Saying goodbye

INDIANAPOLIS -- With the flags over the Statehouse flying at half-staff Thursday, hundreds of mourners filed into the building to pay their last respects to Gov. Frank O'Bannon.\nThey entered the building under the watchful eyes of various members of the Indiana National Guard, Indiana State Police and Indiana fire departments who rigidly stood at attention. The police and firefighters wore black bands over their badges to honor their fallen chief.\nO'Bannon, 73, died Saturday due to complications from a stroke he suffered five days earlier while attending a conference in Chicago.\nAfter walking in, visitors were greeted by photographs that chronicled O'Bannon's life, from black and white photos of his youth to color shots of his two terms as Indiana governor.\nSitting under a giant American flag in the rotunda was an oil painting of O'Bannon, which mourners paused in front of as violinists played a somber tune a few yards away.\n"It's a historic event," said Bruce Thomson of Indianapolis, an employee with the state Department of Natural Resources. "Great leaders of our country don't often die in office."\nLike so many Indiana residents, Thomson didn't know the governor personally, but still had warm memories of the man. Thomson's memories included watching the governor eat lunch on occasion in the state employee's cafeteria.\nOthers who shared memories of the governor did so by leaving a message in one of 40 hard-bound books that were laid out on tables across from the governor's office. The books will be given to the O'Bannon family.\nThose who left their memories and condolences in the books ranged from friends and colleagues to total strangers. Many seemed to take his loss like that of a friend, even if their relationship went no further than shaking the governor's hand or getting a picture taken with him. Children wrote to say how sorry they were for O'Bannon's wife, Judy. \nFor Jeff Coyne, it is easy to see why so many people could identify with their governor.\n"He wasn't pretentious, he never put on airs," Coyne said. "He was just a guy from Corydon, Indiana who lived as a humble Hoosier."\nCoyne would know -- he worked on both of O'Bannon's campaigns for governor, and served as his driver in 1996 when O'Bannon was Lt. Governor.\n"If you spend a year in a car, you get to know someone very well," Coyne said. "I've been honored and blessed to spend time with him one-on-one. Those are memories I'll always cherish."\nFrom her vantage point at a desk in the lobby, Statehouse tour guide Janifer Ruhl of Carmel saw and spoke with many of those who came to celebrate O'Bannon's life.\n"It's been busy all day," Ruhl said. "Everyone has real warm memories."\nThose who still want to honor the governor will have the opportunity to do so today, as there will be a public memorial service on the west steps of the Statehouse at noon.\n-- Contact staff reporter Alex Hickey at ahickey@indiana.edu.