Gov. Cuomo eulogizes father as poet, crusader

82-year-old Democratic Party icon died Thursday.

Former Gov.

NEW YORK — Mario Cuomo’s legacy as a liberal leader, powerful orator and immigrant’s son whose humble upbringing inspired his approach to public service were championed at his funeral Tuesday by an inarguable heir to his example — Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his son.

“At his core, he was a philosopher. He was a poet. He was an advocate. He was a crusader. Mario Cuomo was the keynote speaker for our better angels,” the younger Cuomo said in a eulogy.

The former three-term governor — who flirted with, but never made, a presidential run and turned down an opportunity to be nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court — was a humanist whose politics were partand-parcel of his beliefs, not strategies for pleasing people, the younger Cuomo said.

He was, Andrew Cuomo said, “anything but a typical politician.”

Dignitaries, including Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder and Mayor Bill de Blasio, gathered to mourn the 82-year-old Democratic Party icon who died Thursday, hours after his son was inaugurated for a second term.

Pallbearers at St. Ignatius Loyola Church included Cuomo’s younger son, CNN newscaster Chris Cuomo; some of Cuomo’s daughters read Bible passages.

On Monday, hundreds waited in a line that stretched more than a block to pay their respects at Cuomo’s wake. Vice President Joe Biden, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and actor Alan Alda were among those who paid tribute.

As governor from 1983 to 1994, Cuomo was recognized for his eloquence and for powerful appeals for social justice that blended liberal ideals with his life experience as the son of an Italian immigrant grocer.