Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday remembered the late George Nigh as a man who put people ahead of politics.

“He came at other people with an outstretched hand, not a clenched fist,” Clinton said of the former Oklahoma governor, who died July 30 at 98.

Clinton, a friend of the former governor, delivered the remarks at Nigh’s memorial service at Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City. 

“He honestly believed that public life could be decent and honorable and that people could be helped, not so much with a hand out as with a hand up,” Clinton said.

He described Nigh, a McAlester native and  former teacher who was twice elected governor, as a person who made a decision to be happy, uplifting, positive and loving.

“I am convinced that one of the reasons that he lasted 98 years and had all of his marbles all the way to the end (was) because he made good choices,” Clinton said.

Clinton said he and Nigh were both elected governor the same year. Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas. 

Read the full story at Oklahoma Voice.