Mourners recall Sargent Shriver's charity, idealism

POTOMAC, Md. - R. Sargent Shriver was always an optimist, pioneering the Peace Corps and running the War on Poverty during the turbulent 1960s - an idealist even as the running mate on a Democratic presidential ticket doomed to failure.

At his Funeral Mass on Saturday, mourners from philanthropist and musician Bono to Vice President Biden to former President Bill Clinton honored a man who dedicated his life to serving others. The celebration was filled with songs, laughter, and fond memories.

"Fifty years ago, President Kennedy told us we should ask what we can do for our country," Clinton said. "A whole generation of us understood what President Kennedy meant by looking at Sargent Shriver's life."

Shriver, who died Tuesday at age 95, was affectionately known as "Sarge." He grew up during the Great Depression, went to Yale on a scholarship, and served in the Navy during World War II. Then, he fulfilled his brother-in-law John F. Kennedy's campaign promise by developing the Peace Corps into a lasting international force.

"When he was starting the Peace Corps from scratch, many people thought he was naive and too idealistic, wanting to send a bunch of young Americans abroad" to some of the poorest countries of the world, said his son Mark Shriver. "Daddy saw people helping people."

Others were inspired to their own social activism.

"I was a student, really, of the Sarge way of doing things," U2 front man Bono told the Associated Press after singing at the service. Bono founded the Red Campaign with Shriver's eldest son, Bobby, to fight AIDS in Africa.

"It's a rare combination of grace and strategy," Bono said of Sargent Shriver.

First lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey attended. Wyclef Jean played the piano and sang "All the Ends of the Earth" as guests clapped along.

Later, Vanessa Williams softly performed "Soon and Very Soon." Bono and Glen Hansard, who starred in the movie Once, sang "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace."

One by one, many of Shriver's 19 grandchildren read remembrances about their grandfather, recalling his passion for helping people, his hugs, and his love of baseball.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, told Shriver's grandchildren to live with the same courage and conviction.

Shriver's youngest son, Anthony Shriver, welcomed guests before the Mass, cracking jokes and honoring his father for always making people feel valued.

Anthony Shriver recalled one of his last conversations with his father. He said his father told him: "You tell Cardinal Wuerl to make Eunice a saint!" The crowd erupted in laughter.

Shriver's late wife was Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Tim Shriver - now chairman and chief executive of the Special Olympics - said his father never coddled the children but "coached us to pursue those big, big ideas."

Shriver was a businessman and lawyer descended from a prominent Maryland family.

He was former Sen. George McGovern's running mate in the 1972 presidential election, but the Democrats lost in a landslide to President Richard M. Nixon.

He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for eight years. His wife died in 2009 at age 88.

Shriver was buried later Saturday in a private ceremony alongside his wife at a cemetery in Barnstable, Mass. As darkness fell, family members filed off a bus with candles in their hands.