Saturday’s celebration of Timothy Caughman’s life couldn’t avoid the stark fact that he allegedly died at the hands of an avowed racist.

“He was attacked for who he was, plain and simple,” Mayor de Blasio said at Caughman’s funeral. “It was an attack on New York City.”

Caughman, 66, whose family described him as “a very friendly man who never met a stranger,” allegedly was stabbed to death by James Harris Jackson on March 20 because he was black.

Friends, family and supporters packed the pews at Mount Zion Baptist Church in South Jamaica, where Caughman’s father was once a minister. They recalled a cheerful man with “an enormous heart” who frequently took bus trips to Washington D.C. to witness Congress in action and discuss issues of the day with other Americans.

Noting the photos that showed Caughman smiling beside celebrities like Beyonce, Susan Lucci, D.L. Hughley and gymnast Gabby Douglas, the mayor said Caughman was able to talk to people from all walks of life. “That ability to be able to talk to anyone makes him a true New Yorker.”

Public Advocate Tish James told the congregation that Caughman’s death cannot become “the new norm.”

“Love will always defeat hate,” she said.

Jackson — a self-described white supremicist — caught a Bolt Bus from Baltimore to New York on March 17. He allegedly wandered the city for three days looking for a victim.

Jackson is accused of plunging an 18-inch sword into Caughman’s back and chest.

After the savage assault on West 36th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues, Caughman somehow managed to get himself to the Midtown South precinct house a block away. He died that night.

Jackson, 28, who reportedly told police he chose to come to the Big Apple so his attack would get more attention, was charged Monday with first-degree murder as an act of terrorism, second-degree murder as an act of terrorism, second-degree murder as a hate crime and three counts of weapons possession.

Caughman willl be buried at Flushing Cemetery.