Salt Lake City, UT—

Mitt Romney stepped off the campaign trail this morning to attend the funeral of the president of the Mormon Church, Gordon B. Hinckley. Sat next to his wife, Ann in the 2nd row of the VIP section he was right behind U.S. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid,–also a member of the LDS church.

Romney sons Matt and Josh also attended the funeral. Josh took a redeye flight to Salt Lake City from Alaska where he was campaigning for his father.

Thousands of mourners joined the Romney family at the Latter Day Saints Conference Center to mark the passing of the spiritual leader. The service began with the next presumptive head of the church, Thomas S. Monson. Various family members and church leaders read from Mormon scripture, secular poetry like Longfellow, and even a message of condolence from President Bush and the First Lady. They praised Hinckley known as the “great communicator” for explaining and publicizing the religion to the American people. Most notably, in a 1996 interview telling Mike Wallace, “We are not a weird people.” Almost all of the speakers also spoke of the leader’s great humor.

Yesterday while campaigning in Denver Romney reflected on his relationship with Hinckley:

“During the Olympics I had the chance to meet with him two or three times, and to discuss matters about the Olympics and he was gracious and generous in his support.  And prior to running for office I got the privilege of meeting with him one more time and with a twinkle in his eye, he made the comment,” Romney told reporters, ‘“if you decide to run and you win it will be a great experience, if you run and lose it’ll also be a great experience.’ And he’s a man I respect a great deal and I want to pay my respects to his family and acknowledge the importance of his life in my own life.”

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There was no mention of Romney during the ninety-minute service. But, when he entered the conference center mourners surrounded him and shook his hand.

With Super Tuesday just three days away, Romney did eight local satellite interviews this morning and gets back on the trail right after the funeral, traveling to Minnesota before heading to Chicago and St. Louis tomorrow.

West Palm Beach, FL–

Governor Romney expressed sympathy today upon news of the death of Gordon B. Hinckley, the president of the Mormon Church. He died yesterday at age 97. He shared his feeling on the passing at an early morning press conference:

“We will miss him as a family, respect him as a man of great character and courage, but particularly his humility and ability to touch the lives of each individual is something for which he will long be noted. His ability also to talk to people throughout the world and to make close relationships with people in the public sector and in the media distinguish him as one of the great leaders in our faith,” Romney continued, “We will miss his leadership.”

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The presidential hopeful said he didn’t meet Hinckley until he ran the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002. Romney said he met with the Mormon leader about building a medals plaza on church property. He said he was impressed by the amount of Salt Lake City details Hinckley was aware of, telling a story about how he knew a sewer system underneath a parking lot would be a problem if it were to be razed for the medals plaza.

Romney met with Hinckley while making his decision to become a presidential candidate, “He smiled and said it would be great experience if you won and a great experience if you lost.”

He said he did not know the leader on a “personal one-to one basis,” but talked about Hinckley’s memory:

“I knew him as a member of my church and saw him as a leader of great capacity, of great ability to reach out and touch a large number of people with a very personal and human connection,” Romney said, “And his humility and gentleness I think will always be a part of the memory we have of President Gordon B. Hinckley.”

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Romney hopes to go to Utah to attend Hinckley’s funeral, but that there is currently no date set.