Federal_9_21_dr With men adorned in bowties and

As the orchestra played The Star Spangled Banner, attendants rose to their feet, some wearing bowties, to dedicate and rename the former Federal Building after the late Senator Paul Simon.

However, the tone set Monday morning was not that of grievance for the lost senator.

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Simon, who died Dec. 9, 2003, was remembered not for what he was, but for what he did.

Each of the 10 guests who spoke outside of the Senator Paul Simon Federal Building at 250 Cherry St. agreed that Simon would not have wanted the day to be about him.

Simon’s Reverend, Robert Gray, said Simon would have wanted it to be about the people.

“If he were here today, he’d say the building is not so important,” Gray said. “It is the people that serve and work for the community.”

Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole reminded the nearly 350 attendants that the building is a resource to the Southern Illinois area, just as Simon was.

“I think it is true to say, anyone who met Paul Simon considered themselves to be a friend of Paul Simon,” Cole said. “Paul Simon had a will and a way about him that put people at ease.”

State and local officials honored Simon’s memory by explaining what kind of man he was and how he worked to better the community.

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“Paul, in my mind, I believe, was the best public servant I met in my life,” said U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello.

Costello and U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald said it was Simon’s respect for those who agreed and disagreed with him that allowed the former senator to accomplish so much in both the State and the Nation’s capital.

“He had the courage to stand up and speak out when he saw something he didn’t think was right,” Fitzgerald said.

Simon served in the Illinois General Assembly for 14 years before going on to become Lt. Governor, a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator.

He was a man that brought back the idea that politics is a public service, Gov. Rod Blagojevich said.

“In our time, Paul Simon’s politics was about noble ideas, principles, ethics and integrity,” Blagojevich said.

Simon, who began his political career in Carbondale, returned after he retired from Congress.

“When he came home to SIU, he turned down a $600,000 year job in Washington and other universities,” Fitzgerald said. “He turned them all down to come back home to his roots in Southern Illinois.”

In addition, Simon is also recognized at Southern Illinois University for his work as director of the University’s Public Policy Institute.

Simon’s son, Martin, who spoke at the ceremony, noted the dreams that his father had and some he never was able to accomplish.

He gave the example of Simon’s endowment goal of $10 million. However, at the time of his death, only $7 million was raised.

“I don’t think it’s about his achievements,” Martin Simon said. “It’s about the things the rest of us have yet to achieve.”

He urged attendants to look for any money they could spare, even if it was change from their couch cushions, to help reach his father’s goal.

Glenn Poshard, chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees, shared a story he heard many times from Simon.

Poshard spoke about a time when a woman approached Simon and expressed her concern about educational opportunities available for disabled people, like herself.

It was through this experience, Poshard said, that Simon helped write and pass laws to make education readily available to all children, including those with disabilities.

Through the work of Simon, Poshard said, SIUC has become one of the most handicap accessible campuses in the nation.