Posted on 05/18/2007 6:42:50 AM PDT by xjcsa
Even in death, the Rev. Jerry Falwell on Thursday was clutching a Bible, which had been his centerpiece for most of his adult life.
And to the thousands who filed past his body in the grand lobby of Liberty University’s Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center, remembrances were deeply personal.
They remembered the man who loved to laugh, lived to minister, or simply scared the daylights out of you with his loud truck horn.
Beyond his résumé - which includes being the founding father of LU, Thomas Road Baptist Church and the Moral Majority - Falwell’s legacy is built on little kindnesses.
Dwayne Carson, a campus pastor and director of the school’s office of student leadership, said nearly 5,000 people had paid their respects by 2 p.m. Thursday.
By 9 p.m. when the viewing ended for the day, that number jumped to about 13,000.
“We’ve seen a lot of students because exams are nearly over,” Carson said. “We’ve seen a lot of parents because the students are checking out of school for the summer.”
The final half hour of Thursday’s viewing was an unsteady stream of people, some crying, others leaning on each other for support. Sometimes only a few people stood at his casket and sometimes the line stretched to the door.
At just a few minutes before 9 p.m., two children walked up to the casket alone. One knelt down to her little sister and whispered in her ear while the small child pointed up at Falwell’s body.
Once the doors closed and the tables brought in, the students and staff who helped direct the public to Falwell’s body paused to pay their own respects.
All were deeply touched by the 73-year-old Falwell, who died Tuesday after collapsing in his campus office.
“What stands out is that many of the people need to stand in there and cry,” Carson said. “Jerry Falwell was more than just somebody behind a pulpit. He listened to them. He talked to them. He knew them. They’d tell stories about what Jerry Falwell said to them. Then they cry because the pastor is no longer here. The man who made a difference in their life is gone.”
Many of the students remembered the man who ran at them with his truck or punched them on the arm, laughing the whole time.
“You can’t talk about Jerry Falwell without talking about his laughter,” Carson said. “While this is sad we’re still celebrating his life. We’ll be remembering the good times with Jerry Falwell.”
The well-wishers came from all walks of life to silently pass his flower-covered coffin. There were longtime associates, church members, students and friends who Falwell touched during his lifetime in the Lynchburg community.
Many LU students volunteered their time to help greet visitors as they came to say goodbye.
Jonathan Davis, a 22-year-old LU senior, was stationed at the lobby doors.
“He was a great man and a great visionary,” he said. “He was my idol basically. I hope to live up to his standards.”
For the past several days, Davis, like many LU students, has been stunned by news of Falwell’s death.
“It was like the untouchable was touched and gone,” he said. “He always had a smile on his face, but he always knew when to be serious. He was just a real nice guy. He cared more about people than anybody I have seen in my life.”
Davis, who will graduate next semester, said he’ll miss Falwell when graduation time rolls around.
“I’m kind of sad that he won’t be there when I walk across the stage,” he said. “I was looking forward to shaking his hand. It won’t be Liberty without him, but Jerry would want us to go on.”
Bryan Stafford, a 20-year-old junior, said he was honored to help out at the public viewing of Falwell’s body.
“We are being able to pay our respects to the founder of our school,” he said. “He was always there for us. He always gave us time to talk to him, whether it was at a basketball game or after convocation. He was more than happy to talk to the students.”
Stafford remembered talking to Falwell twice at Cracker Barrel, where Falwell had gone to eat with his wife of 49 years, Macel.
“He took time out of his meal to talk to me,” Stafford recalled. “He playfully punched me a couple of times. It was a nice little friendly hit in the arm.”
Betty Rucker, who has been a waitress in Lynchburg for over 37 years, had tears in her eyes as she recalled meeting Falwell in several restaurants.
“I was 14 years old when I started,” she said. “I waited on him for years. He was always kind. I knew him before he became a minister. He went on to put Lynchburg on the map. I just wanted to see him one last time.”
Carolyn Ford, 60, has been a member of Falwell’s Thomas Road Baptist Church for 45 years.
“It will never be the same without him,” she said. “He will be greatly missed. He was down to earth and a Lynchburg, Virginia, and Campbell County country boy.”
Ford said Falwell had a pastor’s heart.
“He loved people and helped people,” she said. “He’s been there for me as a pastor and friend.”
Boyd C. Rist, LU’s provost and vice president of academic affairs, has been at the school nearly 35 years.
“I have never known a more committed, caring and loving person than Dr. Falwell,” he said. “His life and legacy is enormous. We’ll miss him, we pray for his family and we’ll move forward with the work he’s so nobly begun. He was always looking forward. This is a school that will stand and grow and continue to prosper because of the foundation he laid.”
Another longtime Falwell associate is Duke Westover, an executive assistant to the chancellor and travel companion on many of Falwell’s out-of-town trips.
“I’ve been with him for 39 years,” Westover said. “Jerry is the only real visionary I have ever known. This is a day we knew was coming, but we never really expected it. I guess we should have expected it because I’ve heard Dr. Falwell say at least 100 times that God’s man is invincible until he completes the work that God wants him to do.”
Where is the slideshow?
Sadly
Prayers for his family and his followers.......
Thank you. I’ve sent the link to a few people already - he was a brave man, standing up for God’s Word in a world of moral relativism.
I never had the pleasure of meeting Rev. Falwell, but by all accounts, he was a very nice man who left a legacy to be proud of, he is with God now.
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