Posted on 07/20/2005 6:14:14 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Mourners bid farewell to McKeithen
By MARSHA SHULER mshuler@theadvocate.com Capitol news bureau
COLUMBIA -- Mourners flocked to this village Tuesday to celebrate Walter Fox McKeithen as a slice of Louisiana history and a mix of forgivable vices and bedrock virtues. The longtime secretary of state died Saturday, five months after he was paralyzed by a fall and two decades after following his late father, Gov. John McKeithen, into a colorful political career.
In control to the end, McKeithen ordered a breathing aid turned off after saying goodbyes and ensuring his family was secure, daughter Marjorie McKeithen Schlesinger told an overflow crowd at the funeral in a small Methodist church.
"He asked to be taken off the ventilator and let nature take its course," she said.
"He died bravely, peacefully, with dignity and with his family at his side holding hands," Schlesinger said in an otherwise irreverent eulogy that broke up the audience.
McKeithen, 58, was once "a prolific litterer" who drove over his opponents' campaign yard signs and "never let the truth get in the way of a good story," Schlesinger said.
He also battled alcoholism for years and once escaped from a rehabilitation center in Texas, then had to be fooled into another rehab center in Baton Rouge.
But McKeithen also kept his sense of humor, even in his final days, "treated everybody the same, no matter what," and early in life saw no sense to racial or gender prejudice, Schlesinger said.
The former high school civics teacher also ran a modern, efficient secretary of state's office that reduced bureaucracy for businesses and left a world-class state archives, she said.
But Louisiana's only Republican statewide elected official was most proud of keeping close friends in the Democratic Party, including several who carried his casket Tuesday, Schlesinger said.
The funeral crowd of current and former governors, current and former legislators and other dignitaries, as well as McKeithen's employees, was overwhelmingly Democratic. U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., flew in from Washington, D.C., for the funeral.
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