Tony Snow: Farewell To the Light Heart

'He Looked at the World in a Joyful Way'

Yesterday's funeral for Tony Snow was a grand send-off: a Mass, a tribute by President Bush, and more than 1,000 mourners, including an all-star lineup of Washington's political and media elite. It was sweet and sad, but if the former White House press secretary had his way, he would have opted for fewer tears, more quips.

"I believe the reason Tony was so good at his job is that he looked at the world in a joyful way," Bush told the audience gathered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Snow was the first working journalist in almost 30 years to take the spokesman's job, after stints as conservative columnist, commentator and speechwriter. "He had the sometimes challenging distinction of working for two presidents named Bush," the president said. "As a speechwriter in my dad's administration, Tony tried to translate the president's policies into English. As a spokesman in my administration, Tony tried to translate my English . . . into English."

Snow would have loved that line.

Just underneath the speaker's lectern, a huge picture of Snow in the briefing room -- flashing his trademark grin -- captured his great gift: optimism. Speaker after speaker praised his determination to find the fun, the humor, the upside of everything in his life, even the cancer that ended it last week at age 53. The tributes described it, but never matched his gift of lightness.

"If Tony were here, he'd have the words," said college pal Matthew Covington. "He could say it better."

Or wittier. Or with a wink. "He had this incredible power to make everyone around him feel good," said neighbor Jay McConville, who performed in Snow's rock band, Beats Workin', and remembered him as an enthusiastic husband, father, musician and backyard grill master.

"Sure, he was talented," said McConville. "But more than that, he was fun."

Even cancer didn't rob him of that upbeat nature. Some of the mourners chatting before the Mass said they'd spoken to Snow only once or twice but were struck by his kindness and light touch, especially with others fighting the disease, and felt they had to say goodbye.

Before the White House job, Snow was best known for his work on Fox radio and television, and a number of prominent conservatives and colleagues -- Roger Ailes, Karl Rove, Laura Ingraham, Bill O'Reilly and Newt Gingrich -- sat front and center at the service. Congress was represented by Sens. Orrin Hatch, Joe Lieberman and Mitch McConnell, and Reps. Roy Blunt and John Boehner. White House officials included press secretary Dana Perino, who walked out of the service in tears, and former chief of staff Andy Card.

Almost every prominent journalist in Washington -- including the White House correspondents with whom Snow sparred daily during his year at the White House -- came to pay respects. Even when reporters disagreed with him professionally . . . well, they still liked the guy.

Officially, yesterday's Mass of Christian Burial was closed to press coverage but open to the public: the kind of bureaucratic goofiness that would have made Snow laugh. Reporters filled the pews, quietly punching details of the 90-minute service in their BlackBerrys or laptops: Snow's daughter Kendall singing with the choir, son Robbie serving as pallbearer and offering a reading, and his younger daughter, Kristi, helping with Communion.

"We thank you for sharing your dad with us," Bush told them. "He talked about you all the time. He wanted nothing more than your happiness and success. . . . He loved you a lot. Today I hope you know that we loved him a lot, too."