Former President George H.W. Bush's casket has arrived for burial on the grounds of his presidential library

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Former President George H.W. Bush's casket has arrived for burial on the grounds of his presidential library . </s> HOUSTON — A week of national mourning for "41" concludes Thursday with an invitation-only funeral at former President George H.W. Bush's beloved local church and a private burial service at his presidential library 100 miles northwest of here in College Station.

Eulogies at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church will be delivered by his son, former President George W. Bush, his best friend and former secretary of state, James Baker III, and his grandson and Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.

Then the casket will be loaded onto the Union Pacific Railroad's Presidential Train Car, traveling through Texas cities such as Spring, Magnolia and Navasota to College Station and the campus of Texas A&M University. His final resting place will be on the grounds of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum alongside his wife and their daughter, Robin, who died from leukemia short of her 4th birthday.

More than 10,000 mourners paid their respects to Bush overnight after his body arrived at the church Wednesday from Washington. The service at Washington National Cathedral drew President Donald Trump and all the living former presidents – Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

Mourners at the Houston funeral ranged from luminary to ordinary. Fawaz “Fuzzy” Hajjar, said he has been serving pizza to the Bushes for 25 years at Fuzzy’s Pizza & Café in West Houston. Bush was a frequent diner at the cafe and often brought VIPs to the small, family-run establishment, from former presidential candidate Mitt Romney to the owners of the Houston Astros and Houston Texans pro sports teams.

Hajjar, in turn, named a pizza after him – the “President Bush Pizza” – that comes covered in pepperoni, Canadian bacon, green peppers, onions, black olives, Italian sausage and artichoke hearts.

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“He’s like for us my friend, my father, my brother. He’s everything for us,” said Hajjar, a native of Syria. “He’s just an amazing man.”

Bill White, the mayor of Houston from 2004 to 2010, called Bush a “proud Houstonian and civic leader.” Bush, who died Friday at age 94, was a fixture at civic and sporting events in his post-presidential years, White said.

But the memory that stands out came when the Democrat ran for mayor.

“He told me he was voting for me because I was good for the city,” said White, who worked for the Clinton campaign in 1992. “He didn’t hold grudges.”

John De La Garza Jr., who worked on Bush’s congressional staff in 1966 and 1967, wore a red tie decorated with military-style bombers and Mr. Rogers socks in honor of the former president. De la Garza his wife Dorothy said Bush and wife Barbara, who died in April, were like parents and served as a “model couple” to the then-newlyweds.

They comforted Dorothy after she had a stillbirth.

"They showed us how to live and how to die," she said.

Karen Liedtke, 70, and her sister Kristy Liedtke, 67, said their parents were good friends and business partners with the Bushes.

“All those years of friendship, you want to be able to say goodbye,” Karen Liedtke said. “He was the greatest of the greatest generation.”

More: Bush was the 'center of our family,' granddaughter Barbara Bush says

More: Bush and Trump: The contrast that went unspoken but was impossible to miss at the funeral

Bush's body entered St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to the sounds of the U.S. Air Force Band of the West. A parade of emergency vehicles with red and blue lights flashing led the body from Ellington Field to the sprawling red brick church.

St. Martin's, founded in 1952, is now the largest Episcopal church in North America with some 9,000 members. It was also the site of Barbara Bush's funeral in April.

The church towers overs Houston's upscale Tanglewood neighborhood west of downtown. A message on the website of the 66-year-old church reads: "President George H.W. Bush and the late Mrs. Barbara Pierce Bush worshiped at St. Martin’s for more than 50 years, and now it is our turn to show our respect and support as our congregation, as well as our nation, grieve this loss." </s> The military plane carrying former President George H.W. Bush's casket and members of his family landed in Texas just after 6 p.m. on Wednesday as the events commemorating his life and legacy continue.

Bush's remains will be transported to St. Martin's Episcopal Church for the next phase of the ceremony, which will include a second funeral service Thursday in the state where he launched his political career.

During that service, Bush's grandson, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, and former Secretary of State James Baker will eulogize the former president.

Following that ceremony, Bush's remains will be transported by funeral train to Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. The former president will then be laid to rest on the grounds of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, near his wife, Barbara, and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia in 1953 at age 3. </s> Want to watch Fox 4’s newscast? Click here.

HOUSTON — Former President George H.W. Bush will be honored at a second memorial service in Houston at the Bushes’ family church Thursday morning.

Bush’s grandson, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, and former Secretary of State James Baker, a man who has been by Bush’s side since the former president’s failed 1970 Senate campaign in Texas, will both deliver eulogies at the funeral.

Before the service, Bush lay in repose at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church from Wednesday night until Thursday morning.

