Family members honor John Lewis at hometown memorial service
Troy University in Troy, Alabama, on Saturday hosted a memorial service for former Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who died last week at the age of 80, launching six days of ceremonies honoring the civil rights icon.
The casket carrying Lewis' body arrived in Troy, his hometown, earlier this morning, accompanied by Alabama state troopers. Troy Mayor Jason noted that it was members of the agency who beat Lewis in 1965 at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, but "now they'll lead his body across this state" so people can honor his memory.
Several members of Lewis' family spoke, including his siblings and his young nephew, who told those gathered "it's up to us to keep his legacy alive." Tim O'Donnell
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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