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By ADAM C. SMITH, Times Political EditorFriends and colleagues remember former U.S. Rep. William C. Cramer as the one who paved the way.
ST. PETERSBURG - Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, one-time quarterback for St. Petersburg High School, used a football analogy to describe the legacy of former U.S. Rep. William C. Cramer.
"As quarterback," Crist told about 200 people gathered Thursday for Mr. Cramer's funeral, "I know you need people to run interference for you. And (U.S. Rep.) Bill Young and Bill Cramer as Republicans ran interference for an awful lot of us that hold office in Florida today."
Mr. Cramer, who became the first Republican member of Congress from Florida since Reconstruction when he was elected in 1954, died Saturday at age 81.
His passing amounts to "the passing of the founder of the Republican Party of Florida," Florida Republican Party chairwoman Carole Jean Jordan said after a three-gun Navy salute to Mr. Cramer outside Pasadena Community Church.
Mr. Cramer represented Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Hernando counties.
He served in Congress until Young succeeded him in 1970, and his groundbreaking election paved the way for the GOP to eventually dominate the state.
"Congressman Cramer was a pioneer in Florida politics and an influential leader during his lifetime," Gov. Jeb Bush said from Tallahassee.
Mr. Cramer talked by phone to former President Gerald Ford and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently and remained passionate about public policy and politics.
An American flag was draped over his coffin Thursday, while longtime friends and his wife, Sara, praised him as a man of deep faith and boundless optimism and generosity.
"I honestly never remember him ever saying anything unkind about anybody," Mrs. Cramer said.
The crowd included prominent longtime friends and business and political leaders, including Mayor Rick Baker, Sheriff Everett Rice, longtime political aide Jack Insco and St. Petersburg College president Carl Kuttler.
"He was the one who opened the door for so many of us," said U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park.
At the urging of President Nixon, Mr. Cramer ran for U.S. Senate in 1970 but lost to Lawton Chiles. Young, R-Largo, succeeded Mr. Cramer and now serves as appropriations chairman.
Young had to miss his mentor's funeral because at the urging of the White House he was in Madrid to encourage more international support for the rebuilding of Iraq.
Mica, who got his start in politics working on Cramer's Senate campaign, said the Tampa Bay area is loaded with tangible reminders of Mr. Cramer's legacy.
As an authority on transportation issues and as ranking Republican on the House Public Works Committee, Mr. Cramer helped create much of the area's road network.
"This area got I-275 while other areas in the state still had dirt roads," Mica said after the service.
Thursday's service was as much about loyal friendships as it was politics. Longtime friend Gene Williams recalled running for junior class president against Mr. Cramer at St. Petersburg High School.
"I take great pride knowing that in losing," Williams said, "I launched his amazingly successful political career."