President Bush to lie in repose starting Wednesday evening at Houston church

HOUSTON (Nexstar) — President George H.W. Bush will lie in repose starting Wednesday evening at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church.

Pat Aungier, who lives in Houston, placed small flags along the sidewalk surrounding the church early in the morning.

“He meant a lot to people here in Houston,” Aungier said. “He’s very much in the city all the time, local restaurants and so forth, so he’s been a big presence here for years.”

Aungier teared up reflecting on Bush’s service to the nation and his impact on politics, saying he “did the right thing for the country.”

“He was also compassionate about people, fair to people,” he said. “He was really just a solid, reasonable, confident, calm man.”

Marco Rincon remembers running with President Bush at Memorial Park.

“I just saw this caravan of four or five suburbans with tinted windows and there were five people running next to this person,” Rincon said. “I approached him and he was Mr. Bush. He was fantastic. He asked me to run with him and everything. He was a very, very, very nice guy.”

Rincon met Bush again about three years later.

“He remembered my name perfectly. I had the privilege of singing the National Anthem with him at the Houston Conoco 10k.”

A shuttle will start transporting people to St. Martin’s Episcopal Church at 5:30 p.m. from Second Baptist Church. Members of the public wishing to pay their respects to President Bush will be able to do so until Thursday at 6 a.m.