HOUSTON – Houston said farewell to the man once affectionately known as "Mayor Bob" at a funeral home on the city's southwest side Tuesday.
The memorial service for former Mayor Bob Lanier, who died over the weekend at the age of 89, began late this morning with a family, friends and a packed chapel full of guests.
"Big man in every way," former Houston Mayor Bill White said. "A mentor to me and a lot of other people, who loved Houston."
Some say he was the best that they had ever known.
"I truly believe he's the greatest mayor I personally know of. What he did with this city during those six years was phenomenal," attorney Rusty Hardin said.
When Lanier was elected mayor, Houstonians were frightened and discouraged, thought crime was out of control.
Lanier diverted money from Metro and spent it on cops and rebuilding the infrastructure of the inner city. And Houstonians generally loved him for it.
"To most Houstonians he was known as simply Mayor Bob. And he left an incredible mark on our city," Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church, said.
He was remembered by a standing room only crowd packed into a modest chapel. Friends and family over and over again remembered him as the smartest man they ever met.
"When I first met him, I said, you know, this guy is so smart, if I can just get a little bit of that to spill off on me, I'm going to be OK," developer Vince Kickerillo said.
An honor guard of Houston police officers presented a flag to his wife, the former first lady Elyse Lanier. Appropriate, since Lanier was credited with vastly expanding police presence on the streets of Houston.
"He was like the owner of a professional football team tells the coach. 'I want you to win the games, but I won't tell you what to do.' I couldn't have, God blessed me to work for that man," Sam Nuchia, Lanier's police chief, said.
And so the honor guard bore his casket toward his final resting place as a great city bade farewell to one of its most powerful political leaders.
