Friends and family said goodbye Tuesday to the late Washington Congressman George Nethercutt. Nethercutt died last month at the age of 79.
At a ceremony at Gonzaga University, he was eulogized as a good and kind man with a strong moral compass and a deep desire to help other people.
"In my mind, his most significant contributions to this community had more to do with who he was [than what he accomplished]," said Nethercutt's friend, Dr. Eric Johnson.
'He was patient, empathetic, athletic, competitive, patriotic, generous, humble, authentic, principled, respectful and, boy, did he have a great sense of humor."
Johnson listed some of Nethercutt’s professional achievements: published author, promoter of civic education after his retirement from Congress, attorney who specialized in adoptions and the head of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, in honor of his daughter Meredith, who lives with the condition.
“It’s difficult to conceptualize and put into words something meaningful and worthy of my dad, George Nethercutt, Junior, of a man who never lived or led through flash, but by embedding and perpetuating ideals true to his heart," she said.
Speakers also told stories about the achievement for which most people remember George Nethercutt: shocking the political world in 1994 when he defeated Speaker of the House Tom Foley to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
After leaving Congress in 2005, Nethercutt became a political advisor and promoter of civic education. He and his wife moved to Denver. Their pastor there, the Reverend John Bell, spoke about the effect Nethercutt had on the people he represented as an adoption attorney.
“I can tell you, because my wife is also adopted, that this changed, for the better, thousands of lives as people felt accepted and new life and new meaning and George touched many lives and saved souls, saved souls through this legal work," he said.
Nethercutt's son, Elliott, remembered his dad as a man who enjoyed trying new things.
"Every new interest, new adventure, my dad had fun," he said. "My father always knew who he was, he knew where he was going and he had fun on the way.”
He said his father cherished life all the way to the end, even when the neurological illness that ended his life took away his sight and his ability to easily speak.
Flags in the city of Spokane have been flying at half staff this week in honor of Nethercutt.
