After funeral in Texas, Bush buried near library

An honor guard member watches over the casket of former President George H.W. Bush as the funeral train passes through Magnolia, Texas, on Thursday.
An honor guard member watches over the casket of former President George H.W. Bush as the funeral train passes through Magnolia, Texas, on Thursday.

HOUSTON -- In a more intimate and Texas-tinged gathering, at the same church where his wife of 73 years was eulogized just seven months ago, former President George H.W. Bush was remembered Thursday morning for his humility, decency and devotion to his family and his country.

Nearly 1,000 relatives, friends and dignitaries from the worlds of politics, sports, business and entertainment filled St. Martin's Episcopal Church, as they had in April for the funeral for Barbara Bush, who was 92 when she died. The funeral Thursday for George Bush, who died last Friday at age 94, was one of the final events in what has become a moment of national mourning for the 41st president.

Eight of his grandsons led the military pallbearers who carried Bush's coffin into the church, and later his eldest grandson -- George P. Bush, the Texas land commissioner -- spoke in a eulogy of his grandfather's horseshoe games with the family and members of the Secret Service.

George P. Bush described his grandfather as being thankful for his country and his opportunities to lead. "George Herbert Walker Bush is the most gracious, most decent, most humble man that I will ever know," he said. "It's the honor of a lifetime to share his name."

"He left a simple, yet profound legacy to his children, to his grandchildren and to his country: service," he said.

Bush's friends and relatives described a man who walked softly through the postwar pages of American history, who was defined by service to others and who, one cold day in Houston, gave a young coatless usher at St. Martin's the coat off his back.

"His wish for a kinder, gentler nation was not a cynical political slogan: It came honest and unguarded from his soul," James Baker, Bush's longtime friend of more than 60 years, said in a eulogy.

Baker -- who also served as secretary of state and White House chief of staff in the Bush administration and ran both of Bush's presidential campaigns -- fought back tears at the end of his remarks, as he called Bush his role model and described their spirited debates, which usually ended amicably and humorously.

"But he had a very effective way of letting me know when the discussion was over," Baker said. "He would look at me and he would say, 'Baker, if you're so smart, why am I the president and you're not?'"

Baker praised Bush as "a beautiful human being" who had "the courage of a warrior. But when the time came for prudence, he maintained the greater courage of a peacemaker."

"The world became a better place because George Bush occupied the White House for four years," Baker said.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump sat at the front of Washington National Cathedral with all four living former presidents at Bush's state funeral, joined by thousands of foreign leaders, lawmakers, diplomats and other officials. In Houston, it was a much smaller tribute, in large part for the Bush family and their friends and supporters in Texas, at the church George and Barbara Bush had attended for more than 50 years.

The church's pastor, the Rev. Russell Levenson Jr., recalled the Bushes often attending services and offering to give up their seats to others on days when the church was particularly crowded.

"He was ready for heaven, and heaven was ready for him," Levenson said of Bush, who was in declining health in recent years. The minister suggested that when the former president died, he met his wife of 73 years in heaven, and Barbara Bush playfully demanded, "What took you so long?"

In the pageantry and prayers, and the anthems sung by St. Martin's choir, there was a distinct country twang to the ceremony, in homage to the adopted state of the Connecticut-raised former president. The Oak Ridge Boys, a country group that first sang for Bush in 1983 when he was vice president, sang "Amazing Grace" a cappella. Reba McEntire sang The Lord's Prayer.

Numerous Texas figures filled the pews. There were actors (Chuck Norris), baseball Hall of Famers (Nolan Ryan) and business leaders (Tilman Fertitta). There were current and retired football, basketball and baseball stars, including J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans, Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros, and Dikembe Mutombo and Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets.

When the service ended, Bush's family followed the coffin out, shaking the hands of standing mourners along the way. Some saluted the coffin, while others held their hands over their hearts.

The assembled mourners had gathered in early morning lines awaiting buses to the church and the service. Bush's dentist was there, describing Bush as "a wonderful patient, the most giving man." So was former Houston Mayor Bill White, who recalled that after he was elected to lead that city, two of his constituents -- the Bushes -- invited him and his wife to lunch to ask what they could do to help.

"President Bush was one of those people who showed that politics could still be a noble cause," said Robert Eckels, a lawyer and former Harris County chief executive. "He was a friend who was always very supportive. He was genuinely concerned about me. He was genuinely concerned about the community."

Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena called it "a sad day for Houston."

"Really, we lost a patriot," he said. "But it's also an opportunity to celebrate his service. He was in public service for decades. I think the turnout out here signifies exactly what he meant to a lot of us."

After the funeral, Bush's coffin traveled by train to College Station, Texas, where the former president was later buried on the grounds of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University -- next to Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia in 1953 when she was 3 years old.

Bush, a World War II aviator from the East Coast, moved to Texas in the summer of 1948 to make a name for himself in the oil business, driving to the west Texas town of Odessa in a red two-door Studebaker.

Seventy years after that trip, Bush's funeral train took him on one last journey through the state. The train, named Union Pacific 4141, traveled 70 miles through Magnolia, Navasota and other small towns, led by a 4,300-horsepower locomotive painted blue, gray and white to echo the colors of Air Force One. Members of the Bush family were on board.

The train arrived in College Station in the late afternoon with a military band playing "Hail to the Chief" and then Texas A&M's Aggie War Hymn.

About 2,100 cadets in their tan dress uniforms with jackets and ties and knee-high boots waited for hours on a cold, gray day to line the road -- known as Barbara Bush Drive -- to the Bush library's front doors. The Navy conducted a 21 strike fighter flyover, a salute to the World War II Navy pilot, followed by a 21-gun cannon salute on the ground.

Information for this article was contributed by Manny Fernandez of The New York Times; by Nomaan Merchant, Juan A. Lozano, Will Weissert and David J. Phillip of The Associated Press; and by Stephanie Kuzydym, Mark Berman, Lindsey Bever, Brittney Martin and Ken Hoffman of The Washington Post.

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AP/JEFF ROBERSON

Family members follow a joint services honor guard carrying the coffin bearing the remains of former President George H.W. Bush through the grounds of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas, for burial.

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AP/MARK HUMPHREY

Country performer Reba McEntire sings The Lord’s Prayer during services Thursday for former President George H.W. Bush at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston.

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AP/Austin American-Stateman/JAY JANNER

An honor guard carries the coffin of former President George H.W. Bush off the presidential funeral train after it arrived Thursday at College Station, Texas.

A Section on 12/07/2018

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