MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's note: The service has since concluded. You can watch the full livestream on our YouTube channel, or below.
President Joe Biden, Governor Tim Walz and senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar will speak during the memorial service for former Minnesota Senator and Vice President Walter Mondale on Sunday afternoon.
Mondale, who was born in Ceylon, Minn. in 1928, died of natural causes at the age of 93 on April 19, 2021, in Minneapolis, surrounded by his family.
Before running for president in 1984, Mondale served as Minnesota's Senator from 1964 until 1976 when he became the vice president under Jimmy Carter through 1981.
The memorial service for Mondale will be held at the University of Minnesota's Northrop Auditorium and will begin at 1:30 p.m. Sunday and is expected to conclude by 3 p.m.
Mondale was a graduate of the university and its law school, and the law school building is named in his honor. The service plans a performance of “Tomorrow” from “Annie,” and a closing by the university's marching band, which will send people away with the “Minnesota Rouser” fight song.
The University of Minnesota ROTC will begin the service by presenting the flags and will be greeted by Walz. Biden is expected to speak at about 2:25 p.m.
The service will be live-streamed on KARE 11 and on KARE's YouTube channel.
The list of speakers expected at Sunday's service includes:
- President Joe Biden
- Gov. Tim Walz
- Sen. Tina Smith
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar
- Rev. Tim Hart-Andersen of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis
- Joan T. A. Gabel , University of Minnesota President
- Larry Jacobs, Humphrey School of Public Affairs Professor
- Ted and William Mondale, Mondale's sons
- Jon Meacham, presidential historian
Biden has described Mondale as “one of our nation’s most dedicated patriots and public servants.”
Sen. Klobuchar, who spoke with KARE 11 prior to Sunday's service, said while it will be great to see Mondale's friends and family, the memorial is more relevant now than before.
"I mean, we are in a fight for democracy around the world," she said. "And that was something that was near and dear to his heart. He loved our own constitution, of course, but he also was such a powerful figure on the world stage."
Mondale followed a trail blazed by his political mentor, Hubert H. Humphrey, serving as Minnesota attorney general before replacing Humphrey in the U.S. Senate.
He lost one of the most lopsided presidential elections ever to Ronald Reagan in 1984. He carried only Minnesota and the District of Columbia after telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won. But he made history in that race by picking Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, of New York, as his running mate, becoming the first major-party nominee to put a woman on the ticket
Mondale remained a revered liberal elder, with a long list of accomplishments, and went on to serve as ambassador to Japan under President Bill Clinton. But he wasn't done with politics. In 2002, at 74, he was drafted to run for the Senate again after Sen. Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash shortly before the election. Mondale lost the abbreviated race to Republican Norm Coleman.
Biden paid tribute to Mondale at the time of his death last year, saying: “There have been few senators, before or since, who commanded such universal respect. ... It was Walter Mondale who defined the vice presidency as a full partnership, and helped provide a model for my service.”
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