FRIENDS AND RIVALS SHOW RESPECT

Still reeling from the shock of Gov. Mel Carnahan's death in a plane crash, both Democrats and Republicans lauded him for his efforts to bring money and programs to Southeast Missouri.

On Tuesday, they remembered him as a hardworking, genuine public servant who always had an ear for his constituents.

Carnahan was considered by teachers to be the "education governor" because of his commitment to establishing a new state funding formula and academic standards.

"I believe that education has lost a very true friend who has the good of the children of Missouri deep in his heart," said Cape Girardeau teacher Carol Reimann, who worked with Carnahan after being named Missouri Teacher of the Year in 1998. "A lot of programs came into being during his administration, and they were all aimed at improving education throughout the state of Missouri.

Southeast Missouri State University officials also viewed Carnahan as a friend because he helped secure funding for a number of major campus building projects, including the Dempster business building, the polytechnic building and the proposed River Campus arts school.

Don Dickerson, a Cape Girardeau lawyer and president of Southeast's Board of Regents, was a close friend of the governor. He fought back tears as he discussed the death of his friend and fellow Democrat.

"Mel was a person of great tolerance toward his fellow man," said Dickerson, who knew Carnahan since their days as students at the University of Missouri Law School in Columbia more than 40 years ago. "I honestly think the big issue with Mel was his credibility. He was very principled."

Dickerson said Southeast may one day name a building after Carnahan. The university named its renovated social science building A.S.J. Carnahan Hall in 1998 in honor of Carnahan's father, a former U.S. congressman.

'Dedicated service'

Even staunch Republicans who were critical of Carnahan in life set aside political differences and grieved over the governor's passing. Some, like state Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said they would best remember Carnahan as a dedicated statesman.

"Gov. Carnahan gave many years of faithful and dedicated service to the people of Missouri," Kinder said. "His door was always open and his ears open for our budgetary needs, and I am grateful for that."

Several area residents had ties to the Carnahan family that dated back several decades. Former state representative Jerry Ford of Cape Girardeau knew Carnahan for 30 years.

"Mel Carnahan was a bit unusual in the political environment," said Ford, now a lobbyist. "While he was a tough competitor and felt strongly about the issues, he was a decent guy."

Cape Girardeau resident Stanley Grimm, a senior judge for the Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals and a retired circuit judge, was a classmate of Carnahan's in law school. They graduated from law school in 1959.

Grimm said Carnahan "was not a show-off type of person, just a hardworking, solid citizen."

Former state legislator Betty Hearnes of Charleston described Carnahan as fair and patient in his political and personal dealings "even though I've called him so many times" to enlist support for projects to benefit Southeast Missouri communities.

Hearnes and her husband, former Gov. Warren Hearnes, have been friends of the Carnahan family for more than 30 years. She said part of Carnahan's legacy will be the economic development he has fostered in Southeast Missouri during his tenure.

Solving unemployment

Carnahan selected Charles ton as the location of a maximum-security prison in 1997. The prison, scheduled to open next fall, is expected to bring hundreds of permanent jobs to a region plagued in many areas by double-digit unemployment.

"If you look throughout Southeast Missouri, you'll see all the improvements and things he contributed to Cape Girardeau and Sikeston and Charleston and just everywhere in Southeast Missouri," Hearnes said.

Southeast Missouri State University professor and fellow Democrat Rick Althaus attended college with Roger Carnahan, the governor's son who also died in the plane crash, and later worked within the state Democratic committee with the governor. Althaus has especially fond memories of a small political rally held for Carnahan in rural Perry County in the fall of 1996. Only 25 supporters attended, but Carnahan stayed and met everyone there.

"Many political figures would not have much patience for an event that small," he said. "For a lot of years you might say, Well, he seems so nice and so genuine and so committed, but when will we see him drop that facade?' But it wasn't a facade. That's just the genuine article."

Althaus said he "had feelings of deja vu" when he first learned of the airplane crash. In 1976, Althaus was working as an intern for U.S. Rep. Jerry Litton when Litton died in a plane crash as he and his family were flying to a victory celebration the night he won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.