To enter the chapel, people passed dozens of wreaths and bouquets, enough to perfume the air. A ribbon attached to one read, "Buffalo Bills Alumni"; another said, "God Bless Luke's Dad." They also walked by a single black-and-white blowup shot of a smiling Russert.
Inside the chapel, the long line divided into two, each passing on opposite sides of the casket. One line was received by Russert's family, the other was not.
Back outside, Ellen Wagner and Lindsay Goldstein, friends who live in Washington, where anyone who follows politics knows Russert's name, said they considered the newsman family. They were among the first in line, meaning they waited in the morning sun for about four hours to pay their respects.
"He came into our homes every week for so long," Wagner said. "I just wanted to say a prayer for him and hope he's at peace."
Jim Garry, a Florida retiree, came to the wake because, like Russert, he grew up in Buffalo, N.Y. He and Russert's father are members of the same American Legion post. "He just seemed like a friend to me," Garry said. "A real, real gentleman."
David and Mary Jo Quinn, who are also from Buffalo, extended their D.C. vacation a day to attend the wake. They admired Russert's working-man roots, his lack of pretension and how, as Mary Jo Quinn says, he was "a Catholic with a capital 'C.' "
The couple would often plan their Sunday Mass so they could be at home when Russert's show came on at 9 a.m.
"He hit the questions you wanted to hear, the questions you were thinking of yourself," David Quinn said. "He made politics very interesting."
Julia Rose brought her guitar from Baltimore to play a song she wrote for Russert, "For Mr. Tim," as she put it. She says watching Russert brought her and her father closer together and drew her into the political process.
"Selfishly, we wish you would linger here longer/Mr. Russert, where you go, our hearts go, too/We will always be inspired by you," Rose sang for mourners waiting in line.
Rose has played the song the past two days at the makeshift memorial for Russert outside WRC-TV in Washington.
"I have to get it out somehow," she says. "It's just a lot of emotion, raw emotion, a lot of love and respect for someone who commanded love and respect."
jill.rosen@baltsun.com
matthew.brown@baltsun.com
Online
Buffalo, N.Y., native and Sun editor Norm Gomlak remembers Tim Russert at baltimoresun.com/timrussert
