Mourners visit King's tomb to pay respects to his widow

<p>The respectful silence at the tomb of Martin Luther King Jr. was broken by a weeping woman, rocking and wailing between her sobs.</p><p>Dozens of schoolchildren who came to the site to learn more about King walked past and watched as other adults _ some with tears in their eyes, many dressed in business suits or hospital scrubs _ stopped by on their morning commutes to pay their respects to King and now his widow.</p><p>At the memorial near downtown Atlanta that Coretta Scott King built to her husband decades ago, people from all walks of life paused Tuesday to honor the woman's legacy after learning of her death. Some laid flowers and kneeled in prayer. Most stood and observed moments of silence, staring at King's tomb and its surrounding reflecting pool.</p><p>Upon hearing the news, Vernon Lyons was compelled to stop by a store and buy some white daisies to place at the tomb, which is in a courtyard at the center of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change _ started by King's widow soon after his assassination in 1968.</p><p>"The way she lived her life ... her strength after the death of her husband and the way she raised her kids, she was a very beautiful woman," said Lyons, who went out of his way to stop at the site while driving into work from his home in the suburb of Riverdale.</p><p>At the neighboring Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King preached and his widow remained a member even after his death, the telephone was ringing constantly with people wanting to offer condolence.</p><p>"We've lost a great black woman. She was solid. She was a lady. She's an American heroine," said Priscilla Oliver Manghan, a member of the church since 1979.</p><p>"She should be buried next to her husband," Manghan said. "They worked together as a team. She should be memorialized just as he was."</p><p>Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue ordered flags at all state buildings to be flown at half-staff and offered to allow the body of Mrs. King to lie in state at the Capitol. movement.</p><p>"For decades, she proudly bore the torch of her husband's legacy," the governor said. "Now she has passed it on to a new generation to keep the dream alive."</p><p>At the state Capitol, about a mile from the King Center, state lawmakers observed a moment of silence and then took turns taking the floor to deliver emotional speeches in honor of Mrs. King, calling her "the first lady of the civil rights movement."</p><p>"This is a women who certainly, in her own right, will be placed on the same mantel as her husband in terms of her global impact," said state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, a longtime civil rights activist.</p><p>State Rep. Calvin Smyre remembered working closely with King when he shepherded a bill that recognized the state holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. "It was one of the highlights of my career," Smyre said.</p><p>"She'll be sorely missed. Her leadership will be missed," he said. "She was living the dream of Martin Luther King."</p><p>----</p><p>Associated Press Greg Bluestein at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta contributed to this report.</p>