A black drape now hangs above the door of U.S. Rep. John Lewis’ office in the U.S. Capitol complex, and the bronze nameplates have a black ribbon across them. Congressional colleagues and staff taped notecards on the door expressing their love and grief.

Lewis, a civil rights hero who represented Atlanta in Congress for nearly 34 years, died Friday at age 80.

“Rest in peace and power, John,” U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, wrote in blue ink. “Thank you for the work you did to lift up so many others. While the Capitol feels emptier without you, your spirit inspires me and so many to keep marching. March on!”

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat, said he and other colleagues are mourning Lewis on both a professional and a personal front, making it all the more painful.

“As good as he was to the whole country, as significant as he was to American history, he was a better friend,” Kildee said.

Lewis hand-picked Kildee to cast his proxy votes under special coronavirus rules and as he underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer. Kildee, who on Monday still referred to Lewis in the present tense, says he considers it his privilege.

“There is no person more associated with the sacred right to vote in our lifetime than John Lewis,” he said. “To be able to execute his vote — to cast his vote for him — is an honor I will be able to keep with me until the day I die.”

>>Read MORE on AJC.com.

Cox Media Group