Hundreds gather in St. Louis to remember former US Sen. Jean Carnahan

ST. LOUIS — Children and grandchildren of former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan of Missouri remembered her humor, curiosity, kindness and hard work during a public memorial service Saturday.

Carnahan, 90, died Jan. 30 at a hospice in suburban St. Louis after a brief illness.

“The last few days, as if preparing to be shot out of the cannon, Mommy told us, ‘I’m ready to be shot out,’” one of her sons, Russ Carnahan, told hundreds of people gathered in The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. “And of course Mom had a file for this day with the title page ‘Service Suggestions Only.’

“So welcome to the service Mom had planned.”

Carnahan became Missouri’s first female U.S. senator when she was appointed in 2001 to replace her husband, Mel Carnahan. The two-term Democratic governor was running for Senate against incumbent Republican John Ashcroft when Carnahan was killed in a plane crash that also killed his son Randy and campaign adviser Chris Sifford just weeks before the 2000 election.

Mel Carnahan’s name remained on the ballot and he won despite his death. Jean Carnahan served until 2002.

Another son, Tim Carnahan, told mourners he recently realized how much he wanted to emulate his mother.

“It means that when the world seems too heavy to bear, you clear your head, embrace your heart and take a step forward,” he said.

“It means showing the world who you are through what you do, and doing it with passion. It means being the cause and not the effect, and staying curious, taking an authentic interest in others, and sometimes not taking yourself so seriously.”