through the front gates of the Jewish cemetery near the base of Mount Royal.

“Leonard’s wish was to be laid to rest in a traditional Jewish rite beside his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents,” read the statement released Friday by Rabbi Adam Scheier and Cantor Gideon Zelermyer, who sings background vocals on the title track of Cohen’s recent album, You Want it Darker.

Marie Mazur, a friend of the musician who runs the fan site Speaking Cohen, said the funeral was for family only.

“He was a wonderful guy,” Mazur said. “Basically, what you saw on stage, in interviews, that was who he was and more. He was just a very kind, generous person.”

With files from Sammy Hudes

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