Cronkite eulogized as newsman, friend, father

NEW YORK – Walter Cronkite was remembered as a great newsman, sailor, friend and father during Thursday's funeral for the CBS anchor.

"I was often asked, what he's really like? And I would always answer, `He's just the way you hope he is,'" said Mike Ashford, a Cronkite friend of more than 30 years and one of the speakers.

Another speaker, longtime CBS newsman and "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney, recalled meeting Cronkite when they both were in England covering World War II.

"You get to know someone pretty well in a war," said Rooney.

"I just feel so terrible about Walter's death that I can hardly say anything," he admitted, and excused himself.

The remarkably intimate, even homey ceremony was witnessed by a near-capacity crowd at the enormous St. Bartholomew's Church in midtown Manhattan, where the Cronkite family has worshipped for years.

Broadcast journalists — co-workers, competitors, successors — were on hand, including Connie Chung, Bob Schieffer, Diane Sawyer, Brian Williams, Dan Rather, Barbara Walters, Charles Gibson, Matt Lauer, Tom Brokaw, Morley Safer and Meredith Vieira. Comedians-actors Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller were also in attendance.

But there was also room for members of the public to pay their respects.

James Huntsburg and his wife, Sylvia, visiting from Canada, had heard about the ceremony. Admitted to the sanctuary, they took their place in one of the pews.

Huntsburg said he grew up watching Cronkite, who, he said, "touched me."

When he heard of Cronkite's death last Friday at 92, Huntsburg and his wife hadn't yet left from their home near Toronto for their Manhattan vacation.

"I feel blessed to be here," he said, visibly moved.

For his reporting, Cronkite came to be called "the most trusted man in America" and was widely considered the premier TV journalist of his time. He anchored "The CBS Evening News" from 1962 until 1981.

Before the service, admirers lingered outside the church where news vans lined the curb.

Flowers arrived from Yoko Ono, who wrote: "Walter, my son Sean and I will always remember you! for your kind word to us. You will be missed. With love, Yoko Ono Lennon."

During the service, St. Bartholomew's Choir sang. A jazz band played "When the Saints Go Marching In."

And Cronkite friend (and veteran TV producer) Bill Harbach read the John Masefield poem, addressing it to Cronkite: "YOU must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky ..."

Sanford Socolow shared anecdotes from his many years working with Cronkite as a producer.

"Once, he had this bizarre idea that he would ad-lib the newscast without a script," Socolow recalled. As Cronkite's cue to roll each film clip, he would gently brush his nose with his hand.

"It was utter chaos," said Socolow. "It lasted for two days."

Chip Cronkite affectionately gave thanks to his father for many things.

"Thanks for rushing to the side of the boat when a boom knocked me overboard. You stood there ready to jump in after me, and then were glad you didn't have to. Thanks for getting ready to take out my appendix yourself with a sharpened spoon on the African plains two days' drive for a hospital. That time I was glad you didn't have to."

A separate memorial will be held within the next few weeks at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Cronkite is to be cremated and his remains buried next to his wife, Betsy, in the family plot at a cemetery in Kansas City, Mo.

Walter Cronkite's family funeral to conclude with 'Saints'

The private family funeral service for CBS news icon Walter Cronkite, who died Friday (July 17) at age 92, will conclude with a rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In" performed by a jazz band.

A CBS news release on Wednesday (July 22) morning revealed details about the service, to be held at St. Bartholomew's Church in Midtown Manhattan starting at 1 p.m. Thursday (July 23) New Orleans time.

"The service will be a traditional burial service from the Book of Common Prayer," the release said. "Music will be performed by the St. Bartholomew's Choir."

Among the scheduled speakers: Andy Rooney, Cronkite's longtime CBS colleague and "60 Minutes" commentator.

"St. Bartholomew's is the church that Walter and Betsy Cronkite brought their family to in 1960, and where their children, Chip, Nancy and Kathy, went to Sunday school and worshipped regularly over the years," the release said. "Betsy Cronkite's funeral was held there in 2005."

A later public memorial is also being planned for Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.

Walter Cronkite Funeral

Legendary newsman Walter Cronkite's funeral will be held at 2 p.m. ET Thursday at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan, his family announced.

The longtime CBS news anchorman and his family attended St. Bartholomew's, an Episcopal church.

Andy Rooney of the CBS show "60 Minutes" and Cronkite's son Chip Cronkite are scheduled to be among the speakers.

Cronkite, who was known as "the most trusted man in America," died Friday at age 92.

From 1962 to 1981, when he sat at the pinnacle of network television news, Cronkite was looked on as the model of what a news anchor should be.

Soon after his death, glowing remembrances about Cronkite came from many in the news business and newsmakers.
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Mike Wallace of "60 Minutes" said, "He was the first great reporter. They don't come any better."

President Obama said, "Walter was always more than just an anchor. He was someone we could trust to guide us through the most important issues of the day; a voice of certainty in an uncertain world. He was family."