A crowd gathered in the Iowa Capitol rotunda Thursday afternoon to bid a formal farewell to former Governor Robert D. Ray.  At 5 p.m., hundreds stood silently as Ray’s casket was carried to the center of the first floor rotunda. An honor guard took their posts. The Navy Hymn was played, in honor of Ray’s military service. Three wreaths were placed three wreaths near the casket, which was draped with an American flag. Some of the Vietnam refugees Ray had helped resettle in Iowa in the 1970s and early ’80s led the crowd as it filed through the rotunda. Mani Nhung came to pay her respects. She’s a member of Vietnam’s persecuted Tai Dom community who came to Iowa when she was 14 and didn’t know a word of English. “Because of him, that’s why people follow him. They opened their heart, their love to us,” she said.

The Asian Community’s white wreath came with an inscription, calling Ray a “beloved hero” and their “Ray of freedom.” Tuet Chung was a refugee from Cambodia who came to Iowa with her family in 1980. “We just love him so much…to open the door for us. We are just so grateful,” she said. Ray served as Iowa’s governor from January of 1969 until January of 1983. For 51-year-old Robin Clemons of Marshallton, that’s most of her childhood. “I grew up in Iowa and Governor Ray was always the governor,” Clemons said. “I went to the State Fair a few times as a kid and seeing him a few times and I actually got to meet him once. I just thought he was the nicest man.”

Dennis and Virginia Burlingame of Lineville drove to Des Moines to pay their respects. “I really liked him because was a moderate. There’s not many of those and he was a uniter. We need more of those,” Dennis Burlingame said. Virginia Burlingame added: “He was an Iowan, through and through, and he stayed rather than using it as a steppingstone to someplace else.” A few of the staffers who worked for Ray mingled in the early evening, reminiscing. Gerry Schnepf served as director of the Iowa Conservation Commission for Governor Ray. “Actually the memories are really good,” Schnepf said. “…We just had a lot of good times.”

Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad flew back from China, where he’s serving as U.S. Ambassador. “His health has not been good and I just thought if at all possible I wanted to be here to pay my respects and show how much I appreciate all that he did for Iowa and for me,” Branstad told reporters. Ray died Sunday at the age of 89. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. His funeral is today (Friday) at the Des Moines church where he met his wife. The two were married at First Christian Church, too, and their daughters were baptized there. On Thursday afternoon, police and state troopers led the hearse carrying Ray’s casket on a tour of Des Moines, passing by his church, the governor’s mansion and Des Moines City Hall before stopping at the capitol.

Today’s funeral is at 1-p.m. in Des Moines. It will be live streamed at http://live.drake.edu.

(Radio Iowa)