Two lights guided the lives and actions of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark: service and community.

Those who knew the couple repeated this theme in remembrances at a funeral Mass on Saturday morning at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis that was attended by former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Tim Walz and his wife, Gwen, and numerous other politicians, along with family, friends and community members.

The Hortmans were slain on June 14 at their home in Brooklyn Park in an attack believed to be politically motivated. The Hortmans were among four shot by a suspected assassin now facing federal and state murder charges. Vance Boelter, 57, is also accused of shooting state Sen. John Hoffman, a fellow Democrat, and his wife, Yvette. Both survived the attack at their Champlin home. Prosecutors allege Boelter also visited the homes of two other state lawmakers he had planned to shoot.“Two lights guided their life: service and community,” said the Rev. Daniel Griffith, who presided over the Mass for the Hortmans. “Melissa manifested a servant’s heart in her work as a legislator.”

The couple lived a life devoted to community, he said. They loved having visitors to their home, which was jokingly called “The Hortman Hotel,” he said, because everybody was welcome. They hosted monthly gourmet dinner groups with their law school friends and Mark held monthly card games. The couple also loved sitting on the deck of their home together for happy hour, he said.

“They shared a love for travel,” Griffith said. “Mark was a hobbyist with a curious mind” who loved mountain biking and making furniture.

“His children talked of his big smile, cheesy dad jokes, and having an indomitable spirit.”

Griffith also talked about Gilbert, a dog the couple had taken in to train as a service dog, but the golden retriever became very attached to Melissa.

When it came time for him to become a service dog and leave the family, “Melissa was wrecked and emotional,” Griffith said. “The family wonders if maybe Gilbert failed the assignment on purpose so he could head back to the Hortman house.”

Gilbert was euthanized after also being shot in the attack.

In speaking of the Hortmans’ children, Colin and Sophie, Griffith called them a “beautiful reflection of their humanity, compassion and their sense of justice in every way, in their intelligence.”

He spoke about the statement that Sophie and Colin Hortman released after their parents were killed:

“Plant a tree, pet a dog, try a new hobby like Mark would have, stand up for justice and peace. The best way to honor their parents is to do something to make our community just a little better for someone else,” he said. “Mark and Melissa lived this reality.”

‘She saw the humanity in every single person she worked with’

Walz gave a eulogy after the Mass, listing some of the ways that the couple made the state of Minnesota better, saying Melissa Hortman was the most consequential House speaker in Minnesota history, a close friend, a mentor to him and the most talented lawmaker he had ever met.

Hortman, who was first elected in 2004, helped pass an expansive agenda of liberal initiatives during the momentous 2023 session as the chamber’s speaker. With the House split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans this year, she yielded the gavel to a Republican under a power-sharing deal, took the title speaker emerita, and helped break a budget impasse that threatened to shut down state government.

Millions of Minnesotans now have better lives because Melissa and Mark Hortman chose public service and politics, Walz said.

“More kids in pre-K. Fewer in poverty. More kids in schools with the tools and teachers they need. Fewer with hungry students. More trees in the ground and clean energy coursing through the grid. Fewer roads and bridges at risk of failure,” Walz said. “More people in safe and secure housing. Fewer worrying about managing how to care for their loved ones. That’s the legacy that Mark and Melissa will leave behind for all Minnesotans.”

Walz painted a picture of the domestic life the couple led, mentioning Mark’s love of shooting pool and Melissa’s love of her garden where she “fussed over her lilies like they were a wayward member of that caucus,” he joked, eliciting laughter from the pews.

Their life outside of politics and public service took place in their kitchen, where Mark “fed his sourdough starter, Melissa mixed the margaritas and baked the cakes, and Gilbert sat there begging for scraps, and the sound of that kitchen filled with laughter.”

Walz said Mark was proud of Melissa and her biggest supporter.

He said that the couple were an example of how people were at the heart of all politics.

“It’s easy sometimes to forget, for all its significance, that politics is just people,” he said. “That’s all it is. Just a bunch of human beings trying to do the best they can. Melissa understood that better than anybody I knew. She saw the humanity in every single person she worked with. And she kept things focused on the people she served. Her mission was to get as much good done for as many people as possible. It was the Golden Rule instilled in her by her father and the passion to serve she learned from her mother.”

Mark’s focus was people, too, Walz said, and he was a beloved colleague and friend to so many people.

The governor said the best way to honor the Hortmans would be by following their example.

“Maybe it is this moment where each of us can examine the way we work together, the way we talk about each other, the way we fight for things we care about,” Walz said. “A moment when each of us can recommit to engaging in politics and life the way Mark and Melissa did — fiercely, enthusiastically, heartily, but without ever losing sight of our common humanity.”

‘There is much more work to be done’

Griffith said that the Hortmans’ children gave him permission to speak about how the guiding principles the Hortmans lived by were “antidotes to our present afflictions” as a state and nation.

“Here in Minnesota, we have been the ground zero place, sadly, for racial injustice, the killing of George Floyd just miles from our church today,” Griffith said. “And now we are the ground zero place for political violence and extremism. Both of these must be decried in the strongest possible terms as they are a threat to human dignity and, indeed, our democracy.

“Sadly, racial disparity, some of the most acute in the country, persists here in Minnesota with modest gains in some areas and widening gaps in others over the last five years. But friends, Minnesotans, this can be the ground zero place for restoration and justice and healing, but we must work together and there is much more work to be done. Your presence here is a sign that we can do that work,” he said.

On Friday, thousands of mourners streamed through the state Capitol in St. Paul to pay their respects to the Hortmans and Gilbert as they lay in state. Melissa Hortman is the first woman to lie in state at the Capitol. It was also the first time a couple has lain in state there, and the first time for a dog.

Before the Hortmans, 19 people had been accorded the honor. The first was Civil War veteran William Colvill in 1905.

After the service, Walz presented the Hortman children with U.S. and Minnesota flags that flew over the Capitol on the day their parents were killed. A private burial will be held.

Alex Derosier contributed to this report, which includes information from the Associated Press.