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Thurs: "Mighty Sad"
posted at 2009-04-23 23:21 | Last modified 2009-04-23 23:24
State Senator Vernon Malone (D-Wake) was laid to rest today with all the pomp and circumstance befitting a man who gave some 35 years of his life to public service. The pews and aisles were jammed with leaders and politicos who’d known Malone for decades, joining the Martin St. Baptist Church choir in the final chorus of “I’ll Fly Away.”
We all say a lot of kind things about people after they die. Every now and then, though not often, someone earns every kind thing that’s said at his or her funeral. By all accounts, Vernon Malone is one of those few. At 77, he still served in the Senate, was active in his church, and found the energy to volunteer to help those in his community who shared neither his health nor his fortunes.
Governor Bev Perdue’s voice was close to breaking as she said goodbye to her friend.
Perdue said Malone would have laughed at the fact he died after mowing and trimming his lawn, a task she says he hated to do. But the biggest irony, she says, is that he died while reading the newspaper – the “News and Disturber,” as she quoted him. You can hear her speech in its entirety here (8:06).
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Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker also spoke at the service, praising Malone for his extraordinary courage and leadership in the quest to unite the city and county’s schools back in 1976. “Those were hard times," Meeker said. "He was the right man."
But the most affecting speech, I thought, came from Senate Pro Tem Marc Basnight. He and Malone both lost their wives to cancer at about the same time in the spring of 2007. You couldn’t listen to Basnight talk about that shared pain without feeling his sense of loss at Malone’s death. His remarks are here (5:42).
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There's no official word yet on who'll take Malone's seat. Dan Blue's been mentioned, along with Rosa Gill and Bernie Allen, Jr. Wake County Dems will recommend a candidate after hearing speeches from all the contenders May 2nd.
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