Funeral Held For Late Springfield Mayor
Updated 12/18/10 - 4:53 p.m. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) -- Springfield residents paid their last respects to their late mayor on Saturday, throwing flowers at Tim Davlin's hearse as it took his body past city hall, the Illinois State Capitol and the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
Hundreds of mourners packed Blessed Sacrament Church for funeral services as Davlin's daughter, Tara, gave an emotional eulogy, the State Journal-Register reported.
Tara Davlin read a thank-you note she'd written her father last October during a trip to Ireland. The note thanked him for walking her down the aisle at her wedding, holding her hand while she delivered her children and for her thick skin.
She said her father had asked her to read the note at his funeral.
"I had no idea it would be so soon," she said.
Friends at the service remembered Davlin for his infectious smile and deep love for his family, city and the Chicago Cubs.
The mayor died Tuesday morning from a close-range gunshot wound to the chest. His body was found by Springfield officers responding to a 911 call. An autopsy indicated the 53-year-old Democrat fired the fatal shot himself.
Residents stood along the street as Davlin's body was driven past the city's landmarks, led by city police and fire vehicles. At city hall, supporters tossed carnations onto the hearse in honor of Davlin's St. Patrick Day parade tradition of handing out the flowers.
The procession ended at Calvary Cemetery, where Davlin was to be buried.
Davlin was to have appeared in court Tuesday to address questions about his handling of the estate of a cousin who died in 2003.
He had been mayor of the city with 120,000 residents since April 2003. He told Springfield radio station WFMB last month that he would not seek a third four-year term next spring because he wanted to leave office before getting burned out. Davlin, who had four children and four grandchildren, insisted then that financial issues had nothing to do with that decision involving the nonpartisan post he called "grueling."
Staab Funeral Home, which handled arrangements, said contributions may be made to the Timothy J. Davlin Grandchildren Scholarship Fund in care of Heartland Credit Union or to Blessed Sacrament Church's building fund.
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