President George H.W. Bush’s extended state funeral began its final stages on Thursday in Houston, Texas, with the second imposing church memorial in two days.
His grandsons were honorary pallbearers and his granddaughters read scripture in a service bursting with faith and family – less about America’s last war-hero president than a gracious, devout patriarch.
About 1,200 invited guests at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church included members of the 41st president’s family, Houston athletes and civic leaders who knew him as a service-minded American who invested more than four decades in merging his family’s values with America’s.
He was ‘the most gracious, most decent, most humble man I will ever know,’ said George P. Bush, the late president’s grandson who as the Texas land commissioner is the last current family member with a political future.
Recalling vacations with ‘Gamps,’ and his inspiring letters, he joked about games of horseshoes the former president would play ‘among family, Secret Service or any willing head of state.’
‘Power outage!’ George H.W. Bush would trash-talk if any metal shoe failed to reach the post. Overshooting the mark would draw a snarky ‘Woodrow Wilson!’ – a chuckle at the president who famously sought a law to suppress disloyalty and absolute authority to censor the press in wartime.
And in grandfatherly playfulness, the late president often ‘challenged all of the grandkids to the coveted “First to Sleep” award,’ George P. said.
President George H.W. Bush’s extended state funeral began its final stages on Thursday in Houston, Texas , with the second imposing church memorial in two days
George W. Bush cries as country singer Reba McEntire sings The Lord’s Prayer during the funeral for his father on Thursday
James Baker, a longtime Bush confidant who served him as White House chief of staff and secretary of state, said of the late president that ‘he’s been my friend and he’s been my role model.’ A tearful Baker embraced George W. Bush after his eulogy
A military honor guard carries the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush after a funeral at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura Bush leave St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston after the funeral
After the funeral at the church, Bush’s casket will be taken by train 70 miles from Houston to Texas A&M in a clear-sided baggage car that hails from the golden era of railroads
The locomotive carrying his body was painted to resemble Air Force One, and Bush joked that if it had been around during his presidency, he may have preferred to ride the rails rather than take to the skies
A Union Pacific locomotive, painted to look like Air Force One, will carry former President George H.W. Bush to his resting place in College Station, Texas
A more elderly Bush confidant, 88-year-old James Baker, said of the late president that ‘he’s been my friend and he’s been my role model.’ Baker served Bush as White House chief of staff and secretary of state.
Tilting his head up and addressing his friend ‘Jefe,’ he told Bush that he was ‘about to do something you always hated and that your mother always told you not to do: brag about yourself.’
Bush never gloated when the Berlin wall fell, Baker said, and was without a doubt ‘America’s greatest one-term president.’
‘He was not considered a skilled speaker,’ Baker said, ‘but his deeds were quite elegant.’
Choking up, the man Bush called ‘Bake’ ended with a hat-tip to William Butler Yeats. ‘Our glory, George,’ he said, ‘was to have had you as our president and as such a friend.’
Wednesday’s awe-inspiring funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington was an unapologetic display of patriotic symbolism, with military escorts and flags of the 50 U.S. states flying above the length of the center aisle.
A church service a day later in a no-less-imposing space featured just two flags: the stars and stripes draped over Bush’s casket and carried in front of it.
The church choir rendered ‘This is My Country’ as a worship anthem and the National Anthem with pipe organ and soprano descant.
‘America the Beautiful’ was sung as a congregational hymn. ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’ was sung without a military chorus.
The flag-draped casket of the 41st president is carried out of the church by a joint services military honor guard
The grandsons were solemn as they walked out of the church. At the front is George Prescott Bush and his brother John Ellis Bush, Jr
He was ‘the most gracious, most decent, most humble man I will ever know,’ said George P. Bush, the late president’s grandson who as the Texas land commissioner is the last current family member with a political future
Nancy Ellis LeBlond Sosa, left, and Georgia Grace Koch read scripture during the funeral service
The granddaughters of former President George H.W. Bush speak during his funeral at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
Choking up, the man Bush called ‘Bake’ ended with a hat-tip to William Butler Yeats. ‘Our glory, George,’ he said, ‘was to have had you as our president and as such a friend’
Former president George W. Bush stood next to his wife Laura and Jeb Bush at the funeral service for his father George H.W. Bush on Thursday morning at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston
About 1,000 invited guests at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church included members of the 41st president’s family, Houston athletes and civic leaders who knew him as a service-minded American who invested more than four decades in merging his family’s values with America’s
Country music singer Reba McEntire sang The Lord’s Prayer at the service. On Instagram last week, she posted several photos as a tribute to the 41st president, saying he was a ‘great friend’ and that he ‘had a great life’
After Reba’s performance, the gospel quartet The Oak Ridge Boys performed Amazing Grace
Former U.S. President George W. Bush stands next to the casket of his father, former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, during his funeral service at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas, U.S.
And while Wednesday’s musical centerpiece was famed tenor Ronan Tynan singing a showstopper based on Abraham Lincoln speeches, the Texas service featured the Oak Ridge Boys singing ‘Amazing Grace’ and Albert Hay Malotte’s ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ performed by country star Reba McIntyre.
Oak Ridge Boys tenor Joe Bonsall recalled how the group had performed for President Bush since 1983, when he told them he was a fan.
‘What a lot of people may not know is he fancied himself to be a good bass singer,’ Bonsall said, as George W. Bush and Jeb Bush chuckled and shook their heads.
‘He was not,’ he added, cracking up the entire family.
Barbara Pierce Bush, one of former President George W. Bush’s twin daughters, read the 23rd Psalm along with two of the late elder George Bush’s other granddaughters, Elizabeth Dwen Andrews and Noelle Lucila Bush.
