Charles Rangel’s funeral mass draws big names who celebrated the late congressman’s life

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton, Gov. Kathy Hochul and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries remembered former U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel’s sharp wit, relentless advocacy for Harlem and extraordinary life of public service during a funeral mass for the late congressman in Manhattan on Friday.

Rangel, a pioneering congressman and veteran of the Korean War, died on May 26 the age of 94.

The mass, held at the historic St. Patrick’s Cathedral, came a day after Rangel’s body lay in state at New York City Hall, an honor bestowed to only a handful of political figures, including U.S. presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant.

Clinton, who called Rangel one of the most effective members to ever serve in Congress, recalled the congressman’s insistence on steering a critical economic program to his Harlem district when Clinton was president, helping to lower unemployment there.

“I don’t think I ever knew a happier warrior than Charlie Rangel,” Clinton said.

Rangel served in Congress for nearly five decades, becoming a dean of the New York congressional delegation and a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, as well as being the first first African American to chair the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Before his time on Capitol Hill, he earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his military service in the Korean War.

Jeffries, the House Democratic Leader, told the crowd at the mass that “America is better off today because of his service” and said, as a young congressman, that the legendary Rangel would simply call him Jeff.

“Now, Charlie Rangel would often call me Jeff. I believe it was short for Jeffries. But I never confirmed that. ‘Cause this was Charlie Rangel, and so you go with the flow,” Jeffries said, smiling.

Hochul called Rangel “a giant in American life” and said she would move to rename a street in Harlem after the late congressman, who was sometimes called “Lion of Lenox Avenue.” She thanked the attendees who came to the mass “not to mourn Charlie, but to celebrate an extraordinary life.”