Former president George W. Bush choked back tears as he delivered the final eulogy at the funeral for his late father, former president George H.W. Bush, Wednesday, calling the elder Bush “a great and noble man.”
“He showed me what it means to be a president who serves with integrity, leads with courage, and acts with love in his heart for the citizens of our country,” Bush said of his father. “When the history books are written, they will say that George H.W. Bush was a great president of the United States.”
The elder President Bush passed away at age 94 in his Houston, Texas home Friday evening. His body lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda from Monday until Wednesday’s funeral, guarded by members from the five branches of the military. His body will now be flown back to Houston, where he will have a second funeral service at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church before being buried at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas, next to his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, who died in April.
“His epitaph, perhaps just a single letter: The letter ‘L’ for loyalty,” former senator Alan Simpson said in his eulogy for Bush. “It coursed through his blood. Loyalty to his country, loyalty to his family, loyalty to his friends, loyalty to the institutions of government.”
“Your decency, sincerity, and kind soul will stay with us forever,” George W. Bush said, holding back tears. “So through our tears, let us know the blessings of knowing and loving you, a great and noble man, the best father a son or daughter could have.”