Noelle is the daughter of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, George W.’s brother. Marshall Lloyd Bush, the adopted daughter of their brother Marvin, read from the Old Testament.
Former Houston Rockets stars Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutumbo were among the mourners on Wednesday, their 7-foot heights elevated above the crowd.
Nolan Ryan and Craig Biggio, both Hall of Famers who played for the Houston Astros, remembered Bush as a sports fan who loved his Houston teams.
Movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger, a former California governor, sat near the front. His bromance with the elder George Bush was well-known during his presidency.
George W. Bush was the only former president in attendance on Thursday. Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama also came to the Washington, D.C. service. So did President Donald Trump, who remained at the White House on Thursday.
Former U.S. President George W. Bush shakes hands with mourners as the Bush family exit the funeral service
Former president George W. Bush and his wife Laura arrive to the church on Thursday morning. On Wednesday, George W. gave a moving and tearful eulogy for his father in Washington D.C.
Elizabeth Dwen Andrews and Noelle Pierce Bush, two of George H.W.’s granddaughters, read from the bible at his funeral
James Baker greets family members as he arrives at a funeral for former President George H.W. Bush
Movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger (fourth from right), a former California governor, sat near the front. His bromance with the elder George Bush was well-known during his presidency
Actor Chuck Norris arrives with other guests for the funeral of President George H.W. Bush
Country music star Reba McEntire arrived at George H.W. Bush’s funeral in Houston on Wednesday where she will perform ‘The Lord’s Prayer’
The Oak Ridge Boys are set to perform ‘Amazing Grace’. Members of the band were pictured entering St. Martin’s Episcopal Church ahead of Bush’s funeral
Former basketball star Yao Ming and Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (pictured) are among a handful of sports figures
Houston Texans’ J. J. Watt arrives at a funeral for former President George H.W. Bush
Former Houston Rockets stars Yao Ming (pictured) and Dikembe Mutumbo were among the mourners on Wednesday, their 7-foot heights elevated above the crowd
The choir listens during a funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
Family members are escorted as the funeral service for former US President George H.W. Bush concludes
After the funeral, Bush’s casket will travel by train from Houston to Texas A&M, passing through five small towns, marking his final journey to his resting place
After Thursday’s service a cadre of eight military pallbearers will return the late president’s casket to a hearse, which will drive to a train depot where the Union Pacific Railroad’s Presidential Train Car awaits.
Pulled by a specialized locomotive sporting the colors of Air Force One and the number 4141, the car will haul Bush’s remains 70 miles to Texas A&M University in the town of College Station.
Mourners will be able to see the flag-draped coffin through a Plexiglas panel as the train spends 2-1/2 hours on the rails.
Later in the afternoon Bush will be laid to rest on the grounds of his presidential library alongside Barbara, his wife of 73 years, and the 3-year-old daughter Robin they lost to leukemia 65 years ago.
St. Martin’s, founded in 1952, claims 9,000 members – making it the largest Episcopal church in North America.
More than 10,000 people streamed into the church between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning as Bush lie in repose there.
George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, his first lady, worshiped there for more than 50 years.
After the funeral at the church, his casket will be taken by train 70 miles from Houston to Texas A&M in a clear-sided baggage car that hails from the golden era of railroads.
The locomotive carrying his body was painted to resemble Air Force One, and Bush joked that if it had been around during his presidency, he may have preferred to ride the rails rather than take to the skies.
Former President George H.W. Bush, left, joins then President-elect Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, former President Bill Clinton and former President Jimmy Carter in the Oval Office at the White House in 2009
A motorcade and police follow George H.W. Bush’s hearse as it travels from Houston to Spring, Texas. Bush’s casket will be taken by train to College Station so he can be buried
Police on horseback salute as the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush
People line the road as the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush heads to the Union Pacific train facility
George H.W. Bush has begun his final journey today, as his casket will be taken by train 70 miles from Houston to Texas A&M in a clear-sided baggage car that hails from the golden era of railroads. The locomotive of the train was named 4141 and painted to resemble Air Force One
The 4,300-horsepower locomotive will carry Bush’s casket, along with relatives and close friends, for around 70 miles. The journey through five small Texas towns should take about two and a half hours. It will deliver the casket from suburban Houston to College Station. Pictured: Bush in 2005 at the unveiling of the locomotive
‘I might have left Air Force One behind,’ Bush quipped during the 2005 unveiling of 4141, a blue and gray locomotive commissioned in honor of the 41st president and unveiled at Texas A&M University.
Today, that same 4,300-horsepower machine will carry Bush’s casket, along with relatives and close friends, for around 70 miles. The journey through five small Texas towns is expected to take about two and a half hours. It will deliver the casket from suburban Houston to College Station.
The train’s sixth car, a converted baggage hauler called ‘Council Bluffs,’ has been fitted with transparent sides to allow mourners lining the tracks views of Bush’s flag draped coffin.
After arriving in College Station, a motorcade will take Bush to his presidential library at the university, where he will be laid to rest at a private ceremony next to his wife, Barbara, who died in April, and his daughter Robin, who died at age 3 in 1953.
Bush, who narrowly escaped death as a naval aviator who was shot down by Japanese forces over the Pacific Ocean in World War Two, will be buried with military honors, including a flyover by 21 aircraft from the U.S. Navy.
Bush’s funeral train will be the eighth in U.S. history and the first since Dwight D. Eisenhower’s body traveled from the National Cathedral in Washington through seven states to his Kansas hometown of Abilene 49 years ago. Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train was the first, in 1865.