Houston has been the Bushes home for years since he left the presidency, and they have worshipped at the church for decades. The church was also the funeral site for his wife, former first lady Barbara Bush, earlier this year.

Thursday’s funeral service in Houston follows the memorial service Wednesday in Washington, DC, attended by the former presidents and first ladies, family, friends and other dignitaries.

The 41st President was honored at the Washington National Cathedral and eulogized by his son, former President George W. Bush, who remembered him as the “best father a son or daughter could have.”

Thousands paid their respects to Bush as he laid in state in the US Capitol Rotunda on Monday and Tuesday.

Following the Houston funeral service, Bush will be taken by motorcade procession to the Union Pacific Railroad Westfield Auto Facility.

There will be a departure ceremony before Bush takes his last trip by train to his final resting place. The funeral train will depart on a 70-mile route, taking Bush from Spring, Texas, to Texas A & M University in College Station, Texas, the site of the Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

He will be laid to rest on the museum’s grounds, alongside his wife Barbara and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia as a child. </s> HOUSTON: Former US President George HW Bush will be mourned on Thursday (Dec 7) at the Houston church where he worshipped for many years, a final public farewell before his remains are taken by train to their resting place at his Texas presidential library.

The remains of Bush, who died last week in Texas at the age of 94, were flown to Texas on Wednesday evening following a formal state funeral where the World War Two veteran-turned-politician was hailed as a warrior-statesman of uncommon personal kindness.

Amid an unusual bipartisan spirit at the service at Washington's National Cathedral, both Republican and Democratic politicians honoured a president who called for a "kinder, gentler" nation.

"George HW Bush was America's last great soldier-statesman," presidential biographer Jon Meacham said in a eulogy. "He stood in the breach in the Cold War against totalitarianism. He stood in the breach in Washington against unthinking partisanship."

Bush's remains were accompanied by members of his family, and were taken by motorcade to St Martin's Episcopal Church.

The Houston church remained open through the night for mourners, who began lining up on Wednesday morning, to pay their final respects.

Following the funeral at St Martin's, where Bush and his late wife, Barbara Bush, were long-time worshippers, a train will carry his remains about 100 miles (160 km) northwest to College Station, Texas, where he will be laid to rest at his presidential library.

Bush, the 41st US president, occupied the White House from 1989 to 1993, navigating the collapse of the Soviet Union and expelling former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces from oil-rich Kuwait.

A patrician figure, Bush was voted out of office in part for failing to connect with ordinary Americans during an economic recession.

However, he has been remembered as representing an earlier era of civility in American politics, an image burnished in recent years by the divisiveness and anger in the United States that accompanied the rise of President Donald Trump.

Bush, who also served as vice president to Ronald Reagan, did not endorse Trump in the 2016 presidential election. He sent him a letter in January 2017 saying he would not be able to attend his inauguration because of health concerns but wished Trump the best. </s> George H.W. Bush, president and servant-statesman, is laid to rest

UNITED STATES: Former US president George H.W. Bush, remembered as much for his legacy of service as his impact on history, was buried Thursday, capping days of tribute from a nation that briefly set aside political divisions to honor him.

After a state funeral Wednesday in Washington that was attended by the country´s five living presidents and foreign dignitaries, Bush´s flag-draped casket was flown to Texas for a final farewell.

A compassionate national spotlight had shone on Bush´s passing and the memorial proceedings throughout this week.

But his burial at Bush´s presidential library center in College Station, Texas -- alongside Barbara, his wife of 73 years, and their daughter Robin who died of leukemia at age 3 -- was a private family service.

"The 41st President of the United States of America, George Herbert Walker Bush, has reached his final resting place," family spokesman Jim McGrath posted on Twitter.

Bush, who died Friday at age 94, lay in repose at St Martin´s Episcopal Church in Houston, where he was eulogized at a final memorial service by close friend James Baker, who served as his secretary of state.

"His incredible service to our nation and the world are already etched in the marble of time," Baker said, highlighting the sense of duty, service, and personal grace that drove Bush.

Fighting through tears, the 88-year-old Baker recalled how Bush´s deeds "expressed his moral character, and they reflected his decency, his boundless kindness and consideration of others, his determination always to do the right thing."

Son George W. Bush, the nation´s 43rd president, appeared somber at his wife Laura´s side, and stood ramrod straight as military pallbearers carried the casket from the Houston church to a waiting hearse.

It was then placed on a train -- with a locomotive painted in the colors and pattern of Air Force One, the presidential jet -- for the final journey to the presidential library, part of a precise series of ritualized events.

There were emotional displays along the route in towns like Spring, Magnolia, Navasota and College Station.

Crowds of people braved rainy weather to mass beside the tracks, where they held American flags, saluted, cheered and waved goodbye as the train rolled slowly past.

