Former governor to lie in state at Capitol
White’s body will be brought to Austin after funeral in Houston.
Former Gov. Mark White, who died Saturday in Houston, will lie in state Thursday afternoon in the Capitol Rotunda so members of the public can pay their respects to one of the last Democrats to lead Texas.
Announcing the arrangements on behalf of White’s family, Gov. Greg Abbott said his predecessor’s funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Second Baptist Church in Houston.
Afterward, White’s body will be brought to Austin and will lie in state in the Rotunda — where his portrait has been draped in black — from noon to 3 p.m. Thursday. White will be buried in the Texas State Cemetery in East Austin during a ceremony for family members, Abbott said.
Texas and U.S. flags will remain at half-staff until sunset Thursday.
White, one of the last leaders of the Democratic Party’s conservative wing, served as attorney general for four years beginning in 1979, when he clashed frequently and publicly with Republican Gov. Bill Clements, setting up a rivalry that defined Texas politics through the 1980s.
White took on Clements in 1982, defeating the Republican despite being vastly outspent. His time in the Governor’s Mansion is best known for education policies that included teacher pay raises, limits on elementary school class sizes, a basic-skills graduation test for high school students and a tax increase to help pay for schools.
Clements unseated White after one term in office in 1986.