The nation is mourning after the passing of Former President George H.W. Bush.
A veteran career politician and family man, President Bush was considered by many to be a humble leader.
But what you may not know is the former president visited southern Oregon several times and developed a relationship with the natural beauty that kept bringing him back.
“Just wonderful, the whole thing,” President Bush said on one such visit. “I feel rejuvenated.”
President of NBC5/NBC2 Patsy Smullin explained, “He was a very smart, nice, kind, understated guy. The other is that a lot of our viewers don’t know he had extremely close ties to Oregon.”
While a larger than life figure, those that knew him say he was just like anybody else.
Michael Burrill once hosted the former president. “He and his wife were a couple that you could really… I mean use the word ‘love,’” Burrill said. “You could be with them and care about them deeply because they were somewhat common people. They were easy to be with.”
Burrill remembers when he first met the president back in 1992 during his run for a second term.
Burrill said the times he met the president, Mr. Bush was his honest self—cameras or no cameras.
“Often the politics gets in the way and there’s demands put on somebody where they can’t just let their hair down and be a common person and he was able to do that,” Burrill explained.
More often though, the president came to southern Oregon to connect with its natural wonder, the friends here and to find the chance to take the occasional break and enjoy life.
Bush was 94. He served as the 41st President of the United States and is survived by his five kids including Former President George W. Bush and many grandchildren.
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