PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Distinguished guests, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, were in Rhode Island Tuesday to say farewell to a dear friend of theirs, Mark Weiner.
Weiner, a longtime Democratic fundraiser and close friend of the Clinton Family, passed away last week after a battle with Leukemia. The East Greenwich native was 62.
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Another friend of Weiner’s – who attended his funeral service at the Temple Beth-El synagogue in Providence – was the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Eyewitness News Reporter Kelly Sullivan sat down exclusively with Jackson Tuesday afternoon.
According to Jackson, he first met Weiner during his run for president in the 80s. He said Weiner was selfless – he didn’t run for mayor or Congress, but he wanted to help others succeed.
Jackson said sitting at Weiner’s service felt like sitting at the United Nations because there were people from all different accomplished backgrounds waiting to pay respect to the man who helped them.
“All of the key forces in the Democratic party in the last 20 years were here today,” Jackson said. “But to see the children responding to Mark’s death, they want to be with him in some ways and with Susan and his family.”
Eyewitness News asked Rev. Jackson what all people, Republican and Democrat alike, can learn from Weiner.
“The power of selfless service and sacrifice and not being limited by race, religion, or region to have the capacity to care, with a big ‘C.’ When caring matters – and all human beings matter,” he said.
“Mark was not limited by his religious persuasion nor by his political persuasion.”
The Reverend said Weiner was such a close, personal friend, that Weiner was the godfather to his grandchildren. According to Jackson, all people can learn to be as caring, helping and selfless as Mark Weiner.
