INDIANAPOLIS — Many politicians were at the statehouse in Indianapolis Wednesday afternoon, to speak at the memorial service for the late U.S. Senator Birch Bayh, and his legacy.

“We all a debt to Senator Birch Bayh,” Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett said. “He has a living legacy, that remains in all of us. His legacy lives on through the dedication of public service, that he has passed on to this noble Hoosier family.”

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb said Bayh is one of the most important political figures in the history of the state.

“If there is ever a Mount Rushmore of Indiana, surely Birch Bayh would be on it,” Holcomb said.

Birch Bayh’s son, Evan, a former Senator and Indiana governor, also spoke at the service. He mentioned that his father, a Democrat, did not care what party affiliation someone had when they had a job to do for the country.

“Some of his most significant collaborators were all Republicans,” Bayh said. “It didn’t matter to him. What mattered was doing what was right for the American people.”

“He knew there were greater threats to our nation’s liberty than members of a different political party,” Bayh added about his father.

Birch Bayh died in March at the age of 91. He served in the Senate from 1963 until 1981.