Hundreds turn out for viewing of Murtha in W.Pa.

JOE MANDAK AP 02/15/2010 05:02

Visitors line the driveway of Frank Duca Funeral Home in Johnstown to pay their respects to U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Hundreds of mourners braved light snow and bitter cold Sunday before slowly filing past the casket of late congressman John Murtha at a funeral home less than a mile from where he lived.

The mourners ranged from Gov. Ed Rendell to average citizens, especially veterans, who revered Murtha, a powerful Democrat who headed the House appropriations defense subcommittee.

Rendell said Murtha's death Feb. 8 at age 77 after complications from gallbladder surgery cost him a plainspoken friend and cost Pennsylvania "the best ally we ever had" in Washington.

Murtha's influence on Pennsylvania, and especially his ability to bring defense spending and jobs to the state following the steel industry meltdown of the 1970s and early '80s, was felt well beyond his 12th District, composed of parts of nine western counties, Rendell said.

"He was our go-to guy," Rendell said.

Rendell, who said that as mayor of Philadelphia he called upon Murtha for help, credited Murtha with saving the Philadelphia shipyard industry.

"Nobody is irreplaceable in the long run," Rendell said. "But he is as close to it as anybody I've seen."

Murtha's wife, Joyce Murtha, touted as a possible replacement for her husband, greeted mourners who had lined up outside the simple white-frame funeral home. His adult children and three grandchildren also greeted mourners.

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