Carl Vogel was one of 13 former state senators remembered Tuesday in a two-hour program honoring the lives of the former lawmakers who died in the last two years.
"Carl was a true son of the state of Missouri and a true son of Cole County - one of the oldest families in this county," former Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder noted, "and beloved by everyone who knew him."
Kinder remembered Vogel as "a gracious host," and noted Vogel's office on the Capitol's third floor offered lunch every Wednesday to senators and their staff members.
At a reception following the ceremony, son Jake Vogel - who succeeded his father as president of the local Coca Cola plant - told the News Tribune: "It was very heartfelt and humbling.
"Regardless of politics, Democrat or Republican, Dad was a very bipartisan, loving guy who tried to get along with everybody."
Kinder and Sedalia Democrat Jim Mathewson had served in the Senate with many of those remembered Tuesday and shared the duties of telling some of the stories about those former senators' service.
Mathewson noted two who participated in key events that changed how the Senate works.
One was former President Pro Tem William Cason, a Democrat, who on the last day of the 1973 session demanded to preside over the Senate chamber instead of then Lt. Gov. Bill Phelps, a Republican.
Cason ordered the chamber doors locked to keep Phelps out.
The state Supreme Court eventually ruled the president pro tem couldn't prevent the lieutenant governor from presiding but later ruled that was about the only power the lieutenant governor had in the state Senate.
Mathewson said Cason also should be remembered for sponsoring the state's open meetings/open records law, helping create the Veterans Commission and passing the public accommodations law preventing businesses from refusing service to someone because of their race.
Mathewson said former Sen. John Johnson, D-St. Louis, was one of the lawmakers who voted in October 1969 for the Senate's first-ever previous question motion to end debate on a bill.
Former President Pro Tem Ed Quick, D-Kansas City, had been a migrant farmworker during his boyhood, and served for years as a Kansas City firefighter after returning from his Navy service during the Korean War, Mathewson noted.
Kinder remembered Quick as "a gentleman's gentleman," who agreed to share the pro tem's duties with Kinder in the early days of 2001, after the November 2000 elections left the Senate with 16 Republicans, 15 Democrats and three vacancies.
"We worked out an agreement," he said, when legislatures in other states were unable to organize or produce.
The agreement was resolved when special elections resulted in 18 GOP senators and 16 Democrats, and Kinder became the sole president pro tem.
Mathewson and Kinder noted some of the Senate's most notable members in history were among those remembered Tuesday, including those Kinder called "some of the giants."
Those included Emory Melton, R-Cassville; John T. Russell, R-Lebanon; John Schneider, D-Florissant; and Harold Caskey, D-Butler.
"It was personal, and I was glad several family members, as well as close friends and staff members who worked with Harold were here," Caskey's widow, Kay Caskey, told the News Tribune.
Also remembered Tuesday were Vincent E. Baker, D-St. Louis County, who was in the Senate from 1955-58; Mary Groves Bland, D-Kansas City, 1999-2004; Donald J. Gralike, D-St. Louis County, 1973-76; Betty Sims, R-Ladue, 1995-2002; and Anita Yeckel, R-St. Louis County, 1997-2004.
Kay Caskey said it's a good thing the Senate holds the memorial service every few years.
"There's nothing like institutional memory and history, and reflecting on the different senators' careers," she said. "It's time that we make sure that people remember the Senate and what it stands for, and the checks and balances between the legislative, judicial and executive.
"It's a good history lesson."