Funeral services were held today in Atlanta for baseball great, businessman, and philanthropist Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron.
Former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton made remarks during the funeral service at Friendship Baptist Church.
Carter, spoke via video, and said that he was inside Atlanta Fulton County Stadium when Aaron broke the homerun record with his 715th. Carter said that he and Aaron were very close friends.
Clinton spoke from the church pulpit about how Aaron "never seemed puffed up when he was bangin' alot of homeruns, it was like he always knew that the gift could go away and you couldn't take it for granted."
Former President Clinton added that after baseball "instead of being the man who used to be Hank Aaron, he just chased other dreams. He aspired to succeed in business and to acquire the means to help others do the things in their lives, and he did."
Clinton said that Aaron aspired to close the racial divide "not by tearing people down but by lifting people up."
Longtime friend former Atlanta Mayor and ambassador Andrew Young, in talking about Aaron as a boy having to run and hide from the KKK, said that Aaron "faced the evils of his time with no fear." Young added that Aaron "was a father to everyone in the Braves organization." Aaron went on to say that Aaron and "Bill Lucas, and Ted Turner made an impact on Atlanta that is golden. We have never been the same."
The baseball hall of fame member died Friday, January 22, at age 86. The FultonCounty Medical Examiner's office confirmed to V103/WAOK News that the cause of death was 'natural'.
Aaron is being laid to rest at Southview Cemetery in southwest Atlanta.