In early 1988 Mike was up and off to church
for Sunday services. About 7:30 he
called home and said the Secret Service just called and Paul Simon is coming to
worship at St Paul! I hastily changed my
plans and got ready for church and told our kids to get ready for Sunday School
and I’d come home to get them.
I remember sitting on the left side about 3
rows behind Mr. Simon. He was in suit
and bow tie alone in the pew. Seated in the pew ahead and
bit to the left was a secret service agent.
Seated behind him and closer to the aisle was a second agent. Both agents wore trench coats the entire
service and had cords coming out of their ears and didn’t participate but were
certainly alert.
And there sat Paul
Simon participating fully with liturgy and hymn singing …he knew his way around
the hymnal!
Later I learned he was the son of Lutheran
missionaries to China and attended college at Dana. At that time, he was a U.S. Senator from
Illinois and running for President of the United States.
