Modern day food stamp program. He let the congress to the vietnam war and brought many wellknown figures into politics for the first time including bill clinton. This is live coverage on cspan. Snothe [captioning performed by ladies and gentlemen, if youre able, please rise for the [ation of the coffin flag. Jesus said i am the resurrection and the life, those who believe in me even though they die shall live. I am alpha, the begin linging tapped end, the first and the last. I died and behold i am alive forever more and i hold the keys of life and death. Because i have live, you shall live also. Friends, we have galingtered here to praise god and witness our faith as we celebrate the life of George Mcgovern. We come together in grief acknowledging our human loss and we ask that god would grant us grace that in pain we might find comfort, in sorrow, hope, and in death, resurrection. The pastor of the church is fish yating with me today. Let us pray. God, we praise you for the company of all those who finished their course and now rest from their labor. Today we remember eleanor, terri and steve mcgovern. We praise you for those deer to us who weve named in our hearts before you and especially we praise you for George Mcgovern who you have grarbleely received into your presence. Oh god, grant us your peace. Let your light shine on all of us and help us so to believe where we have not seen that your presence may lead us through your years and bring us at last within in the joy of your home not made with hands but eternal in the hevvens. Through jesus christ our lord we pray, amen. Brothers and sisters, family and friends, and senator mcgovern, the holley scrip chure tell us there is a season for everything, time to be born and a time to die, time to weep and a time to laugh, time to mourn and a time to dance. George Stanley Mcgovern was born over 90 years ago and now he has died. We weep over the loss of this wonderful man and yet we laugh because he is now finished his final stage in growth in dying. We mourn his departure and yet we dance as we remember the legacy he left behind our state, our country, our world is better because of the footprints that he has left behind. Soon after his first election to congress, i was given my first assignment as a young priest freshly meanted from lengthy seminary training. We both started in mitchell. The last few years by luck we wound up in the same neighborhood and shared time his residence in florida. Often he mentioned his ambition to live to be 100. Jim, its in my jeans. Once when i did jeans once when i did remind him when he this. December of dawn who sought permission to mayor. Only gave his permission to marry a mortal man but her any one wish she. Oh, never he agreed. Aurora as wrinkled and forgetful and feeble. When aurora came back to do him into an insect. Later but not too long ago with his strength fading senator said to me one jim, i think those greeks might have been on is why george said right here on this stage he was or kesstra and they were doing this wonderful performance. He said i keep looking for old friend who have passed on to world beyond and i had no idea whats out there but feel its going to be is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. , i want to tell you that your presence is a treasured gift to all members of the mcgovern family. I want to say to you in the name of the family and closest friends, thank you, thank you for coming to this Memorial Service from near and from far. The city, state and National Reaction to the senators demice is simply stunned everyone. Why is his death so highlighted across the whole nation and indeed throughout the world in radio , television and newsprint journalism . For some, it has to be his leadership on feeding the hungry, the work of mercy of our one world family so that millions of children have not starved or died or become retarded because of proper nourishment and because of the efforts of this man. Others love him for proving to america that you dont have to be a hawk in order to be a good pate yot of our beloved country. And still other may have been charmed by this man william f. Buckly was as conservive as senator mcgoven was progressive and yet when his son asked him what he thought of George Mcgovern, William Buckly said he was the single nicest human being i have ever met. His son printed that answer in his book called mom and pop he wrote after both of them had died. And here in south dakota political his torns from both universities that i was affiliated with have claimed that George Mcgovern almost single hand edly brought his party of a long slumber and it became a state bipartisan again. So rest in peace dear friend t. Is better because you our way and were all worse without you. Most of us believe christs resurrection proves death. With that firm belief, we say but not forever, but just for now until we meet again in a better world. May god the father who created you, god the son who redeemed you and god the hoil spirit who sankfide be yours this day and you live in his company a song of sense. Lift up my eyes to the hills from where will my help come . From the lord heaven and earth. Not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not he who keeps israel will not slumber or sleep. The lord is your shade shade the sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night which keep you from evil. Your going out and this time on and forever more. From y say chapter 40 versus 28 have you have you not heard is the ever lasting god the creator of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary unsearchable. He streppingtens the powerless. Even youths be faint and warry. But those who wait for the lord shall he knew their strength. Mount up with wings eagles. They shall walk and not faint. Im congressman jim mcgovern from massachusetts. When Eleanor Roosevelt died it was said that ive lost more than a friend, ive lost an inspiration and thats the way i feel today. Deep down i know George Mcgovern is in a better place. Hes with eleanor and