Thousands Turn Out in Houston To Pay Their Respects to George HW Bush
More than 11,000 people paid their respects to George H.W. Bush as the 41st president lay in repose all night at a Houston church where his family worshipped.
Some visitors waited for hours Wednesday night to pay tribute to Bush, who was set to be buried Thursday following a funeral at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church.
About 1,200 mourners are expected at the service Thursday morning.
Delivering a eulogy will be James Baker, Bush’s former secretary of state and longtime confidant.
Bush’s grandson George P. Bush will give the other eulogy. He is the Texas land commissioner.
After the service, a special train will take Bush’s casket to the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station.
Bush will be buried there at his presidential library next to his wife, Barbara, and their young daughter Robin, who died in 1953.
As Bush family spokesman Jim McGrath noted in a Twitter post, even after Bush’s lying in state Tuesday in the Capotol rotunda and Wednesday’s televised service at the National Cathedral in Washington, thousands turned out in Houston to pay their respects to the former president personally.
As the public repose in the state funeral for President George H.W. Bush draws to a close, just getting word that 11,657 persons took the time out of their lives to pay respect to the 41st President of the United States of America. #Remembering41
— Jim McGrath (@jgm41) December 6, 2018
KTRK, ABC13 in Houston, spoke to some of them.
WHO’S IN LINE to see #Bush41? Shirley G says her husband worked 33 yrs w HPD, escorting GW and Barbara. “Oh the stories I could tell!” She proudly wears her late husband’s badge. Said she had to be here to say goodbye. #abc13 https://t.co/Pe0izAfDDg pic.twitter.com/BHXRx0UFuM
— Courtney Fischer (@CourtneyABC13) December 6, 2018
Check out the report here:
“It was very solemn, dignified,” one of the mourners told KTRK reporter Courtney Fischer.
“We think it’s special for all the people, all Americans,” another man said.
The service at Washington National Cathedral included high praise and a hefty dose of humor about a man once described as a cross between Mister Rogers and John Wayne.
As three former presidents and President Donald Trump looked on, former President George W. Bush eulogized his father as “the brightest of a thousand points of light.”
“So, through our tears, let us know the blessings of knowing and loving you, a great and noble man, the best father a son or daughter can have,” Bush said.
Thousands of Texans showed they agreed.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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