Bush was the 12th president to lie in state in the US Capitol rotunda.

Thousands paid respects there to a statesman who steered the nation through turbulent times including the end of the Cold War and the marshalling of an international coalition to oust invading Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

On Thursday, Baker pointed to Bush´s eagerness to forge compromise and peace rather than rattle sabers.

"He had the courage of a warrior," Baker said. "But when the time came for prudence, he always maintained the greater courage of a peacemaker."

Bush was a decorated World War II aviator who nearly died when he was shot down on a bombing mission.

He served as a congressman, envoy to China and to the United Nations, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and vice president to Ronald Reagan before winning the White House.

At Wednesday´s service in Washington, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania shared a front row pew in the National Cathedral with past presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and their wives, to honor Bush.

Son George delivered an emotional eulogy in tribute to his father. The pair are only the second father-son presidential duo in American history, after John Adams and John Quincy Adams.

Since Bush´s death, Trump has traded his usual provocative posture for one of solemnity and respect for the Bushes, with whom he has often clashed since his meteoric rise in the world of politics.

As Trump toned down the rhetoric this week, Washington´s political heat was reduced from a normal boil to a simmer.

But at Wednesday´s service, tensions were obvious.

Trump arrived and shook hands with the Obamas, but his body language turned cold as he failed to acknowledge Hillary Clinton, his defeated Democratic rival in 2016, or her president husband Bill. </s> George H.W. Bush came back to Washington for a final time Monday, heading for the Capitol to lie in state as the nation paid tribute to the 41st president for a lifetime of service that began in the Navy during World War II, ended with four years as president and was characterized throughout by what admirers say was decency, generosity and kindness.Sent off from his beloved Texas with a 21-gun salute, Bush's casket was carried to Andrews Air Force Base outside the capital city aboard an aircraft that often serves as Air Force One.Former President George W. Bush, the eldest of the four Bush sons, and his wife, Laura, along with brother Neil Bush and his family, boarded the plane for the cross-country trip to Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.On Sunday, students, staff and visitors had flocked to Bush's presidential library on the campus of Texas A&M University, with thousands of mourners paying their respects at a weekend candlelight vigil at a nearby pond and others contributing to growing flower memorials at Bush statues at both the library and a park in downtown Houston."I think he was one of the kindest, most generous men," said Marge Frazier, who visited the downtown statue on Sunday while showing friends from California around.A similar outpouring is anticipated in Washington this week during the state funeral for Bush, who died late Friday at his home in Houston. He was 94.Bush, who was president from 1989 to 1993, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda for a ceremony and public visitation from Monday through Wednesday. An invitation-only funeral service is set for Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are to attend. Bush's family has not said who will speak at the service. Former President Jimmy Carter also will be there.Afterward, Bush will be returned to Houston to lie in repose at St. Martin's Episcopal Church before burial Thursday at his family plot on the library grounds. His final resting place will be alongside Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years who died in April, and Robin Bush, the daughter they lost to leukemia in 1953 at age 3.Bush's casket was to arrive in Washington on Monday afternoon aboard the U.S. military airplane. The crew was tasked by Trump with carrying out "Special Air Mission 41," a reference to Bush's place in the roster of America's presidents.media ID="4816003" </s> A funeral service has begun for President George H.W. Bush in his home state of Texas

HOUSTON (AP) — A funeral service has begun for President George H.W. Bush in his home state of Texas . </s> President George H.W. Bush was buried on Thursday next to his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas. The elder President Bush died on Friday night at the age of 94 due to Parkinson's disease.

He occupied the White House from 1989-1993, only to have his son George W. Bush move in a few years later in 2001 as the 43rd president.

Bush's body arrived back in Texas Wednesday night after landing in Washington, D.C. on Monday. His casket lain in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda starting on Tuesday where many people paid their respects to the 41st president, including his former service dog, Sully. The golden Labrador pulled at the nation's heartstrings when he was photographed in front of Bush's casket in Texas and at the Rotunda.

On Wednesday, five U.S. Presidents and a number of vice presidents attended the funeral service at the National Cathedral in D.C., including President Donald Trump. George W. Bush, Bush's oldest son, gave a moving eulogy that brought him to tears at the end. </s> George H.W. Bush, who shaped history as America's 41st president and patriarch of a family that occupied the White House for a dozen years, is going to his final rest Thursday in Texas.

More than 11,000 people paid their respects to Bush as his casket lay in repose all night at a Houston church where his family worshipped. Some visitors waited for hours to pay tribute to Bush, who will be buried following a funeral at St. Martin's Episcopal Church.

