Tony Snow remembered
news.yahoo.com
Mike Allen 57 minutes ago
Former White House press secretary Tony Snow was remembered Thursday for "love given and love received," at what amounted to a state funeral, complete with remarks from President Bush.
Snow was a Fox radio and television celebrity — one of America's most popular conservatives — before serving as President Bush's spokesman as he publicly and cheerfully battled the stubborn, cruel colon cancer that took his life Saturday at age 53.
The Very Rev. David M. O'Connell, president of the Catholic University of America, said in the funeral homily that Snow "did not need a long life for us to measure."
O'Connnell quoted from a piece Snow wrote last year in Christianity Today magazine: "I don't know why I have cancer, and I don't much care. We don't know how the narrative of our lives will end, but we get to choose how to use the interval between now and the moment we meet our Creator face-to-face."
The service was held next to Catholic University, in the spectacular Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Known as "America's Catholic Church," it's the largest Roman Catholic Church in North America, and one of the 10 largest churches in the world.
"His every day was lived to the full," O'Connell said in his prepared text. "It was only last year, on the steps of this Basilica, that Tony — sharing his own experience — advised the graduating class of the Catholic University of America: 'Live boldly. Live a whole life.'"
Snow brought distinctly partisan but joyfully effervescent style to the podium, treating reporters as if they were guests on his popular radio show.
The line of blacked-out vehicles in front was a reminder of how much of official Washington was present, and the pews were filled with leading figures from the worlds of government, politics and journalism.
Usually such gatherings are gregarious. But this was a tearful, somber, sobering day.
Candlelight sparkled in the stained glass throughout the service, billed as a Mass of Christian Burial for Robert Anthony Snow.
The archbishop of Washington, the Most Reverend Donald W. Wuerl, was the presider.
The service included remarks by his son Robbie Snow, who spoke for his mother, Jill, and his sisters, Kendall and Kristi.
Snow's brother, Steven, also spoke.
At the family's request, cameras were barred from the church.
Catholics in attendance took Communion.
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And from AP:
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Bush hails Snow's 'record of accomplishment' By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer
6 minutes ago
President Bush fondly remembered Tony Snow Thursday, telling mourners at Snow's funeral that the conservative commentator-turned-White House press secretary "amassed a rare record of accomplishment."
He knew the job of a reporter was vigorous. He understood the profession and always treated it with respect," said Bush, who traveled to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to pay respects to his former lead spokesman, who died of colon cancer last Saturday.
His was a life that was "far too brief," the president said of Snow.
Bush was accompanied to the funeral on the campus of Catholic University by some familiar faces from earlier in his presidency, including former top adviser Karl Rove and one-time chief of staff Andrew Card. Row after row at the shrine was packed with family members and friends and associates, including White House correspondents.
An enlarged photo of Snow was displayed, showing him smiling at the press secretary's podium in the White House press room.
"We will always remember his wry sense of humor and abundant goodness. We will also remember he was lots of fun," Bush said.
A somber Bush had a special message for Snow's three children — Kendall, Robbie and Kristi. In a particularly poignant moment, he talked directly to them, noting he'd often called their father on the weekend seeking his advice, and just as often would find that he was helping his kids with homework or cheering them on the soccer field.
"He loved you a lot," Bush told the three children. "I hope you know we loved him a lot, too."
Snow was White House press secretary from May 2006 until last September. He was long a member of Washington's power circles, and a familiar face across the country, as a conservative commentator and an interviewer on TV and radio for Fox News.
In a homily, the Very Rev. David M. O'Connell, president of Catholic University, told the mourners: "The measure of this man's life can be found in his character, in his optimism, in his joy and humor, in his courage, in his passion for what was good and right, and in his love for God and family and neighbor and country. Tony snow did not need a long life for us to measure. It was, rather, we who needed his life to be longer."
The sounds of "Amazing Grace" permeated the cavernous sanctuary during Communion.
Snow also is survived his wife, Jill Ellen Walker, and his father, Jim Snow, and stepmother, Dottie Snow.
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