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Thousands of People, Public Figures and Private Citizens, Show Up to Honor Mayor Ed Lee's Life

Billionaires, baseball players, politicians and everyday people filled San Francisco City Hall on Sunday to celebrate the life of Mayor Ed Lee, a man remembered for his dignity, humility and passion for the city.

By Jill Tucker and Sam Whiting

Billionaires, baseball players, politicians and everyday people filled San Francisco City Hall on Sunday to celebrate the life of Mayor Ed Lee, a man remembered for his dignity, humility and passion for the city.

"Our mayor had kindness, he had class, he served others before himself," said acting Mayor London Breed. "He listened, he cared and he fought for our city -- all of its people -- with the quiet dignity of a man who knows exactly what he stands for."

An estimated 1,600 people crowded into the rotunda and onto the City Hall balconies to celebrate the life of a man who started his career as a civil rights attorney and served in San Francisco government for years as a can-do bureaucrat, then became mayor in 2011 and won election to the office twice.

Hundreds more listened outside the building and in an overflow room at the Main Library to what Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom called "a tribute to decency."

Lee was "someone that was uncool in some ways, but had friends like Willie Mays and Joe Montana, about the coolest people on Earth," Newsom said. That was because he was "a decent, honorable human being who always wanted to do the right thing."

Lee was the everyman mayor, many said, with the all-American dream life story, the child of Chinese immigrant parents who befriended most everyone he met and didn't let the power of his office go to his head.

As San Francisco's first Asian American mayor, Lee was a celebrity not only in the city but also in China, Breed said, recalling an official trip they took together.

"Mayor Lee was like Beyoncé with a mustache," Breed said, "But Ed was always Ed; he carried his own luggage."

Lee, said Gov. Jerry Brown, was an unusual political leader.

"Ed Lee was a real person," Brown said. "He was a person who communicated integrity, love of life. He gave politics a good name."

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco noted that the California congressional delegation flew a flag over the nation's Capitol in honor of Lee in the hours after his death early Tuesday at age 65, hours after suffering a heart attack.

"Here he was from an immigrant family, with a flag flown over the Capitol, dignitaries singing his praise," she said. "But he knew any public figure's success was not the honors he received, but the difference he made in the lives of the people he served."

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., described his efforts to help those living in public housing, including a rent strike he organized in the 1970s. He had an "unparalleled public service career," she said, that was both unique and "truly compelling."

Lee cared as much about his family as he did about the city, said his daughters, Brianna and Tania. And he was just as down-to-earth at home as he was at City Hall -- he kept an animatronic gopher by the door that played a Kenny Loggins tune, "I'm Alright," a reference to the golfing comedy "Caddyshack."

"For years, when we heard that song, we knew he had come home," Brianna Lee said.

Her dad, she added, also liked to tell jokes.

"For our family, our dad was not only our inspiration, but our constant source of humor, laughter and lightness," Brianna Lee said. "Most of the time he told jokes he could barely get through because he was laughing so hard himself."

Former Mayor Willie Brown, however, joked that Lee wasn't particularly funny.

"He told terrible jokes," Brown said. "He laughed because he tried to build enthusiasm for his jokes."

Turning serious, Brown said Lee had never aspired to be mayor, yet was more qualified for the job than any of the former mayors in the room.

"He would on any given day do what needed to be done to solve a problem," Brown added.

In attendance to pay tribute to Lee were Montana, the pro football Hall of Famer; Giants great Barry Bonds; business moguls including Salesforce founder Marc Benioff and venture capitalist Ron Conway; author Dave Eggers; and drag queen Donna Sachet. Near the back was former Police Chief Greg Suhr, whom Lee reluctantly forced from his job in 2016 after a spate of officer-involved shootings.

They sat in the 300 chairs arranged in eight rows for special guests only. Members of the public -- some of whom arrived as early as 6:30 a.m. to get in line -- were directed to standing-room-only spots or to the North and South Light Courts.

The rotunda was bathed in white, the color of mourning in Chinese culture, with two large urns filled with 750 white hydrangeas and a white runner up the stairs to the seasonal City Hall Tree of Hope, with white lights twinkling.

As people filed in, R&B hits played over speakers. They included selections from Lee's favorite playlist: "Reach Out (I'll Be There)," by the Four Tops, and "Lean on Me," by Bill Withers. Video screens flipped through images of Lee throughout his life.

The service ended with a rendition of Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" and a sing-along of the American spiritual "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."

As guests left, several paused to remember Lee.

"He was the sweetest, most decent man I ever met," said Gina Moscone, widow of former Mayor George Moscone, who was slain in City Hall in 1978. "I just loved him."

Montana said, "You look at what he stood for. He was the champion of the people."

Chronicle columnist Heather Knight contributed to this report.

(c)2017 the San Francisco Chronicle

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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