Thursday's service began with "America the Beautiful" and a robust rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

It attracted local sports stars including Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt and was featuring eulogies from Bush's grandson, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, the only member of the famous family still holding elected office, and James Baker, his former secretary of state and a close friend for decades. Hymns being sung were chosen and loved by the former president, said the church's pastor, Rev. Russell J. Levenson Jr.

Performing were some of Bush's favorite country music stars including the Oak Ridge Boys doing "Amazing Grace" and Reba McEntire offering "The Lord's Prayer" as three days of official ceremonies in Washington gave way to more personal touches for the former president in Texas.

The nation's capital bid him goodbye Wednesday in a Washington funeral service that offered high praise for the last of the presidents to have fought in World War II — and a hefty dose of humor about a man whose speaking delivery was once described as a cross between Mister Rogers and John Wayne.

Bush's casket returned for the services in Houston, a ride on a special funeral train and eventual burial at his family plot on the presidential library grounds at Texas A&M University in College Station. His final resting place is alongside Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years, and Robin Bush, the daughter they lost to leukemia at age 3.

In the service at Washington National Cathedral, three former presidents and President Donald Trump looked on as George W. Bush eulogized his father as "the brightest of a thousand points of light."

The cathedral service was a tribute to a president, a patriarch and a faded political era that prized military service and public responsibility. It was laced with indirect comparisons to Trump but was not consumed by them, as speakers focused on Bush's public life and character — with plenty of cracks about his goofy side, too.

"He was a man of such great humility," said Alan Simpson, former Republican senator from Wyoming. Those who travel "the high road of humility in Washington, D.C.," he added pointedly, "are not bothered by heavy traffic."

Trump sat with his wife, a trio of ex-presidents and their wives, several of them sharp critics of his presidency and one of them, Hillary Clinton, his 2016 Democratic foe. Apart from courteous nods and some handshakes, there was little interaction between Trump and the others.

George W. Bush broke down briefly at the end of his eulogy while invoking the daughter his parents lost in 1953 and his mother, who died in April. He took comfort in knowing "Dad is hugging Robin and holding Mom's hand again."

It was a family that occupied the White House for a dozen years — the 41st president defeated after one term, the 43rd serving two. Jeb Bush stepped up to try to extend that run but fell short when Trump won the 2016 Republican primaries.

The elder Bush was "the last great-soldier statesman," historian Jon Meacham said in his eulogy, "our shield" in dangerous times.

But he also said that Bush, campaigning in a crowd in a department store, once shook hands with a mannequin. Rather than flushing in embarrassment, he simply cracked, "Never know. Gotta ask."

Meacham recounted how comedian Dana Carvey once said the key to doing an impersonation of Bush was "Mister Rogers trying to be John Wayne."

None of those words would be a surprise to Bush. Meacham read his eulogy to him, said Bush spokesman Jim McGrath, and Bush responded to it with the crack: "That's a lot about me, Jon."

The congregation at the cathedral, filled with foreign leaders and diplomats, Americans of high office and others touched by Bush's life, rose for the arrival of the casket, accompanied by clergy of faiths from around the world. In their row together, Trump and former Presidents Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton stood with their spouses and all placed their hands over their hearts.

Simpson regaled the congregation with stories from his years as Bush's friend in Washington. More seriously, he recalled that when he went through a rough patch in the political game, Bush conspicuously stood by him against the advice of aides. "You would have wanted him on your side," he said.

Simpson said Bush "loved a good joke — the richer the better. And he threw his head back and gave that great laugh, but he never, ever could remember a punchline. And I mean never."

George W. Bush turned the humor back on the acerbic ex-senator, saying of the late president: "He placed great value on a good joke, so he chose Simpson to speak."

Meacham praised Bush's call to volunteerism — his "1,000 points of light" — placing it alongside Abraham Lincoln's call to honor "the better angels of our nature" in the American rhetorical canon. Meacham called those lines "companion verses in America's national hymn."

Trump had mocked "1,000 points of light" last summer at a rally, saying "What the hell is that? Has anyone ever figured that one out? And it was put out by a Republican, wasn't it?"

Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney praised Bush as a strong world leader who helped oversee the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union and helped bring about the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, signed into law by his successor, Clinton.

With Trump, a bitter NAFTA critic, seated in the front row, Mulroney hailed the "largest and richest free trade area in the history of the world." The three countries have agreed on a revised trade agreement pushed by Trump.

On Wednesday morning, a military band played "Hail to the Chief" as Bush's casket was carried down the steps of the U.S. Capitol, where he had lain in state. Family members looked on as servicemen fired off a cannon salute.

His hearse was then driven in a motorcade to the cathedral ceremony, slowing in front of the White House. Bush's route was lined with people much of the way, bundled in winter hats and taking photos.
Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush is laid to rest at his Presidential Library in College Station, Texas.