AG recalls governor-father's service

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - As the services for New Mexico's longest-serving governor near his son is remembering Bruce King's advice and his passion for helping the people of the state.

Attorney General Gary King on Thursday also thanked New Mexicans for their condolences and support.

Bruce King, a Democrat who served three four-year terms as governor, died Friday at the family ranch near Stanley at age 85. His body will lie in state at the capitol on Friday with the funeral being held at Moriarty High School on Saturday.

President Bill Clinton, who was governor of Arkansas when King became a mentor, will be among the mourners.

Gary King met with reporters Thursday and described his father as a man who never pushed him into the spotlight. His father's advice was priceless after he started his own political career, King added.

The attorney general said the pain of his father's death is soothed a little by knowing Bruce King enjoyed life right up to his final days at the family's ranch in Stanley.

“He felt like he had a wonderful life and that he was going to a much better place and that we should be happy for him,” King said. “And that we should carry on. I have to pick up the slack.”

Gary King vowed to carry on what he called a special legacy.
"He gave us a philosophy, a family philosophy of public service," King said. "I suppose that one of the things that strikes me is I have to pick up the slack."
King said all members of the King family are ranchers, and that people who work with the land are more comfortable with death than most.

Despite Bruce King's cowboy roots and twang he modernized state government beginning in the 1960s as Speaker of the New Mexico House and then for three separated terms as governor, his son said.

Gary King said he hopes those who loved his dad will honor Bruce King's memory by carrying on his commitment to New Mexicans in need who felt they never had a voice.

“There are a lot of things to be done for children in New Mexico,” King said. “I think there are a lot of things that need to be done to make New Mexico the place that he thought it should be.”

King said father never pressured him to take up politics and that he never felt the pressure of the long shadow cast by the popular governor.

But in his own career, Gary King said the most memorable moment came three years ago, when he was elected attorney general and saw the look on his father's face.

“He was very proud, the day he pinned the badge on me,” King said holding back tears. “He is very happy, and I am very happy that he survived to see me elected as the attorney general.”

Even though Bruce King enjoyed being called Governor long after his political career ended,
Gary King said his dad liked being Speaker of the House even more because he loved the process of making legislation.

King was the Speaker of the House when the capitol building known as the Roundhouse opened in the late 1960s.

On Friday Bruce King will lie in state at the capitol from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Moriarty High School Gymnasium with Lutheran pastor Rev. Dr. Russell C. Lee officiating.

Gary King said his father's funeral will be simple with only two speakers: the pastor and former President Bill Clinton.

Law enforcement officials have requested mourners coming to Moriarty on Interstate 40 use the town's middle exit (NM41) to access the high school. From I-40 go south on NM41 to Martinez Road and then east to 1st Street. Officers will be directing traffic from there.

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