George H.W. Bush remembered as 'the brightest of a thousand points of light'

WASHINGTON - In a state funeral that leavened pomp with humor, President George Herbert Walker Bush was celebrated Wednesday as a man who melded character with self-deprecation - a statesman who managed the peaceful end of the Cold War and patriarch of one of America's most successful political dynasties.

"To us, his was the brightest of a thousand points of light," said his son, President George W. Bush, in a funeral service at the National Cathedral in Washington - a reference to his father's oft-quoted call for volunteerism.

America's five living presidents were among the hundreds of dignitaries and elected leaders, spanning decades of public service, crowded into the pews to remember Bush, a one-term president whose collegial style and grace helped him become increasingly popular as the nation's political chasm widened.

"He accepted that failure is a part of living a full life,