terri and steve. Who knows, he may even be president. But for so many of us it is difficult to say goodbye. It was always comforting to know that he was around reminding us we can do better, making it seem possible we could end all wars, eliminate hunger and poverty and create a world where all gods children are respected valued and loved. In 1972 as a seventh grader in massachusetts i did what i could to elect him president of the United States which i remind you all he did win massachusetts. [applause] i was later an intern in his Senate Office and i had the privilege to work with the incredible staff he assembled in washington d. C. And south dakota, some of the finest people i have ever known. We werent related it was just a coincidence we both had the same last name. But people would tell me they were longtime supporters of my dad. And they always seemed shocked when i told them my dad owned a liquor store in massachusetts. I urged them to keep supporting him. For 35 years i have been honored to call senator mcgovern my most treasured friend and i loved him very much. He was a great man but more importantly he was a good one. He had about him a deenssi, he was generous and kind. He was funny and had no patience for cynicism. He was passionate and principled but not dogmatic or selfright courthouse. He loved his family and friend and faith and American History and a good steak. He loved this great state of south dakota and my god, did he love his country. Even after the 1972 campaign, even after losing 49 states and losing his senate seat in 1980, he maintained his optimism and faith in government and his belief that americas best days were always ahead which he became a war hero a prd and congressman and a president ial nominee of his party. But he wasnt a dont you know who i am type of guy. We can all hear him saying to someone who knew perfectly well who he was, you know fred, i ran for president fred in 1972 which is not to say that he was about pride. This is a man who jumped out of an air plain at age 88. While he did that to raise knowledge about hunger. He wanted to prove he still had a little fly boy in him. He had a way with words, come home america, dont throw away your conscious. He was eloquent in moving but his actions were more powerful. There were millions and millions around the world who are not starving to death who have hope because of George Mcgoverns actions. Perhaps because he witnessed the who are rors of war, he was a champion for peace. Not because he opposed all wars but because he knew that war all represents a failure of human imagination. Even when some have the audacity to question the war heroes patetism. He refused to dream up new wars for men to die in. To susan and mayor and all the grandchildren, thank you for sharing him with us when it wasnt easy because there are many across the country who consider us his children. His incredible Public Service is also your Public Service and we will for ever be greatful. Thank you for giving thus Public Servant. As was said in the 1972 campaign he wanted a mcgovern presidency because george is such an ordinary man not in a regular sense but the presidency was designed for ordinary men not for larger than life men on horse back. If George Mcgovern were president he wouldnt stand for a c. I. A. Pushing people around. He wouldnt stand for price fixing or theseous rashese people who work for wages and pay their taxes and he wouldnt try to prove his manhood by prolonging a war that shouldnt have started in the first place. Its a dam shame this happened to george because i dont know how long it will be until we have a president who feels like that. He was right. Our country missed an Incredible Opportunity in 1972. [applause] but even though George Mcgovern lost that election, that loss is not his legacy. Right now there is a family in new jersey that can put food on their table. There is a little girl who has never heard his name who has enough to eat and is getting an education. Thats his legacy. And it is up to us to each and every one of us to carry that legacy forward. We love you senator. [applause] im garry heart of colorado. Nations even great nations sometimes require a voice of conscious. George mcgovern was the voice of conscience for our nation in our time. The voice of con sheens began with israel with its profits call israel back to their purpose and cause. In america George Mcgovern stood in the tradition of henry david author row of William Brian and more recently of Robert Kennedy and of Martin Luther king. When the wounded veteran in vietnam needed a voice he was there. When the hungry child in american poverty needed a choice, he was there. When women, minorities and young people sought to breakdown the barriers of a closed political system, his voice was there. When sinister voices corrupted the political system and haunted the corridors of power in washington, he was there to warn us. Voices of conscience make us uncomfortable. Our political system forces them to the march. Those made uncomfortable by George Mcgoverns voice of conscious dismissed him as a liberal in an age which rids libber lism. He was larger than any liberal particularly a nonniesed one. Liberals did not get elected and reelected in conservative states which they did not take on unpopular causes particularly in recent years and most of all liberals did not fly Dangerous Missions in defense of our nation. This made his many critics who avoided military service especially uncomfortable. Somewhere in some small town in this great land is the young man or a young woman who will learn of George Mcgovern and his voice. Some day that young man or woman drawn to action by his life as a voice of conscious will rise up to call america home, to summon the better nature, to justice and in e callty and to challenge us to live up to our constitutional promise. George mcgoverns voice is not gone, its simply baiting the voice of conscience that have the voice of their conviction. Afternoon. My name is jim. Im susan mcgoverns husband and georges