By Joe Baker/Daily News staff

Under a cloudy sky and a veil of summer-like humidity, state Rep. Paul W. Crowley was laid to rest at St. Columba's Cemetery in Middletown on Thursday.

St. Augustin's Church in Newport was filled to overflowing with dignitaries, friends and people whose lives were touched by the man who served Newport in the House of Representatives for 27 years. The funeral Mass was emotional with two of Crowley's children delivering moving and, at times, humorous personal tributes to their father.

His father was always guided by a strong moral sense of justice, Matthew J. Crowley said.

"The key to understanding my father was that helping people was in his nature. He was incapable of hatred," Crowley's son said. "Nothing was ever personal to him."

While going through her father's papers, daughter Meredith said she found a letter from his brother Michael when he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkey. Paul Crowley was only 15 when he got the letter, but he kept it and it obviously made a lasting impression on him.

"You really can't appreciate what an education means," Michael wrote, until you saw that, for Turkish children, "it was their only way out" of an impoverished life. That sentiment eventually formed the bedrock for Crowley's personal crusade for education during his General Assembly career, she said.

Delivering the homily, the Rev. Bernard A. Healey, governmental liaison for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, remembered Crowley as a man of passion, faith and good cheer.

"Robert Louis Stevenson once said, 'That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much, who has the respect of intelligent people and love of children, who has fulfilled his niche and accomplished his task.' Paul Crowley did that and much more." Healey said.

Pallbearers for the funeral were a group of Crowley's close friends and political colleagues, chosen by Crowley in the weeks before his death. They were: Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, D-R.I.; Senate Majority Leader Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport; Speaker of the House William J. Murphy, D-West Warwick; close friends Joe Brady, Chris Boyle and David P. Kerins; University of Rhode Island President Robert L. Carothers and former state Rep. Nancy Benoit.

An honor guard of political colleagues that included Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch lined the entrance to St. Augustin's both before and after the funeral Mass. Those in attendance included Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and former governors Bruce Sundlun and J. Joseph Garrahy.

As the casket was carried from the church, the Ancient Order of Hibernians Pipe and Drum Band played "Amazing Grace."

At the cemetery, Crowley's son Edward read a final tribute to his father.

"My father loved life and all it had to offer," he said. "He was taken from us too soon."

As a final tribute, State Police Lt. Darren Delaney sang a stirring rendition of one of Crowley's favorite songs, "Oh, Danny Boy."

On Bateman Avenue, one resident honored the longtime lawmaker in his own way, posting a "Re-elect Rep. Paul W. Crowley" sign on his front lawn.