He died in hospital on 18 March 2002 after a brief illness. A funeral mass was held at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Little Italy on 25 March, and was attended by over a thousand people, including former Premier of Ontario Mike Harris. The day after his death, York West representative Judy Sgro paid tribute to him in the House of Commons of Canada. Mel Lastman, then mayor of Toronto, stated that "Johnny invented multicultural radio in Toronto". On 20 March, Eglinton—Lawrence Member of Parliament Joe Volpe also paid tribute to Lombardi in the Commons, referring to him as "king of Little Italy" and the "father of multicultural broadcasting", also stating: He would complete his tribute with a statement spoken in Italian. On 26 March, Lombardi received tributes in the Canadian Senate from Frank Mahovlich and Consiglio Di Nino. Lombardi was a recipient of the Order of Canada and was invited by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1994, in which he had originally participated. Often referred to as the "mayor of Little Italy," Lombardi lived in the neighborhood all his life, and a memorial to him was installed at the southwest corner of College Street and Grace Street, in an area known as "Piazza Johnny Lombardi" in Little Italy. It is a bronze statue of Lombardi, seated on an arced granite bench, with a statue of a seated boy nearby. It was designed by Veronica and Edwin Dam de Nogales. In Pisticci, a comune of the Basilicata region in southern Italy, a square was restored and renamed Piazza Johnny Lombardi (also known as Piazza Lombardi) in his honour. It will "function as the main focal point for all musical shows and exhibits in Pisticci", a tribute to Lombardi's trumpet playing. A ceremony held on 11 August 2007 in Pisticci, declared Johnny Lombardi Day, officially twinned the Piazza in Pisticci with Piazza Johnny Lombardi in Toronto. Lombardi was also bestowed with the Cavaliere Ufficiale ("Official Knight of the Italian Republic"), awarded a Federal Citation of Citizenship, and won Broadcaster of the Year Award. The municipal government of the city of Toronto officially named a segment of College Street between Clinton Street and Grace Street as "Johnny Lombardi Way" in his honour. That area houses the CHIN Radio building, and was the location of Lombardi's grocery store.