soninlaw and i which. And he squd me to say a words his funeral about his life long love affair with the st. Louis saturday nals which im born in 1868 so he was an older man george and the other children came along and he was a rather apparently a rather stern figure, not the kind of man who would toss a baseball around with the boys in the front yard. At one his fathers revival his brother were talking baseball to each other and his father me see that baseball thought they were in trouble because their dad did them to sports. And they were stunned when took the baseball a of hit a mouse. He was apparently a transform tive experience. And thats when the reverend Joseph Mcgovern who at the was either 65 or 66 years old told in an earlier been a professional on the team in des moines iowa that had an st. Louis. Loved the listened to them on the radio but now he had a more personal connection with the whole notion of the st. Louis cardinals. Asked him one day what was it like to be a boif of 12 or 13 and learn that your dad been a professional baseball player. And he thought about it for a he said well not every boy in mitchell had a a professional baseball player. George followed the cardinals if i may say so in here a habit thats not unknown to a lot of us but get the newspaper in the morning and he would turn it it back to front looking for the box scores and he would read the cardinals box he would absorb all of the statistical data and often if a game had been on television or an important game, he would call our house to susan first and wants to talk to you about the game. A lot of wonderful on the phone, especially last year when the managed to sneak into the playoffs and win the world series. Several years ago susan and i were in susan and i george and eleanor had bought a house there. Had when theyre in the late winter. The west coast, double coast. , another friend had come up with tickets to the st. Louis cardinals spring training game. Another to go with him . I said, sure. To drive out to the east coast of florida, the other side of the state, to where the cardinals played their spring training games. We got, what family members will know as the typical late departure [laughter] of i go into great detail. Lets just say, if it were a story, it would have had died, late, on time, and 100 Miles Per Hour in the same headline. We have a wonderful time at the game. Got sunburned. The cardinals won. There was a close play at second base where the second baseman got knocked over. Georges story, it would have dad had beend baseman. George was telling us about how much physical courage it took to play second base, like his dad. You got run over all time. Game, we got leave and one guy came where all of the official identification, had a clipboard, said, senator, would you . George said, absolutely. Over, we walked out onto the field, we walked across infield down the rightfield line passed a couple of players. The Atlanta Braves coach. To the outfield wall, walked through a door into a small concrete room, and there was tony. He got up and was gracious, greeted everybody. We sat around and talked cardinal baseball for about half hour. Mostly listened. George told his story about his father, which tony had never heard. It was just a wonderful moment. George was there with his st. Louis cardinals cap on, listening to tony tell us what happened rest of the year. And all the way back to marco island. About every 15 minutes, george say, can you believe it, we just met tony la russa. You would think that we had met the president , or the pope, and george had met them. [laughter] but he got to me tony la russa. This was really a wonderful moment for him. Became sort of telephone friends. Would call after a cardinals lost. Call for tony after a loss, they put you right through. [laughter] , ended up in the hospice. The colonel in the playoffs again. Even though by that time, at the hospice, his eyes were closed, he was comatose, but we could talk to him, and we believe he could hear us. Matthew or i would go in, depending on how the game was going. The cardinals are ahead, they are doing well. That his heart rate was up. Was almost as if he wanted to talk to us about how good he felt that the cardinals were winning. As you know, they did not make it to the world series this year, they did not rally. Unfortunately, george did not either. But i feel there was some final connection therewith george and the cardinals. They both just sort of ran out of steam. It was a great privilege to talk baseball with george. He was a real fan. We were real fans of his, too. Thank you. [applause] i am deeply honored to be here today and to have the opportunity to share some thoughts. I joined congressman mcgovern, senator hart, all of those assembled here, and all the thousands who wished they could be here, to express our heartfelt condolences and deep sympathy to you and the extended family. I know i speak for the family in expressing our gratitude and deep appreciation to all of those very distinguished visitors, who in some cases have traveled great distances to be here, on the celebration of georges life. When george accepted his partys nomination, he offered this benediction. May god grant each of us the wisdom to cherish this good land and meet the great challenge that beckons us all home. Now that he is beckoned home, we will always be grateful for the ways that, through his life, through his work, and through his vision, and george lifted us far higher in meeting that challenge. Someone asked st. Francis of assisi what it takes to live a good life. He replied, preached the gospel every day, if necessary, use words. I have never known anybody who preached the gospel more affectively in so many ways than george. A peacemaker. A humanitarian. A teacher. The minister. A congressman. A senator. A voice for the voiceless. And a champion for hungry children. In some ways, georges adult life began in war. When asked about his military service, he would always minimize his heroism. But the fact is, if he had done nothi