The body of President George Herbert Walker Bush, who passed away Friday night at the age of 94, will make its way from Ellington Field aboard Air Force One to Washington later this morning.
The body will be accompanied by his longtime friend and former U.S, Ambassador Chase Untermeyer, who told KTRH that if you were a friend of the President’s, you had a friend you could count on.
“When politicians talk about their friends they are talking about their supporters, but when George and Barbara Bush, friends really meant something,” Untermeyer said.
Untermeyer’s wife Diana will be on that flight to Washington, too.
“It’s a huge honor. This may be the greatest man of our time and somebody our family loves very, very deeply,” she told KTRH.
The city of Houston will pay tribute to Mr. Bush tonight with a special public memorial at City Hall. The mayor's office issued the official announcement early Saturday morning:
"Mayor Sylvester Turner will host a public memorial tribute to President George H.W. Bush at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3.The gathering in remembrance of the 41st president of the United States will take place on Hermann Square in front of City Hall, 901 Bagby St.Well-known musical performers, including the Houston Symphony, will be part of the program. "I invite all Houstonians to join us as we pay tribute to the memory of a great fellow cityresident," Mayor Turner said. "May we never forget his service to our country, his call for us to be a light to the world, and his loving spirit."Bush died at his Houston home Friday.Further details about the service will be announced as they become available."
“We’re looking forward to a wonderful tribute for a remarkable American icon,” said Susan Christian, the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Special events.
The public is invited to attend, and among the musicians honoring him will be Clay Walker and Larry Gatlin. KTRH’s own Shara Fryer will be hosting the memorial.
President Bush’s body will lie in state until a funeral at the National Cathedral on Wednesday. After that service, the President comes home to Houston for a memorial Thursday morning at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church on Thursday morning. Following that service, a train will take Mr. Bush to College Station, where he will be laid to rest next to his wife Barbara, who passed away in April.