Civil Rights Icon Rep. John Lewis to be Buried Thursday

U.S. civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis is set to be laid to rest Thursday after a funeral service in Atlanta.Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are expected to be among the mourners at the funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church, a historic site where  Martin Luther King Jr. preached.  Obama is expected to speak at the service.Lewis will then be buried at South-View Cemetery in Atlanta.He died last week from pancreatic cancer at the age of 80.Lewis served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 33 years as the congressman from Georgia’s 5th congressional district that includes Atlanta.Mourners lined the streets along the route where a hearse carrying Lewis’ body traveled Wednesday on its way to the state capitol.Many people stood in long lines to file past the flag-draped coffin, with viewing hours extended late to try to accommodate all who wanted to pay their respects.At a ceremony, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp called Lewis a “beloved Georgian, an American hero and a friend to all who sought a better, fairer, more united society.”Thursday’s services mark the last in a week of celebrations of Lewis’ life.  His body was carried Sunday across a bridge in Selma, Alabama where as a young man in 1965 he was among civil rights marchers beaten by state troopers.  His body lay in state for two days at the U.S. Capitol in Washington before being taken to Georgia. 
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