Murtha remembered at funeral as staunch advocate for veterans

February 17, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Rep. John Murtha was remembered at his funeral Tuesday as a patriot, a fighter for his constituents and for veterans, a consummate politician and a family man able to separate work from his personal life.

His daughter, Donna Murtha, addressing an audience of 400 including former President Bill Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and most of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation, said that although they knew him as a politician, she knew another side.

“I know him as Dad and my buddy and my pal,” she said, fighting back tears. They didn’t talk politics or economics; instead, he asked about the children she taught.

Her father was the powerful head of the House appropriations defense subcommittee who died Feb. 8 at age 77 after complications from gallbladder surgery. He also loved Sherlock Holmes and mysteries, loved to watch deer and goldfinches in his yard and tried to outwit the squirrels who eyed the bird feeders, she said.

“He lived by the motto ‘One man makes a difference.’ We love you, Dad,” said his daughter, who spoke on behalf of her mother, Joyce, and two brothers.

Pelosi; Gen. James Conway, the Marine Corps commandant; and the Rev. William George, president of Georgetown Preparatory School, all spoke of Murtha’s power.

Pelosi said Murtha had pride in the institution of Congress instilled in him by his mentor, the late House Speaker Tip O’Neill.

“To watch Jack Murtha legislate was to see a master at work,” she said. “But more indicative of his character was to watch him communicate with our men and women in uniform,” she said.