Thurmond remembered for his leadership

A statue of Strom Thurmond looks out away from the Statehouse Tuesday as his body is carried down the south steps behind him. Staff/Owen Riley Jr. e-mail this story to a friend Related Related stories: • Cheney leads Washington delegation at Thumond funeral • Biden, Thurmond bridged philosophical divide to become friends • Funeral speakers were longtime allies • Vignettes: Tributes paid along funeral route Photo gallery • Gallery of images from Thurmond funeral

Thousands, from construction workers who doffed their hard hats as the funeral procession passed by to Vice President Dick Cheney who led a White House entourage, paid their respects in different ways for different reasons.

"Farewell Mr. Chairman, we stand adjourned," Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Delaware, told mourners at First Baptist Church.

Somewhat more than 2,000 mourners sat in rows of angled, blue upholstered pews in the 3,300-seat First Baptist Church of Columbia.

Thurmond's family — his widow, Nancy, and children, Strom Jr., Julie and Paul — sat in the first row of one section. Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and a delegation of current and former U.S. senators were across the aisle. The state's political elite, including Gov. Mark Sanford, filled others.

Thousands of everyday folks filled most of the seats or stood in the rain to watch the horse-drawn caisson bearing Thurmond's casket and the symbolic riderless horse pass by.

Some arrived at the church hours early. Outside, in the rain, Dejarvis Elder, 55, of Columbia said she was there because her father cooked barbecue many times for Thurmond and others at country clubs in the state. She said Thurmond was considered a member of the family and when her father died in 1978, Thurmond sent a check to her mother.

"I'm sad in one way and glad in another," she said. "He was old and sick. He had gotten to the point where he couldn't do any more."

Biden, a liberal Democrat, was one of six diverse speakers whose presence and remarks underscored Thurmond's 100 years as a man of deeply loyal friendships and a philosophy able to change with the times.

Vice President Dick Cheney, who gave the first eulogy, spoke of the uniqueness of Thurmond's life.

"There has never been a political career like Strom Thurmond's and unless medical science can unlock the secret to his vitality, there will never be one again."

Thurmond died Thursday at Edgefield County Hospital where he had occupied a two-room suite since retiring from the Senate in January. He had been in the Senate for nearly 48 years and was its oldest and longest-serving member.

By 11 a.m. Tuesday when the Statehouse doors were closed, 5,477 people had filed past his casket during a 16-hour lying-in-state period over three days. Some were turned away, including James Sutton, who said he came because "I had always heard good things about him."

Shortly after 11 a.m., buses with senators and dignitaries from Washington arrived at the north side of the building. They visited with Thurmond's family.

Thurmond was a dominant figure in South Carolina and national politics as a legislator, judge, World War II hero, governor, segregationist presidential candidate, and a senator. His switch from the Democratic Party to the Republican in 1964 was a major factor in the GOP's rise to dominance in the South.

Thousands lined the four-block route from the Statehouse to the church to watch the caisson, pulled by six dapple-gray horses. Misty Bell, 25, a physical therapist at Palmetto Medical Center, took a break from work to watch the casket's arrival at the church, across Hampton Street from the hospital. "He was a great man," she said.

Many who came to the service were ordinary citizens who had been touched by Thurmond.

"I certainly enjoyed every word everyone said at the service. Thurmond will certainly be missed," said Rebecca Tinsley of Columbia. Tinsley said the senator helped her mother, and her husband, who was in the Navy.

Two large arrangements of red and white roses flanked the raised pulpit area, but otherwise little adorned the church's stark simplicity. The organist began playing at 11:45 a.m., opening with "Nearer My God to Thee," and continuing with hymns interspersed with an occasional patriotic air.

Later, a 141-voice choir and 20-piece orchestra filed in, blue robes for the choir, dark suits for the musicians.

A delegation of former and current senators, including Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C., Lindsey Graham, R- S.C., and George Allen, R-Va. At least one senatorial spouse was on hand in the reserved section, former Republican Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole, husband of North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

At 12:55 a.m., the choir and orchestra launched into "America the Beautiful"

Former governors, Hollings among them, were ushered to seats scattered around the sanctuary. Among them were Carroll Campbell and Jim Hodges. Dick Riley, a former U.S. Education Secretary and governor, arrived in the procession of state legislators, constitutional officers and judges.

