Bob Wise: “as Sandy and I joined in that overflow crowd today in the St. John's Episcopal Church to celebrate the life of Mike…”

“as Sandy and I joined in that overflow crowd today in the St. John's Episcopal Church to celebrate the life of Mike Synar, I looked around and I realized what an incredibly vital person Mike was, as every person in that church felt a personal tie to Mike; someone who was so full of energy, so full of life, so full of commitment, so full of passion for what he did; and how someone in such a short life span, a life of only 45 years, could mean so much to so many people, not only in that church, but people across this country, who felt a personal kinship to Mike. One of my early memories of Mike is I invited him, when I was a new Member, to come to our district to our annual senior citizen convention. I remember Mike grabbing the microphone, he would not be contained by lecterns and podiums and stages and things like that, grabbing that microphone and charging into this crowd of several hundred people. He did not know them; it did not matter. They were people, and he was incredibly empathetic, and his infectious enthusiasm revved them up as well. That enthusiasm characterized Mike's whole life, and certainly his service in this Chamber, because in many ways his service in this Chamber was his life, 16 years of service, being elected at a very, very early age. Courage is another word that describes Mike. The previous speaker spoke eloquently about the Framers of the Constitution. Mike was the most ardent defender of those Framers.”