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Former Secret Service agent from St. Louis remembers President Bush

"He was always great with my kids," Billings said. "They would run up to him and give him dandelions and he would say, 'Hey, can I take them out on the boat?'"

ST. LOUIS — Kevin Billings comes from a long line of law enforcement. His grandfather and father were both police officers in the St. Louis area. He followed in their footsteps. He was an officer in the St. Louis County Police Department and then applied to be a Secret Service Agent.

Billings was eventually assigned to President George H.W. Bush’s detail. Billings spent three years serving Bush while in the White House. He sometimes drove the President, and also traveled with him.

“I was with him with President Gorbachev. Oddly enough, the two of them became very good friends,” Billings said.

Billings also spent two years with President Bush after he left office, splitting his time between Houston and Maine.

“It was interesting to watch him grow through losing the election because I know it was a hard hit for him,” Billings said.

During that time, Billings got to know President Bush and the entire Bush family on a more personal level.

“He was always great with my kids,” Billings said. “They would run up to him and give him dandelions and he would say, ‘Hey, can I take them out on the boat?’”

Billings left the President’s detail and later retired after 21 years in the Secret Service. He last saw President Bush about five years ago.

“He was sitting in a wheelchair and I went up and talked to him, and I asked, ‘How are you doing?' And, he said, 'The Parkinson's is taking my legs.’”

As Billings watched the funeral for President Bush, he remembered him, not just for his service to our country, but for a man who was kind and gracious.

“President Bush, everyone he met, was a friend,” Billings said. “And, everyone he met, no matter how short, felt that Pres Bush was their friend.”

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