Mourners mark the life and death of Melissa and Mark Hortman with candlelight, music and silence

As the last rays of light gently touched down on the State Capitol campus Wednesday evening, Minnesota Orchestra brass players struck up “Amazing Grace,” and suddenly hundreds of people broke into song, or at least as much as could be expected through tears.

They were there to begin saying goodbye to state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, who were gunned down in their Brooklyn Park home early Saturday because of Melissa Hortman’s politics, and especially support for abortion rights, law enforcement officials say.

Unlike the fractious and chatty House over which Hortman presided for five years, the vigil included no speeches and no politics to speak of.

Instead, the vigil featured music that crossed culture and genre; the flicker of candlelight in a darkening sky; and reverential reflection about the gift of life and its finitude — all in stark contrast to the nation’s increasingly toxic political atmosphere.

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The orchestra performers played a rendition of “Make me a Channel of your Peace”; Hortman, a Roman Catholic, carried around a small prayer card with these words of St. Francis of Assissi on it, her mother said this week.

Hortman merely tolerated the spotlight and was not well known by the broader public, but she won fierce devotion from the countless people she mentored, Capitol staff, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor House caucus she led for more than eight years — and her Republican adversaries, too.

“She was my friend,” said Rep. Danny Nadeau, a Republican who represents the other side of District 34, which Hortman represented for two decades. “She’s an example of what a public servant should be.” The two worked on human services issues together.

The Red Lake Drum Group played “Prayer Song,” “Traveling Song” and “Bear Song,” the rhythms like a heartbeat for a community in need.

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Law enforcement officials say Hortman was on a list of targets compiled by the man they say is the killer. State Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, was also on the list. She said she’s spent the past five days alternating between states of grief, rage and numbness.

The vigil was helping, though: “I feel steadier now,” she said, even as Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” blended soaring hope and crushing despair in the same instant.

As they made their way out, many old friends seemed to be catching up, just as Hortman would have wanted.

Editor’s note: The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and uncovering stories other outlets can’t or won’t report.

This story was written by Minnesota Reformer Editor J. Patrick Coolican and originally appeared in the Reformer on June 19. Additional photos from Wednesday’s event appear at the end of the original story in the Minnesota Reformer.