By Joe Baker/Daily News staff

NEWPORT - Hundreds of people - Democrats and Republicans, political colleagues and close friends - lined up Wednesday to pay their respects to the late state Rep. Paul W. Crowley.

Crowley died Monday after a 20-month battle with cancer, but his presence was felt in every aspect of the wake, held at the historic Colony House in Washington Square. In the weeks leading up to his death, Crowley planned the entire ceremony, including the music played and a video highlighting his life.

"This was all Paul," close friend and former legislative colleague Chris Boyle said.

When the doors of the Colony House were opened at 3 p.m., the line waiting to get in snaked halfway around the building and stayed that way for hours. As visitors filed in, they passed a table set up by the Newport Rugby Football Club featuring a large photo of the 1992 team that included Crowley. They then walked past a large flat-screen TV showing a slide show of Crowley's life, including numerous family photos and pictures of him with various well-known politicians, including President Clinton and former U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell.

A harpist played gently in one corner and a bagpiper from the Ancient Order of Hibernian's Pipes and Drums marched slowly outside the building playing "Wrap the Green Flag Around Me."

An avid lover of history, Crowley had asked that his wake be held at the Colony House, the first Rhode Island Statehouse.

The respect generated for the man who represented Newport in the House of Representatives for 27 years was international. Mary Twomey and Michael Frawley of Kinsale, Ireland, flew over for the services because Crowley was instrumental in setting up the relationship between the two cities.

"When he entered a room, he wouldn't just say hello," Twomey recalled. "He just started singing. He always lit up the place. I just had to come because Paul meant so much to us."

The respect for Crowley extended beyond political types. Jim Taricani, investigative reporter for WJAR-TV, recalled when he was on home confinement for refusing to name a news source in the Plunder Dome investigation. One day, he got a surprise call from Crowley who asked if it were OK to stop by and visit him, Taricani said.

"We had a real nice talk and he told me not to be afraid to go against the grain," Taricani said. "It was just a real nice gesture and it says so much about him that he would do that."

Social activist Henry Shelton came from Providence to pay his respects. He recalled that Crowley was instrumental in the first bill passed setting up a school breakfast program.

"He was responsible for feeding thousands of Rhode Island children," Shelton said.

Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. said he met Crowley before he became a judge.

"He was not a self-interested person," Darigan said. "He always seemed to have the best interests of his constituents and the state at heart and that's a great legacy to have."

Former state Rep. Nancy Benoit of Woonsocket served with Crowley for more than a decade, much of it together on the House Finance Committee.

"He was always optimistic no matter how bad things were. He would always try to find a solution if there was a problem," Benoit said.

Crowley never took political disagreements personally, said Mike Kehew, former Middletown Town Council member and ex-head of the state Republican Party.

"He always debated on a high level," Kehew said. "His politics were with a small 'p.'"

Crowley's ability to broker compromises was recalled by other people.

Wick Rudd, president of the Newport Hibernians, said 12 years ago state officials told the Newport rugby club it could no longer use the field at Fort Adams. Crowley arranged for a meeting of Department of Environmental Management officials and the team at the field and worked out a deal.

"He said, 'Let's talk about what's going to work for everybody,'" Rudd said. "He found a solution for a situation that seemed intractable."

Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, who paid his respects with wife, Sue, cited Crowley's passion for education issues that continued nearly to the day he died.

"We just had lunch in June. It was a gorgeous day and we had a table near the grass courts (at Crowley's LaForge Casino Restaurant)," Carcieri said. "I was picking his brain on education issues and the Board of Regents. I always enjoyed talking with him. Educating kids is not a partisan issue."

Crowley was first elected to the House in a special election in 1981, after then-Rep. James Mahoney was named House fiscal adviser. Mahoney recalled Wednesday talking to then-Speaker of the House Matty Smith about Crowley as a potential replacement once he moved out of the seat. Mahoney brought Crowley to the Statehouse and, after one meeting, Smith was sold on Crowley, Mahoney said.

"Honesty, integrity - that was Paul Crowley," Mahoney said. "People didn't agree with him all the time but they respected him."

"He was one of those people who (served politically) for all the right reasons," said Sen. Walter S. Felag Jr., D-Warren.

Several people noted Crowley's love of his Irish heritage. Twomey felt it was a vital part of who Crowley was.

"His heart was in Newport, but his spirit was in Ireland," Twomey said.