Russert’s death has been a shock to all. He suffered a heart attack on Friday, while at work in the NBC Studios in Washington, D.C., when he was struck with cardiac arrest. He was unable to recover despite resuscitation efforts.

He was only 58. His personal physician said the moderator had asymptomatic coronary artery disease that was kept under control with medication and exercise. The doctor was shocked himself by the death, especially since Russert had performed well on a stress test in late April.

Russert is survived by wife Maureen Orth, a Vanity Fair journalist, and son Luke. They, and many others, have been present at Wednesday's funeral. Russert managed to summon even when dead the top political figures of our day. First of all, the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees, Barack Obama and John McCain, who had to sit next to each other at the family's request.

The ceremony, which has taken place at Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, managed to also gather Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Madeleine K. Albright, a secretary of state in the Clinton administration, and former Senator Bob Dole, to name just a few.

The media was also there through its top figures, Russert's colleagues who appreciated him and evoked his memory in several speeches both at the morning funeral and the afternoon service.

The epic funeral, well-fit for a man whose personality was of epic proportions, followed a remarkable tribute on NBC during Sunday’s broadcast of Russert's show. The seat that Tim Russert occupied throughout the years was empty this Father’s Day but the love was there as host Tom Brokaw and his group of guests reminisced about the remarkable moderator.

Brokaw and his guests Mike Barnicle, James Carville, Mary Matalin, PBS news host Gwen Ifill, Doris Kearns Goodwin, the show’s executive producer Betsy Fischer and by satellite, Maria Shriver, did celebrate the life and work of Russert but there were also emotional moments and there were tears too, from the host himself.

The panel remembered Russert as a thorough, rigorous journalist who did not shy away from asking his guests, especially presidential candidates, tough questions but who was also greatly appreciated and sought after.