[The Daily Times Herald, Dallas; July 13, 1949; Page 1]

Corsicana, July 13 (AP) - This saddened Central Texas city paid final, touching tribute today to the home-town boy who became Governor

More than 2,000 attended brief services in high-spired First Methodist Church -- Jester's church since he was five.

State dignataries, political leaders and old friends crowded against the overflow of flowers in the church auditorium.

Hundreds stood silently on the lawn outside or looked through windows. Many faces were strange to this Central Texas city.'

Texas' new Governor, Allan Shivers, was there. He and Mrs. Shivers and State Senator Jimmy Taylor of Kerens flew in today from Austin.

Jester's family sat in one pew reserved for them.

Mrs. Jester, who retained her composure throughout , wore a black dress and hat and a necklace of pearls.

The Governor's 87-year-old mother wept once when Dr. Irwin F. Bohmfalk, pastor and friend of Jester, said of the Governor "sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust he lies down to pleasant dreams."

A sprinkling rain which began about an hour before the services let up in a few minutes. The services ended at 11:50 a.m. (CST) and the procession left for Oakwood Cemetery a fourth of a mile away.

"We can thank God that Beauford Jester lived among us," Dr. Bohmfalk said.

"This memorial service has within it the element of gratitude for one who has lived long and well. For more than a half-century it has been our privilege to know and love him."

Jester died in his sleep early Monday morning in a Pullman car en route from Austin to Houston. Death was attributed to a blood clot in the heart-coronary thrombosis. The 56-year old governor was headed for Galveston and a heart examination.

Jester's body was returned to Austin Monday evening and lay in state in the State Capitol Senate chamber yesterday. Following special services in the Senate chamber yesterday afternoon the body was flown to Corsicana and taken to a local mortuary. But at 8:30 p.m. last night plans were changed and Jester's body was brought to his big two-story brick home here and the grey metal casket was placed in the parlor.

Throughout the night National Guardsmen from the Corsicana area stood rigidly beside the open-flag-draped casket and scores of residents of Corsicana passed through the tall white colums that front the palatial Jester home to pay their respects.

As services opened, the choir sang "A Charge to Keep I Have." It was one of Jester's favorite hymns. He had quoted its words in his first inaugural address in 1946.

Flowers were banked high on stands on both sides of the pulpit. Two truck loads of flowers arrived from Austin at 10 p.m. last night and were added to a profusion of flowers already in the church. To keep them from wilting, the church's stained glass windows remained open and fans were left running all night.

Bishop A. Frank Smith of the Houston area of the Methodist Church assisted Dr. Bohmfalk at the services. The gothic style auditorium with vaulted ceilings could accommodate only 700 persons and the public address system was set up to cary the services on the tree shaded lawn and in other rooms of the church.

Setting up sound equipment last night A. M. Thomas, electrician, commented: "They'll sure need these extra speakers - Jester's friends would more than fill any church there is. We were all highly proud of him and his whole family. He'd come up from Austin like a farmer coming to town on Saturday and he'd holler at everybody when he walked down the street. That guy really had the friends."

Testerday thousands of citizens streamed by the flag-draped coffin in the Senate chamber. More than a thousand attended brief services. They heard two funeral orators call Jester a churchman and a statesman, who dreamed and worked for the "very best" for his church and state.

While thousands of people feel poignantly the sufferings through which the family is passing at this time, and Texas has been denied the leadership of Beauford H. Jester, this memorial service has within it the element of gratitude for one who has lived long and well. For more than a half century it has been our privilege to know and love him. As we reflect in memory over the experiences of recent years, we can all thank God that Beauford lived among us. But, better still, we should all be grateful that he continues to live.

"Our faith teaches us that death is only an incident in the journey of life that the person continues to live in a spiritual state in God's eternal world. 'If it were not so, I would have told you' said Jesus. 'I go to prepare a place for you'

"The God who creates life provides for sustenance to satisfy. He longed for human companionship and fellowship, this he found that God had provided through family and friends. He longed for eternal life, and this he felt certain would come to him."

God endowed him with that deep longing to live forever. He also made provision for its satisfaction. He lives in the perpetuity of the human species by leaving a lovely family of children and other loved ones, he lives in the immortality of influence as he continues to serve the people of this state and nation in the forces that have been released through him. He lives in God's eternal home where some day there shall be that reunion for which all of us long in our better moments. There will never be an end to what he has begun! Life here and in the hereafter!"