Home Again: Former President George H.W. Bush's Body Returns to Texas
George H.W. Bush‘s body is home again after an emotional state funeral in Washington, D.C.
The former president’s casket arrived in Houston, Texas, and will be taken to St. Martin’s Episcopal Church where he will lie in repose, starting Wednesday evening.
Accompanying 41’s casket on Air Force One— dubbed Special Mission 41 — were many of the Bush family, including George W. and Laura Bush.
“We’re going to miss you,” said the 43rd president, one of the elder Bush’s five surviving children who were in attendance, during a moving eulogy he gave at the state service. “So through our tears, let us know the blessings of knowing and loving you, a great and noble man. … The best man a son or daughter could have.”
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Survived by a large family, George H.W. Bush’s granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager gave a reading from Revelation 21:1-4, 23-25.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new Earth, for the first heaven and the first Earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared, as a bride adorned for her husband,” began Jenna.
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See? The home of God is among mortals,’ ” she continued. “He will dwell with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. Mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”
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The 41st commander-in-chief, who died last Friday at the age of 94, has been honored with services and ceremonies. On Monday, his remains arrived on the east coast for the final time on Air Force One and were transported to the Capitol Rotunda where he was laid in state until Wednesday morning. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attended to pay their respects in person.
Now that the elder Bush’s remains are in Houston, there will be a guard of honor in attendance while he lies in repose.
The second funeral service is scheduled for Thursday at 10 a.m. CST, and then George H. W.’s body will be laid to rest in the George Bush Presidential Library & Museum, according to the official schedule. He will be beside his late wife, Barbara Bush, and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia in 1953 when she was only three.
While the nation and his family mourn, the war hero’s legacy of kindness and service remains steadfast. “Any definition of a successful life must include service to others,” Bush once said.
