CHARLESTON, S.C. | Former Vice President Joe Biden remembered his best friend in the U.S. Senate, the late Sen. Fritz Hollings, as a giant who evolved to “write the great story of our times” during a Tuesday funeral in Summerall Chapel at The Citadel.
“What a life; what a legacy,” Biden reflected to more than 1,000 people who attended the two-hour service.
- WATCH: You can watch a recording of the funeral here. (Image above by Louis Brems, The Citadel)
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster eulogized Hollings as “one of the greatest men South Carolina will ever produce. …The magnificent South Carolina lion roars no more.”
Clyburn, the highest-ranking African American member of the U.S. House, choked up some during his passionate remarks. He recalled how Hollings evolved as a leader through the years as America embraced civil rights.
“Fritz grew and I grew along with him,” Clyburn said during the service. He recalled getting a request from Hollings a few years back to sponsor legislation that would remove Hollings’ name from a federal courthouse in Charleston and to name it for J. Waties Waring, the federal civil rights judge whose dissent in a case was the foundation of the transformational Brown v. Board of Education school integration case.
“That’s unheard of,” Clyburn said of the request. In fact, no one had ever asked their name be replaced on a federal building Clyburn has said.
According to one news story, “That kind of selflessness, Clyburn said, marked Hollings’ ultimate transformation from desegregation opponent to champion of equality and understanding. … ‘I was moved to tears because I know South Carolina well, and I thought I knew Fritz Hollings well,’ Clyburn said, his voice cracking with emotion. ‘There was much more to him. … Thank God a man can grow. Fritz grew, and I grew along with him.'”
MORE COVERAGE
- Biden remembers Hollings as a giant, The New York Times.
- Hollings recalled as man who evolved, Associated Press