BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)– Last week, Former Governor Charles “Buddy” Roemer III passed away after a long battle with diabetes.
This morning, hundreds of Louisianians come to pay their respect to Gov. Roemer. The funeral was held at Istrouma Baptist Church.
Roemer passed away on May 17 at the age of 77, serving from 1988 to 1992. Before that he was a State Representative.
Longtime friend of Buddy Roemer, Luke Booker said, “I’m so grateful that I had him in my life. I was able to from the ground up from 11 years old to my adulthood, see just what an exceptional human being he is.”
The Harvard graduate was all about reform when he won his election at age 44.
Governor John Bel Edwards (D) reflects on when he went to Gov. Roemer for advice before running for governor.
Gov. Edwards said, “Buddy Roemer was very gracious enough to visit with me. he was very generous with his time, and he could not be more pleasant. it meant a lot to me then and it means more to me now.”
The homegoing service included words from two of his children, musical selections and police escorts.
Booker said, “It is nice to see someone being celebrated and their life being celebrated and honored and to see the current governor here and other people, and really seeing the respect for Gov. Roemer is nice.”
Gov. Roemer left many with fond memories, including one attendees favorite quote from him
“You da man,” said Booker.
Instead of bringing flowers the family said, those wishing to honor his memory could donate to American Diabetes Association or to the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools’ Little Free Libraries Project.
On Thursday, a second funeral service will be held in Shreveport at First United Methodist Church at 11 a.m.
