In 1965, John Knotts was a young sailor serving in Vietnam when he learned that the woman who raised him had just died.

Because his step-grandmother wasn't a blood relative, the U.S. Navy wouldn't grant him leave to attend the funeral. It was simply against military policy.

AP Strom Thurmond

Knotts, a 20-year-old from Cayce, was resigned to the fact that he would be represented only by flowers and a short note at the graveside services of a woman who meant everything to him.

Then his young wife, Betty, called Sen. Strom Thurmond's office.

Betty Knotts had left messages with many South Carolina politicians and, like her husband, had just about given up when Thurmond called her at 10:30 p.m. two days before the funeral.

The senator had stopped by his Washington office that evening and found the message from the young Cayce bride. He called her back himself.

"He said, 'Little honey, don't you worry about it, your husband will be at his grandmama's funeral,' " Knotts, now a state senator from Columbia, remembered Friday.

Knotts was taken by helicopter from ship to airfield, flown overseas, transferred to another plane and rushed to Shaw Air Force Base, "like I was the governor's son or something, and I was nobody. I couldn't help him, I couldn't even vote."

At 5:30 a.m., less than six hours before his grandmother's funeral, Knotts was home.

For most South Carolinians, Strom Thurmond will be best remembered for his amazing record of constituent services. Rather than focusing on issues or major pieces of legislation, Thurmond prided himself on fixing the mundane and very real problems of his people.

Most South Carolina politicians, who regularly invoke the spirit of Thurmond's constituent service in their own campaigns, say that Ol' Strom set the bar high. A resolution passed by the General Assembly last year said that Thurmond's "zeal to help constituents is legendary and unequaled."

"No problem was too big or too small. No person was ever denied the best that Strom and his staff could deliver," U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, Thurmond's successor, said Thursday night.

Across the state on Friday, people remembered with fondness how their problems often would just disappear after one call to the office of Strom Thurmond. Former Gov. David Beasley summed it up: "He wrote the textbook on how to provide constituent services."

Many others agreed.

-- When Suzie and James Hyde were ready to move into their new Berkeley County home in 1991, they ran across a problem that could have held them up for years. To connect a power line to the house, the cable needed to run across 5 feet of land belonging to the Francis Marion Nation Forest.

Berkeley Electric Co-op tried to get permission to run the line but was told that the approval process, which included mandated federal Environmental Protection Agency studies, could mean a long wait.

"We were told this could take a number of years," Suzie Hyde said.

Hyde called Thurmond's office.

"Four or five days later, the problem just disappeared," she said. "Suddenly Berkeley Co-Op had permission."

Hyde said Thurmond's intervention typified his legend. "He would cut through the red tape or he would tell you how to cut the red tape. He didn't take credit for what he did, but magically things would happen."

-- Marshall Kelly had just been hired to handle building codes in Lincolnville in the early 1980s, a time when people in the tiny old freedmen's town were struggling for drinking water. There was no sewer, and most home wells were so shallow that folks often ended up pumping septic water.

Kelly carried home water in 50-gallon tanks from the fire station because, despite digging well hole after well hole, he hadn't been able to pump good water.

Funds had been earmarked for water and sewer service in the town, but Mayor Charles Ross had gotten frustrated dealing with the bureaucracy involved in making the project happen. Ross, a Democrat, told Kelly, "I'll call my friend Strom Thurmond. It doesn't matter that he's a Republican or whatever. If I call him, he'll get it done for me."

Though Kelly thought it was strange, he watched as Ross got on the phone and dialed Thurmond directly.

"I thought of Strom as a segregationist," Kelly said, adding that Ross set him straight, telling him of people Thurmond worked behind the scenes to help.

Ultimately, Lincolnville got its funds. Kelly no longer had to carry water.

-- When Henrietta Middleton Pinckney of Beaufort heard of Thurmond's death, her thoughts turned to the role the senator played in having a Navy warship named in honor of her husband, William Pinckney, a black Navy cook whose heroism during World War II saved the life of a white shipmate aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.

After the guided missile destroyer USS Pinckney was christened at a Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard in June 2002, Thurmond called Pinckney to congratulate her.

