By Bill Moreau
The Indiana Citizen
April 30, 2026
Daughter Katie and I had the great privilege of attending the Hamilton family’s beautiful memorial service for Lee held, appropriately, not in Washington, DC, but in Columbus, IN. So it wasn’t held in the National Cathedral or the Capitol rotunda, but in The LEX, the stunning former North Christian Church designed by Eero Saarinen.
The Hamilton family’s choice of venue kept the audience to one-tenth what it would have been had it been in DC, so there was a kind of intimacy in the unfilled, 450-seat sanctuary. From beginning to end, the service had a poignancy quite unlike any event I’ve ever attended.
The family’s decision to focus the tribute on Lee Hamilton as son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, uncle, lover of literature, art, music and poetry was sublime. Lee’s three children Tracy, Doug and Deb carried their roles with proud, stoic dignity and the utmost welcoming grace. Their spouses and children were there, as was the family’s newest addition, Lee’s great-granddaughter. Lee’s caregivers were lovingly introduced by name. Not a single political figure spoke. Every reading, every music selection was thoughtfully chosen and, well, pitch perfect.
Had you been transported into the event with no knowledge of Lee’s record of public service, the only hints came from a biographical photo montage that showed Lee with, among other luminaries, Nelson Mandela, Queen Elizabeth, the Dalai Lama, the 9/11 Commission and several presidents, including my favorite picture, President Obama awarding Lee the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.
Most of the photos were the kind you’d see in any family album, so we were all deeply moved seeing pictures of the stunningly beautiful Nancy, Lee’s wife of 57 years who died in a tragic accident in 2012. Daughter Tracy’s resemblance is remarkable.
Of course, Lee’s late brother’s children were there, niece Lisa and nephews David, the distinguished Seventh Circuit judge, and John, the former mayor of Bloomington. I didn’t know John had such a beautiful singing voice.
The vast majority of attendees were like Katie and me, ordinary Hoosiers whose lives have been touched by Lee Hamilton. There were several former officeholders like Fred Armstrong, Evan Bayh, Baron Hill, Jill Long Thompson and Tim Roemer. Former IU President Michael McRobbie and former IU Bloomington Provost Lauren Robel attended. Yes, lots of “formers,” so I was especially happy to see Congressman Jefferson Shreve, who now represents Columbus.
The audience certainly skewed toward those of us with gray hair, whose days in full-time public service tracked Lee Hamilton’s and are behind us. But my hunch–my hope–is that the Hamilton family’s target audience were the youngsters in attendance, who might draw inspiration from the life of a preacher’s kid from Evansville elected to the U.S. House of Representatives 17 times, who embodied bipartisanship in Congress, collaborated with countless world leaders and counseled Presidents, yet was always present for his family, always curious, a lover of poetry.
Perhaps the youngsters drawn to public service might conclude, “Maybe it’s not an either/or choice. Look at Lee Hamilton’s amazing life.”
Another amazing life was lived by Providence Benedict.
To our younger supporters, yes it’s true that if you live long enough you’ll find yourself attending far too many funerals. Last Wednesday, I joined hundreds of her admirers in providing a fitting sendoff to Prov Benedict. She was a teacher and social worker by education, training and disposition, even as her path took her into politics and government, always for the right reason, never as self-aggrandizement or resume-building. She could be caustic and a bit salty—she once shut down a disagreement by calling me “a fancypants lawyer” and always teasingly referred to me as “Bill MONroe”—but she was an unrepentant idealist.
The priest who celebrated her funeral mass, Fr. Jim Farrell, knew Prov and clearly admired her. He repeated John 11: 17-27 from memory and in his homily compared Prov to Lazarus’ grieving sister Martha, who understandably asked Jesus why he hadn’t arrived earlier, but even in her despair had not lost faith. Prov always kept the faith, both in our sacred and secular institutions, especially our democracy. Her opening greeting to new residents of Marquette Manor was, “Have you transferred your voter registration yet?”
Prov’s niece reminded us of the four things hospice experts encourage us to say to the dying: “I love you;” “Thank you;” “Please forgive me;” and, “I forgive you.” When Fr. Farrell encouraged us to speak silently to Prov, I repeated the first three several times. Bill MONroe had nothing to forgive sweet Prov for.
Next Tuesday, May 5, is primary election day. If you haven’t already early-voted—it’s now a verb—don’t forget to do so. And ask yourself, “Why do we elect a county recorder in a partisan election?”
Our friend Abdul-Hakim Shabazz—everyone calls him “Abdul”—asks a very provocative question, “Why do we have taxpayer-funded elections to choose a political party’s nominees?” He notes that replacing closed party caucuses and conventions with open primary elections was a reform intended to wrest control from party bosses but now perpetuates entrenched party interests. Fair point, but it ignores the impact of gerrymandering.
Perversely, gerrymandering has turned the primaries into the only election in which voters can choose their elected officials. It’s the reason the MAGA/Trump/Braun/Beckwith/Rokita/Morales wing of the Indiana GOP recruited candidates to primary (the verb) incumbent Republican state senators who voted against mid-decade re-gerrymandering of Indiana’s congressional districts.
Hey Abdul, you might add another argument in favor of going back to closed caucuses and conventions: Hoosiers would be spared the godawful negative ads currently assaulting our senses, at least until the fall!
Abdul could have also questioned why Hoosiers taxpayers fund the election of a party’s state convention delegates and precinct committee people. In a mid-term election, state convention delegates select their party’s nominees for Secretary of State, Treasurer and Comptroller (f/k/a Auditor). The careful, intentional recruiting of supportive state convention delegates was the pathway to victory for insurgent GOP candidates Todd Rokita in 2020, Diego Morales in 2022 and Micah Beckwith in 2024.
Both the Democratic and Republican conventions this year appear headed to spirited contests for the Secretary of State nominations. If you care who your chosen party nominates for Secretary of State, you need to figure out which state convention candidates on your ballot are pledged to your preference. This is no mean feat, because there is no public source for this granular information. Accordingly, if you want to vote for like-minded state convention delegates, you need to call the campaign of your preferred Secretary of State candidate and get guidance on which convention delegates on your ballot support them.
Go to our landing page to find what you need for early voting, the noun.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Indiana Citizen or any other affiliated organization.
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about this commentary, contact Bill Moreau at bill.moreau@indianacitizen.org
