CARNAHAN'S LEGACY: HONESTY, STRONG VALUES

The news came with an awful foreboding, like a thunderbolt on that rainy night before last: A small aircraft was down in an especially rugged part of Jefferson County, and it might be the plane taking Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan to a speaking engagement in New Madrid, Mo. The governor's plane had left a St. Louis airport hours before and hadn't been seen since. The governor had never arrived. An announcement was made to the New Madrid gathering that the plane had been held up by bad weather.

As the wee hours of Tuesday morning wore on, the worst was confirmed: The governor had indeed perished when a twin-engine airplane piloted by his son, Roger, crashed in foggy, wet weather. Also perishing was Chris Sifford, longtime Carnahan press secretary, chief of staff and campaign aide who was a native of Puxico.

The ghastly news eerily reprised Missouri's awful experience 24 years ago. That was the August night when Democratic U.S. Rep. Jerry Litton died, along with his wife, two children and his pilot, in the fiery crash of his light plane on the very night of his spectacular primary victory for the U.S. Senate seat of Stuart Symington, who was retiring.

It is no secret that this newspaper has opposed, on principle, much of the Carnahan agenda as governor. But with this week's dreadful news, this is indeed a time, as acting Gov. Roger Wilson said at in the predawn hours of Tuesday, for all Missourians to lean on each others' shoulders. It is a time for coming together in shared grief with the Carnahan family and close friends. It is a time for paying tribute to a faithful and dedicated public servant.

Mel Carnahan, the son of the late U.S. Rep. A.S.J. Carnahan, was an honest public servant with a strong work ethic that he displayed throughout his entire career. Carefully and methodically, he climbed the political ladder toward his goal of governor. His ability was recognized early when, as a very young man in his second term in the Legislature, he won the powerful post of House majority leader. He also knew some setbacks: He lost a bid for a state Senate seat in 1966 and was out of public office for 14 years during which he practiced law, raised his children and served on the Rolla School Board. Then, in the 1980s, he mounted his comeback: first elected state treasurer, then lieutenant governor and, finally, governor in 1992.

Carnahan's style was of the quietly effective variety, never flashy. And he was widely admired for the frank and honest way he would discuss any topic.

The Carnahans are a strong family with deep family values. His widow, Jean, was alongside him at every key step of his illustrious career and added a special dimension to his public service.

Governor Carnahan presided over good economic times that allowed him to implement a sizable capital-improvements bill each year he was in office. In these bills was included much largesse for Southeast Missouri State University and the entire Southeast Missouri region. Buildings that will date from the Carnahan era include Dempster Hall of Business at Southeast, along with the new polytechnic building under construction and the River Campus, should it see completion. The Sikeston Area Higher Education Center is another, as is the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center. Southeast officials responded last year with a building named for the governor's father, with the family here for a touching dedication ceremony.

We join all Missourians in grieving for the Sifford and Carnahan families' losses and extend our heartfelt condolences their way.