COLUMBIA, S.C. - For many mourners, a three-day period for the public to pay respects in the South Carolina Statehouse is fitting for Strom Thurmond, a man often remembered for his accessibility to South Carolinians.

The one-time arch segregationist was 100 when he died Thursday at a hospital in his hometown of Edgefield, about 60 miles west of Columbia. He was the longest-serving senator in history when he left the U.S. Senate five months ago.

"It's few and far between these days that there are politicians that treat you as an equal," said Teri DeBruhl, of Columbia, who helped film productions in the Thurmonds' home as an employee at South Carolina Educational Television Network.

"When we worked in their home, it was like working in your parents home," she said. "That was really neat to be treated that way."

On Sunday, more than 1,000 mourners passed Thurmond's flag-draped casket on the second floor between the House and Senate chambers of the Statehouse. More long lines are expected as Thurmond lies in state until his funeral Tuesday.

Thurmond was a member of the state Senate in the 1930s. He was governor of South Carolina in the 1940s.

The casket was surrounded by a military honor guard and medals he earned during World War II were displayed nearby.

Thurmond's wife Nancy and their children, Strom Jr., Julie and Paul, greeted visitors with firm handshakes and smiles, thanking visitors for coming.

James Graham, the senator's driver in Washington for 16 years, made his second trip to the state in seven days from Maryland. His first Monday was when he heard Thurmond's condition had worsened.

"He looked up at me and said 'James, I love you' and reached for my hand and I will treasure that as long as I live," Graham said.

"The senator was one of the best friends I ever had," he said.

Judge Dennis Shedd, appointed to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., last year on Thurmond's nomination, said Thurmond did for him what he had done for thousands of South Carolinians.

"I'll leave it to others to talk about what a great man he was," Shedd said. "I can remember what a good man he was."

Outside the Statehouse on Sunday, visitors waited in lines circling the building for hours in oppressive heat. Many of the people at the Statehouse wore their Sunday best, and all had a story to tell about Thurmond.

Eva Baugham said when her husband faced a military transfer in the middle of the school year in 1990, Thurmond intervened and the transfer was postponed a few months.

"It didn't mean that much to the people receiving my husband, but to the children it meant a whole lot not to be uprooted in the middle of the school year," said Baugham, who drove some 100 miles to the Statehouse.

Leah Sandiford, who waited more than an hour outside, said her family received a letter from the senator after the death of her grandmother, who had sometimes cared for the Thurmonds' children.

"I just wanted to come out and give him my condolences. That's what he did when my grandmother passed away. And I thought that's the least that I could do today," she said.

Helen Dennis Bone, who came in from the South Carolina coast to pay respects to the Thurmond family, said she worked for Thurmond as an intern and campaigned for him in the 1970s.

"There was a spirit in his office of really helping people," Bone said. She was a recipient of that help when her mother died in Iceland and Thurmond arranged for her to get a passport immediately.

"There are so many politicians who are bigger than you are, but he was never bigger than you," Bone said.

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Associated Press Writer Amy Geier Edgar contributed to this report.