COLUMBIA, S.C. — The late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham returned to his home state Wednesday morning, following the first of two funeral services.
Tuesday’s services included dignitaries from around the world, and now, the people that he served for more than 30 years paid their respects at the South Carolina State House.
Unlike Tuesday’s service in Washington, D.C., the memorial on Wednesday was more like a homecoming for the man whose public service started in the Palmetto State.
Sen. Graham’s flag-draped casket, which was carried to the Capitol Rotunda in Washington D.C., arrived in Columbia Wednesday morning.
Hundreds remembered the senator who served four terms and was making a bid for his fifth when he died unexpectedly earlier this month at the age of 71.
The final procession happened in the morning from the heart of the state’s capital to funeral services at First Baptist Church.
Family, friends, colleagues, and South Carolinians paid their respects to one of the state’s most influential political figures.
The South Carolina State Guard escorted Graham’s remains to the historic church. There was also a military flyover to honor Sen. Graham’s service in the Air Force.
The funeral service got underway at noon at the church in Columbia. Thousands of people attended, from community members to state leaders.
First Baptist is one of Columbia’s oldest and most recognizable churches. Graham wasn’t a member but reportedly attended often when he was in town.
The service was close to the State House, where he worked with the governor and other state leaders to promote the state in the U.S. Senate.
“This undersized kid who was not born with a silver spoon but plastic fork in central South Carolina,” said former U.S. Congressman Harold Watson.
“Lindsey Graham would be last to think he’d graduated from law school, travel the world, earn respect and become a friend and golfing partner of the president, but he did it all,” said Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.
McMaster, Rep. James Clyburn, D-SC, Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, and other prominent political leaders said goodbye.
“I’m going to miss my friend Lindsey Graham,” Scott said.
There were hundreds of everyday people who said Graham made a difference in their lives.
Karen Hood said her husband was in the South Carolina Air National Guard with Graham.
She remembers him stepping in to help her husband after a flood washed away his passport.
Hood said: “So, Lindsey goes, ‘What can I do for you?’ And Vince goes, ‘I need my passport. It’s gone down the Gills Creek.’ And he said, ‘Call my office tomorrow. We’ll make sure you get a passport.’ And so, he was just a kind, lovely man.”
For people in Graham’s small hometown of Central, South Carolina, his sudden passing is something they’re still processing.
“Shock has been the primary thing,” resident Luke Moscato said. “He’s been a staple of the area. Everyone knows who he is, regardless of whether you agree with him politically or not.”
Darline Graham has her Senate campaign on hold amid the services for her brother.
She joins a crowded field of Republican hopefuls who want to run for Graham’s vacant seat.
The state GOP declared three others who filed as ineligible.
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