Two days of memorial services for former Sen. Richard Lugar began Tuesday. Vice President and former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is scheduled to deliver Lugar’s eulogy during the Wednesday funeral service.
“Honored to deliver a eulogy for this great man who inspired so many in public service - including me,” Pence wrote in a Twitter post Monday.
Lugar died April 28 at the Inova Fairfax Heart and Vascular Institute in Virginia, according to a press release from the Lugar Center. He was 87.
As Indiana’s longest-serving U.S. senator, Lugar is known for his bipartisan commitment to foreign policy and work on nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He was also a leader on issues including food security, energy independence and free trade.
Lugar received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-President Barack Obama and holds 46 honorary degrees.
Lugar will lie in state in the Rotunda of the State Capitol until the funeral Wednesday. The public can visit until sunset Tuesday and from 8 to 11 a.m. Wednesday.
The funeral service will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church and will be streamed on the Lugar Center’s YouTube channel.
IU’s School of Global and International Studies was renamed in October to honor Lugar and former Congressman Lee Hamilton. The school’s website now directs to a memorial page for Lugar.
“The decision to name the school honors the Senator’s contributions to our university, the state, and the world,” ambassador and founding dean Lee Feinstein said in a statement on the page. “His legacy will serve as an inspiration for generations of future students.”
An exhibition honoring Lugar’s life opened at IU's Lilly Library in March and will run through July 26, according to an IU press release.
“Indiana’s Visionary Statesman” showcases a collection of Lugar’s senatorial papers including documents related to the Senate committees he served on and legislation he proposed, letters to and from constituents, home movies, vintage campaign literature and close to 30,000 photographs.
Lugar served as mayor of Indianapolis from 1968 to 1975 before becoming a U.S. Senator from 1977 to 2013. He also founded the Lugar Center, a nonprofit organization focusing on issues central to his career.
