SD Bids Farewell To Former Sen. McGovern
by Associated Press
October 26, 2012 1:56 PM
Services to honor former U.S. Sen. George McGovern have started at an arts center in South Dakota.
Hundreds of family, friends and fans have turned out to show their respect. The former three-time presidential candidate died Sunday at age 90 in Sioux Falls.
Among the people in attendance at the service in Sioux Falls are former Vice President Walter Mondale, U.S. Sens. John Thune and John Kerry.
Former U.S. Sens. Gary Hart and Tom Daschle are among the scheduled speakers for the service.
McGovern will be buried in a private ceremony in Washington at a later date.
A Massachusetts congressman who shares George McGovern's last name recalled the former senator as someone who loved his country so much that he still believed strongly in democracy even after losing the presidential race in a historic landslide.
Rep. Jim McGovern is no relation to the former three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota. But the Massachusetts congressman worked as an aide in George McGovern's Senate office and also worked in McGovern's unsuccessful presidential bid in 1984.
Says Jim McGovern, "He had enormous courage. He loved his faith and American history. He loved his great state of south Dakota, and my god, did he love his country."
