Political powerhouses from Alaska and the nation will descend on Anchorage tomorrow to attend the funeral of former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens. Stevens and four others died Aug. 9 in a plane crash. GCI executive Dana Tindall, her teenage daughter, Corey, lobbyist and lawyer Bill Phillips and pilot Terry Smith were also killed.
Four people survived -- Phillips' 13 year old son, Willy, former NASA head Sean O'Keefe, his son, Kevin, 19, and lobbyist Jim Morhard. A spokesperson for the Stevens family said Tuesday that at least some of the survivors have expressed a desire to come to the funeral and are hoping to get clearance from their doctors to attend.
Stevens' funeral, which is open to the public, will take place at 2 p.m. at the Anchorage Baptist Temple.
Vice President Joseph Biden, and U.S. Sens. Daniel Inouye (D) HI, Mitch McConnell (R) KY and Lisa Murkowski (R) AK are expected to speak during the services.
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich (D) Alaska and U.S. Rep. Don Young will also attend, as well as Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell and former Govs. Sarah Palin, Frank Murkowski, Tony Knowles and Bill Sheffield.
Several dozen members of the Alaska legislature, other public figures and foreign dignitaries, have also indicated they will be at Wednesday's memorial.
Here's the full list sent out late this afternoon via email by Elliott Bundy and Mitch Rose, former Stevens' staffers who are assisting the family with arrangements:
Expected speakers (not in order of speaking:
Vice President Joeseph Biden
U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye, President Pro Tempore (D-HI)
U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader (R-KY)
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Expected attendees:
Vice President Joseph Biden
Former Senators
Howard Baker R-TN
Norm Coleman R-MN
Alfonse D'Amato R-NY
Dennis DeConcini D-AZ
Peter Domenici R-NM
Nancy Kassebaum R-KS
Mack Mattingly R-GA
Larry Pressler D-SD
John Sununu R-NH
Current senators
Mark Begich D-AK
Bob Bennett R-UT
Kit Bond R-MO
Thad Cochran R-MS
Chris Dodd D-CT
Orrin Hatch R-UT
Daniel Inouye D-HI
Mitch McConnell R-KY
Lisa Murkowski R-AK
Pat Roberts R-KS
Arlen Specter D-PA
Congressman
Don Young R-AK
Norm Dicks D-WA
Alaska governors
Sean Parnell
Sarah Palin
Frank Murkowski
Tony Knowles
Bill Sheffield
State House of Representatives
Speaker Mike Chenault
Bob Buch
Harry Crawford
Bryce Edgmon
Anna Fairclough
Max Gruenberg
David Guttenberg
Bob Herron
Lindsey Holmes
Kyle Johansen
Craig Johnson
Reggie Joule
Scott Kawasaki
Beth Kerttula
Bob Lynn
Charisse Millett
Cathy Munoz
Mark Neuman
Pete Peterson
Jay Ramras
Woodie Salmon
Bill Stoltz
Bill Thomas
Chris Tuck
Tammie Wilson
State Senators
Senate President Gary Steven
John Coghill
Fred Dyson
Dennis Egan
Johnny Ellis
Hollis French
Lyman Hoffman
Charlie Huggins
Albert Kookesh
Lesil McGuire
Linda Menard
Kevin Meyer
Donny Olson
Bert Stedman
Joe Thomas
Bill Wielechowski
Foreign Dignitaries and other Public Officials
The Honorable Lu Wenxiang, Deputy Consul General of China in San Francisco
The Honorable Zhang Hao, Vice Consul of China in San Francisco
Princess Mahina Raputuki, Diplomat from Easter Island
The Honorable Jennifer Loten, Consul of Canada in Anchorage
The Honorable Sung-kyo Oh, Consul of the Republic of Korea
The Honorable Hideo Fujita, Consul of Japan in Anchorage
Scott Blackmun, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee
Jack Potter, Postmaster General of the United States
Senior Generals representing every branch of the Armed Services.
The Stevens family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the North to The Future Foundation, which was established to recognize and honor the career of Sen. Stevens and to perpetuate public service in Alaska.
Donations and remembrances may be sent to:
701 W 8th Ave Ste 700
Anchorage, AK 99501
Anchorage, AK 99501