Behind them came the flag-draped casket, an Army sergeant at the front, a Marine lance corporal at the rear. The family followed.

Cheney recounted how Thurmond lived under 18 presidents, serving under the last 10, creating a history "filled with firsts," including his unparalleled election to the Senate as a write-in candidate in 1954.

"As secretary of defense, I always counted on Sen. Thurmond to stand up for a strong military (and now) we see the strong quality force he helped to build," Cheney said.

State Sen. Kay Patterson, D-Columbia, paraphrased Mark 6:4, saying he came to honor Thurmond "in his own country, among his own kin and in his own house."

Patterson, a staunch partisan and fiery member of the Legislative Black Caucus, praised Thurmond for helping save historically black colleges from financial ruin through federal aid.

It was Thurmond, he said, who came through to cut red tape when Patterson and his constituents ran out of options for obtaining Social Security benefits and public works grants.

Biden said Thurmond was the only man he knew who lived in three distinct periods in history and lived a full life in each.

"Born into an era of essentially unchallenged and unexamined mores in the South, reaching his full maturity in an era of fully challenged and critically examined bankrupt mores of his beloved South. And living out his final three decades in a South that has formally rejected its past on race."

Biden said he learned from Thurmond and watched him change.

"Today, there are no more issues to debate, just a patch of common ground," Biden said.

Federal Appeals Court Judge William Wilkins of Greenville drew the first laughter with a reminder banners that often bedecked towns welcoming Thurmond.

"Today, that banner hangs on heaven's gate, 'Welcome, Strom Thurmond.'"

Wilkins, whose judicial recommendations came from Thurmond, said, "If ever there was a life to be celebrated, it's his. Generations of South Carolinians have walked through that gate, anticipating his arrival for years."

That was a spin-off of an old joke about the state's graveyards being filled with politicians who waited for Thurmond to die or retire.

"In true Strom Thurmond fashion, he delayed that journey until his work was done," Wilkins said.

"Over the years, thousands and thousands of South Carolinians from all walks of life turned to him for help, and, senator, you never let them down," Wilkins said, looking to the casket below him.

Sanford presented an American flag that had flown over the Statehouse during the lying-in-state period to Thurmond's son. Other flags were presented to Thurmond's daughter Julie Whitmer, and Thurmond's sister, Mary Thurmond Tompkins, by Don Fowler and Warren Abernathy. Fowler, from Columbia, is a former Democratic National Committee chairman, and Abernathy, of Spartanburg, was a top Thurmond aide for decades.

Mrs. Thurmond was given the flag from the casket at the cemetery.

As the service ended shortly before 3 p.m, a kilted piper marched down the center aisle playing "Amazing Grace," preceding the honor guard for the removal of the casket.

When the hearse bearing Thurmond's body arrived an hour and 45 minutes later in his hometown of Edgefield, a caisson was waiting in front of the Edgefield County Courthouse to make the final journey to Willowbrook Cemetery. Some townspeople held their hands over their hearts as the Joint Casket Team from the Military District of Columbia placed the casket on the caisson. Six minutes later, the caisson moved forward, wheels rumbling on pavement, horses hooves clicking.

Residents hung out windows of nearby businesses. Some filed behind the four horsemen at the rear of the procession and walked to the cemetery. The caisson turned into a narrow drive leading to the Thurmond family plot, where dozens of family members sat in chairs and invited guests stood under a green tarp.

Officials estimated 1,200 people gathered among tombstones on the grassy hill to watch.

Thurmond's nephew, John Barry Bishop, talked about his memories of the senator, including the time he got a spanking from the senator for cutting up in church.

He said his uncle wanted to be remembered for helping others.

"He never cared if someone was a Democrat, a Republican or an independent," he said. "He never cared what the color of their skin was."The 3rd U.S. Infantry from Fort Myer, Va. delivered a three-gun volley.

Mrs. Thurmond laid four red roses and one white rose on the casket. Bettis Rainsford, a family friend, said after the service the red roses represented Mrs. Thurmond and the three children. The white rose represented the Thurmonds' eldest child, Nancy Moore, who died in 1993. Thurmond was buried beside his daughter.

Mrs. Thurmond, along with her children, were the last to leave. She walked to the car in the rain clutching the American flag in her hands.

James T. Hammond and Tim Smith contributed to this report.

Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.