Family, colleagues remember Treen

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Nov 3, 2009 - Page: 1A

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Former governors, congressmen and other political figures gathered at the State Capitol on Monday to pay their respects to former Gov. Dave Treen.

Treen, who died last week, was remembered as an honest and gracious man who served as a mentor to younger generations of politicians.

Mourners eulogized Treen as a statesman, straight arrow, true public servant and doting grandfather.

“Gov. Treen lived to serve others. … More importantly, he was an inspiration,” Gov. Bobby Jindal said.

For Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, Treen was a veteran politician who dispensed friendship and advice through periodic phone calls.

“I came to know him as a wonderful, sweet guy,” he said.

For former U.S. House Speaker Bob Livingston, Treen was a guiding force who influenced his legal and political careers.

“He was my mentor my entire adult life,” he said.

Treen’s son, David C. Treen Jr., said remarks about his father’s decency are the “salve that soothes the sting of death.”

The former governor — the first Republican to hold the office since Reconstruction — died Thursday in Metairie of complications from a respiratory illness. He was 81.

Treen’s wife, Dolores “Dodie” Brisbi Treen, preceded him in death.

State troopers carried Treen’s flag-draped coffin into the State Capitol’s Memorial Hall for a service that opened with a prayer and ended with a 19-gun salute.

The service brought Treen back for a final time to the capital city where he was born and where he was sworn in as governor.