“It was a historical moment that won’t happen again,” says Deb Lund of Thornapple Covenant Church, who moved to Grand Rapids in 1974, when Ford became president. She stood in line from 8:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. for the few seconds it took to file by the flag-draped casket in the Gerald Ford Museum.
“It was the honor of it all,” says Sue Stubblefield of First Covenant Church. “To know what kind of man he was, to know what a strong Christian he was made it special.”
Lynne McLaughlin of Thornapple Covenant Church says she wanted her children to experience the moment. “We don’t have the pomp and circumstance in our country like they do in England or some other countries,” she says. “I wanted my children to see that.”
McLaughlin waited in line with her 10- and 11-year-old children from 9 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Both had wanted to go when they saw the event on TV, but had second thoughts after waiting in the cold for several hours, McLaughlin says. Still, it was a time they will always remember.
“There was a sense of awe,” Stubblefield says. “It was incredible to see the color guard. Except for a few times when they blinked their eyes, they didn’t move at all.”
Residents of Grand Rapids and other parts of the nation lined the routes taken by the caravan that transported Ford’s body. Steve Armfield, pastor of Thornapple Covenant Church, waited to watch the procession travel from the funeral service at Grace Episcopal Church to the president’s museum, where Ford was buried.
Armfield recalls the division in the country when Ford became president following the resignation of Richard Nixon: “This was a gentle, humble man who brought healing to this country.”
