HOUSTON – Outside the gated neighborhood of the home where former President George H.W. Bush passed away Friday night, sits a memorial made by the community.
“There have been amazing outreach from friends and citizens from this community, city and around the world expressing condolences for the life of a great man,” said Neil Bush, the former president’s son. “My own personal view is that people shouldn’t mourn the life George H.W. Bush. We’re celebrating a life that is so well lived.”
Neil Bush and his wife, Maria, live right across the street from his parent’s home in the Tanglewood neighborhood. They, along with their son Pierce, were at the side of the 41st president when he took his final breaths.
“It was a beautiful moment to see him and he didn’t suffer," Neil Bush said. "He was in the loving embrace of family. It was a prayerful incredible time to be able to share at the end of this incredible life. Maria and I and Pierce were there. I think we feel extraordinarily blessed that we were able to witness this passage.”
He said his siblings, along with almost every grandchild and 17 grandkids, had a chance to express their love for Bush either in person or by phone. Jimmy and Susan Baker along with the former president’s pastor were also by his side.
"It was a very peaceful, gentle, lovely, if I can say, graceful passing from this life to the next,” said the Rev. Russell Levenson Jr. from St. Martin’s Episcopal Church. "We all knelt and we all prayed and we all gave thanks for his life here and life that has begun again."
George and Barbara Bush worshiped at St. Martin’s for more than half a century. The former first lady’s funeral service was held there in April and her husband’s service will also take place there later this week.
“Obviously we’ll always remember the incredible public contributions that he made, but to me, he was simply the world’s greatest grandfather,” said Pierce Bush.
“He was an amazing human being in everything he did with love," Neil Bush said.
"He cared deeply about his family, friends. He cared deeply about his nation. He cared deeply about the well-being of people all over the world. His sense of service to nation and to community, his sense of service with humility giving credit to others, lifting others looking in the best in others -- those real character values that are so deeply embodied in him is what I will carry forward, is what Pierce will carry forward and all the grandkids of George H.W. Bush, and I think many Americans have been influenced by his positive example.”
Love for Houston
George and Barbara Bush were well known for their love of giving back to the Houston community and cheering on all the sports teams.
Neil said when his father was originally elected to Congress in 1966, they moved to Washington in 1967, on Neil’s 12th birthday to be exact. He said they spent many years in D.C. Many people speculated that there was no way they would move back to Houston, but they did and built their home in the Tanglewood neighborhood.
“My parents loved Houston," Neil Bush said. "They loved Texas. They are Texans at heart and their friendships are here.”
He said his parents loved to cheer on Houston sports teams and eat at restaurants around the city.
“Anybody that would ask my dad even when he was in a wheelchair for a picture, he would stop and graciously," Neil Bush said. "He would treat everybody in Houston the same, with the same amount of respect. He loved Houston.”
He also thanked Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner for the city’s support for security and logistical planning for his father and also for when his mother passed away in June.
“We’re really grateful to the city for doing everything, pulling out all the stops to recognize and celebrate this life that was so well lived," Neil said. "So, Mayor Turner, we’re very grateful."
Talking about his father's presidency
“I believe to think of my dad as a dad, I think of him in the context of family, but the fact is he was president of the United States, and when he was president of the United States, he acted with such wisdom and integrity and he surrounded himself with people who were so intelligent, and he had the experience to lead at a time that was so challenging,” Neil Bush said. "It’s hard for people that are young to realize that back in the 1989 to 1993 time period when he served, that the world was upside down in many ways. Yet, he led to the end of the Cold War. He led to the unification of Germany. He worked through the issue with China, and on foreign policy and domestic policy, he made the comment, 'No new taxes,' but he saw there was going to be a $200 billion deficit. So, he worked with Congress to raise taxes and cut spending to keep the budget in balance.”