Evening star., 1961-11-16

sentative John Mccormack Of
Massachusetts,, the Democratic
leader of the House, who is ex-
pected to be the next Speaker.
Mr.. Mccormack was the man
Mr.. Rayburn chose to serve
temporarily as Speaker when
Mr.. Sam" had to leave Con~
gress before it closed because of
what he called lumbago.
But even then, his doctor be-
heves. he knew he had cancer.
The physician, 45-year-old
Joe A. Riser, and members of
the Speakers family and staff
stood by the bedside in Riser
Hospital as Mr.. Rayburn faded
away.
every Easy Death"
TT was a very easy death for
a very great man." DR.. Riser
told reporters.
Asked about the immediate
cause of death, DR.. Riser said
simply that: He just quit
breathing"
Then, in more formal Ian
guage, he put 1t this way:
"At $40 this morning Mr..
Sam passed away. He died
quietly. His respirations stopped.
"The heart continued to beat
for four minutes after the
cessation of respiration. He
showed no evidence Of pain
lines in the face. He seemed
to be as one in sleep"
Mr.. Rayburn had been un-
conscious for about So hours
before his death. He had lost
more than so pounds in the
months that cancer had raw
aged his body. DR.. Riser said
he had dropped to about 40
from his normal weight Of It's.
FuneraI SatuTudy
Authorities here said the fu-
neral will be at 1880 pm. (CST
Saturday at the First Baptist
Church in BonhaIn.
The body will lie in state from
9 am. tomorrow until 9 am.
Saturday in the Sam Rayburn !
Memorial Library.
The funeral services will be
conducted by Elder H. c. Ball,
minister of the Primitive Bap-
tist Church of Tioga, Tex. Mr..
Rayburn Joined the church some
years ago. The chaplain of the !
House, the Rev. Bernard Bras
kamp. will assist.
Under present plans, the
casket will be open during the
time Mr.. Rayburn lies in state
in the hall inside the library.
DR.. Risser told reporters that
the family decided that they
would prefer that people re-
member the Rayburn Founda-
ton, which supports the library,
instead of sending flowers.
The burial services will be
held Immediately after the
church services at Willow Wild
Cemetery. These, as will the
services at the church, will be
open to the public.
A large, simple granite marker
inscribed "Rayburn" stands at
the family plot. Smaller stones
are at the heads of the graves
of eight other Rayburns who
preceded the Speaker in death.
Kennedy to Attend
President Kennedy is ex-
pected to attend the services.
He will have to shuttle arrange
ments for a four day Western
trip to do so.
The first telephone call from
the hospital after Mr.. Rayburn
died went from DIR. Riser to
Mr.. Kennedy's personal ply
sician, DR.. Janet Travell.
This was by long standing
pre-arrangement. The Presi-
dent had asked that he be told
Immediately when the Speaker
was gone.
Mr.. Rayburn's administrative
assistant, John Holton, then
notified Mr.. Mccormack and
the House sergeant-at-srms.
Here in Bonham, the people
who knew Mr.. Rayburn through
most of his lifetime had been
talking for days about his
weakening condition and in
evitable death. They spoke in
hushed tones, with affection |
and admiration.
But at the end few Of them |
were on hand outside the
hospital.
DR.. Riser summoned a score
of reporters and cameramen !