John Glenn stands for a portrait, originally published in 1964. Credit: Courtesy of NASA
Ohio State is set to hold a celebration of John Glenn’s life on Saturday.
Glenn, a former marine, astronaut and U.S. senator representing Ohio, is the namesake of OSU’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs. The Cambridge, Ohio, native died last week at age 95.
The service at OSU, scheduled from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Mershon Auditorium, is set to follow Glenn lying in state at the Statehouse on Friday, from noon to 8 p.m. Both events are public, although tickets are required for the OSU event. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis starting at 9 a.m. on Thursday, according to a university news release. Details on where to pick them up have not been finalized, but are to be announced on the website for the College of Public Affairs.
Glenn’s death on Thursday drew comments from public officials across the state, as well as the country. In the news release announcing Saturday’s ceremony, University President Michael Drake commended Glenn’s “modesty and grace.”
“We look forward to welcoming John Glenn’s family, his colleagues and friends from all over the world to celebrate a lifelong public servant who touched so many with his wisdom, modesty and grace,” he said. “We were fortunate as a nation to bask in the glow of his courage and commitment.”
A live stream of the event will be available here.
