Mr. Rogers Memorial Draws Thousands

[Brett Ferino]

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Around 2000 mourners gathered in Pittsburgh on Saturday (May 3) to pay tribute to Fred Rogers, the creator and host of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." Rogers died on Feb. 27 of stomach cancer and had a private funeral on March 1.

The memorial was attended by friends, family and strangers whose lives were changed by the popular entertainer, whose program ran from 1966 until 2001.

According to the Associated Press, the memorial included a performance by Itzhak Perlman. The composer and violinist played a Bach piece in honor of a man who touched his family and so many others .

"Fred Rogers played a very integral part in our household while our five children were growing up," Perlman said.

Teresa Heinz, a board member of Family Communications Inc., and wife of Mass. Senator (and presidential candidate) John Kerry, recalled just one of Rogers' greatest attributes.

"He was able to look past the differences that so often are all we can see in life. He found, instead, what we all had in common: the need to feel special," Heinz recalled.

Public Broadcasting Service President Pat Mitchell paid the ultimate tribute to a man who won five Emmys while in PBS' employ:

"No one else made the case better and continues to make it today... for a national public television system."