Former U.S. Speaker Jim Wright Laid To Rest
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FORT WORTH(CBSDFW.COM) - Notable leaders and everyday admirers gathered in Fort Worth Monday afternoon to say goodbye to a Texas legend.
Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Jim Wright was remembered as a leader who never forgot his roots.
"There never will be anyone else like Jim Wright for Fort Worth," said former Congressman Martin Frost. "Everything people in Fort Worth cared about, he was involved in."
Frost worked alongside Jim Wright in Washington for more than a decade.
In his eulogy, Frost ticked off Wright's string of local accomplishments, including helping to create DFW Airport, then later protecting it in its infancy it with the Wright Amendment that limited flights out of Love field for decades. He said Wright was a great congressman.
"He should be remembered by people as someone who never forgot where he was from, always took care of the people of Fort Worth, that was his number-one priority, even when he became a national leader," said Frost.
Other speakers called Wright a servant, a peacemaker, the last of a generation of traditional southern Democrats who were strong enough to reach across the aisle to govern.
"In the image of Sam Houston and Sam Rayburn, Jim Wright was a giant," said former Arkansas Congressman Bill Alexander.
From Fort Worth the Speaker's coffin moved to Weatherford where he was buried alongside famous people from the region, like entertainer Mary Martin and former Governor Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham.
"Vaya con dios, friend of my life," said former aide Paul Driskell.
It comes full circle for Jim Wright. Born in Weatherford, long time legislator from Fort Worth, returning now to be laid to rest in the land of his birth.
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