Former U.S. Sen. William Armstrong was remembered as a towering figure who shaped Colorado politics across six decades at a funeral service on Friday at Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch. But even beyond his influence in government, business and education, the hundreds who gathered to remember the Republican celebrated his Christian faith.

Armstrong died July 5 after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 79.

“Everything he touched was a success, and I think it was the dedication and the intensive work he put into it,” said former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown, who was elected to Armstrong’s Senate seat in 1990 when Armstrong decided against seeking a third term.

“I’ll remember him as Mr. Integrity,” Brown said. “His example helped a generation understand what true service to others is all about.”

Flags across Colorado flew at half-staff on Friday to honor Armstrong. The sanctuary was filled with music, remembrances and prayer as friends and family reached for superlatives to describe Armstrong’s curiosity, work ethic, sense of humor and grace.

“I fastened my seat belt and got ready for what I realized was going to be the ride of my life, and what a ride it’s been,” said Walt Klein, who first went to work in Armstrong’s congressional office and later managed his first Senate campaign. “For me and for hundreds of former congressional staffers and thousands of former campaign volunteers, working with Bill Armstrong was a life-shaping experience.”

Quoting Albert Schweitzer, Klein said, “The full measure of a man is not to be found in the man himself, but in the colors and textures that come alive in others because of him.'” Choking back tears, Klein concluded: “May we all continue to reflect the color and texture of the life lessons we learned from Bill Armstrong. God bless my friend Bill Armstrong, the most remarkable man I ever met.”

Terry Considine recalled a time when Armstrong offered to do whatever was needed when a campaign the two were supporting was hitting rocky shoals.

“That is so Armstrong,” Considine said. “There are not a lot of politicos who extend political capital for somebody else. There are not a lot of friends who come through when chips are down – they’re sympathetic, but they’re not prepared to do the hard work that Bill would do.”

A few weeks ago, Considine said he met with Armstrong and the two discussed his longtime friend’s imminent death.

“He was secure in his faith and impatient that he hadn’t finished all that he wanted to do,” Considine said with a tearful smile. “I offered to help, thinking there might be some small task, some errand to be run. Instead, he showed me his list – 146 items. He was working until the very end.”

Considine said when he saw Armstrong last, two weeks earlier, his friend had asked him, “‘Terry, when I die, may I take a message to your dad?’ He knew my father and I were very close, and it was typical of Bill to be trying to help others, even on his death bed.”

“Bill was more than my friend,” Considine said. “Bill was my hero, the model of the servant-leader, the model of what a man could be.”

Dr. Cherri Parks, vice president of Colorado Christian University, told the familiar story of Armstrong’s evangelical conversion, when a stranger, a dentist from Alabama from the Campus Crusade for Christ, visited his congressional office and opened Armstrong’s eyes to Jesus. (Armstrong would serve as director of the group after he retired from the Senate.)

Armstrong became president of CCU in 2006 and had announced his retirement this spring.

Anne Armstrong Norby recalled her father’s fondness for telling corny jokes – one went, Olympic skier Picabo Street was going to give money to a hospital, and after she did, the hospital was going to rename its intensive-care unit the Picabo ICU – and how he’d use his booming radio voice to announce what the family would be watching on TV: “‘Tonight’s starlight movie features Rin Tin Tin, Ho Chi Min and Gunga Din!'” But she said her father’s signature phrase was, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!”

“He made us laugh every single day, and he took care of us every single day,” she said. “Why did he do this? Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”

She emphasized that his devout Christianity was central to her father’s life.

“Most important to him was that his family and friends would know Jesus. Don’t be ashamed, my friends. If you’re on the fence, get off it,” she said.

“The smartest, most capable man I know, my dad, was completely convinced, completely devoted, completely compelled. Are you living a life which brings you joy? Like dad, are you wondering if this is all there is, if there’s something more out there?”

Armstrong’s son Wil – they shared a birthday 30 years apart – made the same point.

“The pinnacle of his career, as you’ve heard – it wasn’t business, it wasn’t counseling the president, it wasn’t serving in the Senate, it wasn’t leading and building a world-class university, it wasn’t good works and it wasn’t even a good name. It was – help me out – ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.'”

Armstrong was born in Fremont, Nebraska, on March 16, 1937. He attended Tulane University in New Orleans and the University of Minnesota and was a lieutenant in the Army National Guard. When he was 22, he bought the Aurora radio station KOSI-AM, the first of what would turn into numerous radio, television and newspapers he ran.

He was elected to a state House seat representing Arapahoe County in 1962 when he was 25, becoming the youngest legislator in state history. After likewise serving as Colorado’s youngest Senate majority leader ever, he was elected to represent the 5th Congressional District in 1972, winning reelection twice. Then in 1978 he unseated Democratic U.S. Sen. Floyd Haskell and won a second term in a landslide.

He is survived by his wife, Ellen, his two children, eight grandchildren and four granddaughters-in-law.

– ernest@coloradostatesman.com