Keep Alive Leland’s Work on Hunger, Mourners Told

Rep. Mickey Leland was eulogized Saturday as a martyr for the cause of world hunger, and mourners were urged to honor his memory by carrying on his work.

“Mickey is gone, but his values and his work will live after him in our memory and in our commitment,” House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) said at a funeral Mass at St. Anne’s Catholic Church.

“Around the world, there are voices--tens of thousands, perhaps millions, now and in the future--who will live longer, will live better, will have hope because of the efforts of this man,” Foley said.

Leland, 44, was killed with 15 others on Aug. 7 when their plane crashed in Ethiopia while carrying them to a camp for Sudanese refugees. A private burial is planned for the six-term congressman when his remains are returned to Houston, probably some time this week, family friends said. He is to be buried, as he had requested, in a simple pine coffin, which rested before the altar for the service.

Attended by Neighbors

Leland’s mourners were white, black, Asian and Latino. Some, such as Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and Texas state Treasurer Ann Richards, were easily recognized. Others less famous were Leland’s neighbors in Houston’s impoverished Fifth Ward, where Leland grew up and later represented in Congress.

Hundreds of people crowded under the ornately carved arches of the central Houston church Saturday and hundreds more gathered outside as politicians and clergymen praised Leland’s work on behalf of the starving in Africa and elsewhere.

Leland’s wife, Alison, and other family members attended the service, along with numerous dignitaries. The Mass followed Friday’s memorial service, which drew 5,000 people.

Vatican Message

Bishop Joseph Fiorenza of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston read a message delivered through the Vatican Embassy in Washington.

Pope John Paul II, the message said, “is well aware of Rep. Leland’s great humanitarian effort to relieve the starvation of the Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia. His holiness is likewise grateful that his admirable concern helped to bring the plight of these unfortunate people to the world’s attention.”

The Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke forcefully during a service that mixed the elements of a traditional Roman Catholic Mass with jubilant gospel singing and the jazzy strains of a saxophone and electric bass.

‘Beloved Member’

Rep. Ronald V. Dellums, (D-Berkeley) said Leland was a “beloved member” of a small family--the Congressional Black Caucus--and spoke solemnly of its loss.

“Along with Mickey we lived in a world of words. Where words have great significance, where words have great power, where words even have the implications of life and death,” Dellums said.

“Yet, at this moment, words are so incredibly inadequate to communicate to all of you here this incredible loss for an extraordinary member of our family.”