"I spoke with him for about 10 minutes, and he said he was glad that my husband was from South Carolina," Pinckney said. "When he died, I felt sad. At least I had a chance to speak with him."

-- Three decades ago, Bob Craig found himself in a jam.

He needed to leave the country in a matter of days but had no passport. Craig, the pastor at Jacksonboro Baptist Church, contacted Thurmond's office for help.

Two days later, he had his passport.

"They took it and walked it through," he said. "I will always be appreciative for that reason."

-- Rick Lowndes of Mount Pleasant recalled going to Columbia with his sixth-grade class from Mason Preparatory School in the late 1970s. As the class toured the Statehouse grounds, Lowndes said he heard his name being called.

When he looked, Lowndes saw Thurmond.

"I recognized him, (but) I'd never met him," he said.

Apparently, Lowndes' step-father had called Thurmond's office and recommended that he give the students a tour of Columbia. Thurmond did just that, spending about two hours taking the class around.

"Who does that?" Lowndes asked. "It meant a lot for someone of that position to take time out to take some kids around Columbia."

-- Shaytee Gadson, 25, of Hollywood, had a similar memory. An agent at National car rental, Gadson remembered traveling to Washington, D.C., as a 16-year-old 11th-grader at Baptist Hill High School for an intensive field trip devoted to civics. The class visited a number of politicians. Thurmond proved the most humorous and affable of the lot.

Before taking pictures, he half-joked with them about his vanity, looking in one of the four big mirrors that then decorated his office.

"He found out we'd be taking pictures," said Gadson, laughing. "He got in the mirror when he found out we were taking pictures, and he started licking his fingers and combing back the little hair he had left."

"I think he did it for effect, but he also did it because he really did want to take a good picture."

-- At the Statehouse in Columbia on Friday, a steady stream of people showed up to sign a book of condolences in the shadow of the Thurmond statue, which was draped in a black ribbon.

Many could relate instances when Ol' Strom had helped them in some small --or large --way.

When Karen Prioleau lost her job driving a bus because of lupus and other ailments, Thurmond's office steered her to financial aid.

After losing her health, her job and her apartment, Prioleau is now in government housing and on the way to getting disability supplements. She credits Thurmond with giving her back some of her life.

"He led me in the right direction for help when nobody else could," Prioleau said.

"He was a giant."

STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

"Senator Strom Thurmond led an extraordinary life. He served in the Army during World War II, earning a Bronze Star for valor and landing at Normandy on D-Day. He served his country as Senator, Governor, and state legislator and was a beloved teacher, coach, husband, father, and grandfather. While campaigning across South Carolina with him in 1988, I saw first hand the tremendous love he had for his constituents, and the admiration the people of South Carolina had for him. He was also a friend and I was honored to have hosted his 100th birthday at the White House. Laura joins me in sending our prayers and condolences to the entire Thurmond family. He will be missed."

PAYING RESPECTS

Sen. Strom Thurmond will lie in state with a military honor guard at the Statehouse beginning Sunday. The public may visit from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday and from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesday.

The military funeral will be Tuesday at 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 1306 Hampton St., in Columbia and is open to the public.

Shellhouse Funeral Home of Aiken is in charge of arrangements.

Sen. Thurmond's body will then be taken to Edgefield County Courthouse, where a caisson will transport the late statesman to a family plot in Willowbrook Cemetery. The time of the Edgefield burial, which will also be a military service, has not been set. Sen. John Courson, R-Columbia, said final plans will be made available through his office.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to Strom Thurmond Foundation, P.O. Box 50214, Columbia, S.C. 29250; Aiken's First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 3157, Aiken, S.C. 29801; or Edgefield County Hospital, P.O. Box 590, Edgefield, S.C. 29824.

Condolence cards may be sent to the Thurmond family at P.O. Box 12, Edgefield, S.C. 29824.

Today's Stories

Allison Bruce, Edward C. Fennell, Herb Frazier, Michael Gartland, Deneshia Graham, Jason Hardin, Ron Menchaca, Bo Peterson and Warren Wise contributed to this report.