Marine’s family upset Governor came to funeral

Marine’s family upset official came to funeral

Pennsylvania governor says apologies will be sent

Written apologies will be sent to the family of a dead Marine who was upset that the lieutenant governor appeared uninvited at his funeral last week, Gov. Ed Rendell said.

Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll went to the July 19 funeral of Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, passed out her business card and made a remark about the state government being against the war, family members said.

“Whether you’re for the war or against the war, to say something like that to a relative of someone who just died in combat was just repulsive,” said Goodrich’s sister-in-law Rhonda Goodrich.

Rendell, during an appearance in Pittsburgh on Sunday, said written apologies will be sent to the Goodrich family, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. Rendell said he hadn’t spoken to Knoll about what happened.

“It’s not the business of state government to support the war, but our state supports the men and women who are fighting this war,” Rendell said.

Goodrich, 32, of Westwood, died July 10 in Iraq. His family told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week that they felt they were owed an apology by Knoll and didn’t understand why she attended the funeral in Carnegie.

“Knoll felt this was an appropriate time to campaign and impose her will on us,” Rhonda Goodrich said. “I am amazed and disgusted Knoll finds a Marine funeral a prime place to campaign.”

Knoll’s spokesman, Sean Pendrak, said on Monday that the lieutenant governor’s office would be releasing a statement on the matter later in the day.