Lawmakers remember former Michigan Sen. Carl Levin as humble, down-to-earth

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Michigan's oldest serving senator, Carl Levin, died Thursday at 87.

Lawmakers remembered Levin's accomplishments as they mourned the Democratic political leader.

"He would look at problems, he would look at something that needed to be solved and say, ‘How do we do it?’" Congresswoman Debbie Dingell said.

Levin was close friends with Dingell's late husband, John, who died in 2019.

"Carl Levin was one of the most down-to-earth, humble men you knew," she said.

Read More: Friends, colleagues remember Carl Levin

Sen. Gary Peters, who succeeded Levin in Washington, spoke about words of wisdom the legislator told him.

"At the victory party he told me, ‘Gary, just remember to never forget where you came from and also remember the people back home -- they all expect us to get things done and that means we have to find common ground,’" Peters said.

Levin was respected by allies and political foes alike.

Oakland County Republican Rocky Raczkowski, who ran unsuccessfully against Levin in 2002, recounted a story about the late senator intervening in the rescue of airmen in Egypt and stranded at a hospital after a terrorist attack.

"The embassy couldn’t help; no one could help, and they called me and I contacted Sen. Levin, it was well after midnight. He took my call and within 10 hours there was an airlift from a base in Germany," Raczkowski said.