ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 10, 1996 TAG: 9604100069
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: LAURA MYERS ASSOCIATED PRESS
NO WORDS WERE SPOKEN, the eerie silence broken only by the rat-a-tat of raindrops on umbrellas.
Hundreds of mourners, sharing a rainbow of umbrellas and torrent of public sorrow, stood for hours in a cold, driving rain Tuesday to bid goodbye to Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.
``He always told me, `Keep hope alive,' but another bright light is out in the sky,'' said Roy Lewis, who worked with Brown in Democratic politics.
Brown was to lie in repose for 24 hours in the ornate lobby of the Commerce Department, his body in a mahogany coffin atop a black-velvet-draped catafalque built in 1865 to bear the body of President Lincoln. The funeral bier has been used for other American presidents, including John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson, and Supreme Court justices and military leaders.
A full-honors funeral is scheduled today for Brown at Arlington National Cemetery after President Clinton delivers a eulogy at the National Cathedral. Brown, 54, died with 32 other Americans and two other people in a plane crash in Croatia while on a trade mission to the former Yugoslavia.
The Commerce Department, where employees are being offered counseling, was to be closed nationwide today in a day of mourning.
In a brief late-morning ceremony Tuesday, Brown's body arrived at the Commerce Department as his family and Vice President Al Gore looked on, huddled in the driving rain, holding hands and holding back tears. Brown's widow, Alma, held tightly to her adult children, Michael and Tracey.
A Navy band played ``Nearer My God to Thee'' as eight honor guard pallbearers, their young, serious faces streaked wet, carried the flag-draped casket across a red carpet into the building.
No words were spoken before or after the military honors, the eerie silence broken only by the rat-a-tat of raindrops on umbrellas as mourners lined the closed streets.
Inside, the family grieved in private, forming a circle beside Brown's coffin, in silent prayer. Brown's staff was allowed in before the public.
A table nearby displayed photographs of 11 Commerce employees who died with Brown in the plane crash. Mourners signed books in front of the display. By the table, a large photo of Brown was surrounded by more photos of the lost workers.
Lewis, who had worked with Brown on Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign, was one of several hundred members of the public who waited in the rain in a line that stretched around the block.
``It's only now that people are realizing his importance to America and African Americans,'' he said.
Justin Fortune, 13, who traveled from Baltimore with his mother for the ceremony, said he hadn't heard of Brown until his mother talked about the Cabinet member after his death.
``I guess I came here to learn something about Ron Brown,'' he said. ``My mom says he was as important as Colin Powell. He was a great African American.''
Beulah Sample, visiting her son in Washington, delayed returning to her home state of Connecticut so she could honor Brown.
``I admired Ron brown because he was a unique man and an especially unique African American,'' said the retired 59-year-old school teacher. ``He stood for a lot of things that young black men could look up to - hard work, not letting barriers get in your way. He mattered to us all.''
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. The Rev. James Tate pauses Tuesday at the casket ofby CNBhis friend Ron Brown in the lobby of the Commerce Department.