"We will never know how much he's done until people have to read about it," said Alohanani Jamias. For her it meant welcoming the senator to his final resting place, not far from her parents lie too.

"All I've known is him being in Congress and the absence of him being there will be a big loss, so 'aloha' from all of us," she said.

It is the kind of farewell that comes from Hawaii and its people, for a man who will forever be, more than just a memory. 

"I think maybe five years from now, 10 years from now, they'll appreciate it that they came," said Brubaker.