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Dignitaries, Regular Ohioans and Others Gather to Remember John Glenn

John Glenn Casket
KAREN KASLER
/
OHIO PUBLIC RADIO
Annie Glenn at the side of her husband's casket. Glenn lay in state in the Ohio Statehouse before a march through Columbus and memorial service at Ohio State University.

Ohioans from all over the state have converged on the Statehouse today to pay their respects to American icon John Glenn, who lies in response in the Capitol’s Rotunda. Statehouse correspondent Jo Ingles caught up with a few of those people and files this sound portrait.

Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. He explored space a second time when he was in his 70s.

. Glenn, a Democrat, was a four term U.S. senator, the longest serving senator in Ohio history. He was also a U.S. Marine pilot who served in several missions during World War II and the Korean War. Glenn was 95 years old when he passed away last week. He leaves behind his two children and his wife Annie, to whom he was married 73 years.

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.