July 23, 2009
By Lynette Wilson

Andy Rooney, Barbara Walters, Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Brian Williams and other television journalists gathered at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York July 23 to say goodbye to one of their own: television news legend Walter Leland Cronkite Jr.

"I feel so terrible about Walter's death that I can hardly say anything," said Andy Rooney, the 90-year-old CBS "60 Minutes" commentator. "He was such a good friend over the years."

Cronkite and Rooney met while based in London covering WWII for the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

"You get to know someone pretty well in a war," Rooney said.

Hundreds of people, many of them leaders in network television news, attended the memorial service at the Park Avenue church where Cronkite and his family attended Sunday services since the late 1950s. Cronkite died July 17 at the age of 92.

Since he was an avid sailor, the traditional Book of Common Prayer burial service was made personal by seafaring-themed hymns and readings, such as the hymn "Eternal Father, strong to save." It contains the verse, "Oh hear us when we cry to thee/for those in peril on the sea."

Cronkite's longtime friend and sailing companion Mike Ashford shared personal memories of sailing with Cronkite on his boat, named "Wyntje" for the first person to marry a Cronkite in the New World.

They dined with presidents, lived the New York night life with all the best seats to all the best Broadway shows, sailed the Caribbean, ate hot popcorn and drank cold beer while rehashing their adventures on the water, Ashford said.

And as they retired to bed, Cronkite would say: "Good night, old boy, that was sensational." And Ashford said he would respond: "Goodnight, Walter, it sure was."

Sailing and racing other boats earned Cronkite the title "commodore." When Ashford received the call saying Cronkite was dead, the message was: "The commodore is gone." Cronkite, a former United Press International reporter, became a television pioneer, anchoring the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981. He was often called "the most trusted man in America."

Former CBS news producer Sanford Socolow shared his stories of working with Cronkite on the set. Cronkite, he said, had the idea that he would ad lib the normally scripted nightly news. He would brush his nose to signal the start of the ad lib and to roll the film projector.

"It was utter chaos," Socolow said. "It lasted two days and we went back to the conventional script."

He also shared the story of the time Cronkite couldn't remember his own name when signing off the evening's broadcast, and of the viewer mail prompted by Cronkite's inability to properly pronounce "February," adding they'd rehearse from the last week of January, but he still couldn't get it right.

Despite television news fame, Cronkite was "always a wire service reporter in his heart: get it first, get it right," Socolow said.

Cronkite's son, Chip, shared childhood memories of his father, describing him as a role model. Cronkite described himself as "just a reporter," who ended up writing "bigger and bigger stories."

Cronkite's daughter Kathleen led the 23rd Psalm, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want" from the King James Version of the Bible.

His grandsons were pallbearers.

Cronkite will be buried next to his wife, Betsy, who died in 2005 in Kansas City, Missouri. Betsy Cronkite's funeral service was also held at St. Bartholomew's.

In the homily, the Rev. William Tully, St. Bartholomew's rector and a former Los Angeles Times reporter, said: "We simply thank God for this good man."

In an interview with ENS two days before the funeral, Tully related the story of how the Cronkites came to attend "St. Bart's," as it is often known. "When Cronkite was tapped to leave Washington and come to New York, CBS put them up in the Waldorf [-Astoria Hotel]," Tully said. "Betsy looked out the window and said, 'There's a church." The two buildings sit on adjacent blocks.

Tully added that Cronkite spoke at an event in 1999 launching the church's Center for Religious Inquiry. It offers courses "designed to enhance your understanding of your religion and the religion of your neighbors," according to its website.

Cronkite, said Tully, "believed, after so many years of covering the world, that most people are woefully ignorant of their faith and that of others."

Episcopal News Service
Lynette Wilson is staff writer, Episcopal Life Media. Solange De Santis, editor of Episcopal Life, contributed to this story.