In the coming days until he his laid to rest, we will be hearing and seeing much about the remarkable life of R. Sargent Shriver, whose long distinguished career as a public servant touched millions around the world.

One of the saddest yet poignant clips I saw when his death was announced Tuesday showed Shriver at his wife Eunice Kennedy Shriver's funeral in 2009. Totally uninhibited and in a wheelchair, Shriver is seen frantically waving goodbye at his beloved wife's coffin.It was a childlike gesture and one that could not be scripted or rehearsed for the cameras. Although his incredible mind, ravaged by Alzheimer's disease, was in the throes of dementia, his love and compassion for Eunice still showed through.Son Anthony Kennedy Shriver called his parents' marriage a great love story. They were married in 1953, he, an assistant editor at Newsweek magazine, and she, the daughter of Joseph Kennedy, one of the most prominent names in American business and politics.Shriver's daughter Maria Shriver, who became a news anchorwoman and then the first lady of California, said one of the hardest things she had to confront concerning her father's declining mental state was the fact that he did not recognize her. The personal involvement with her father's illness inspired her to produce "The Alzheimer's Project," an HBO film based on her book, "What's Happening to Grandpa?" The film looks at how children and young teens cope with a grandparent's Alzheimer's.Sargent Shriver's historic achievements - including becoming the first Peace Corps director and leading President Lyndon Johnson's "war on poverty," which spawned programs like Head Start and Legal Services - are his legacy to our planet. But it takes a childlike moment, like the wave he gave at his departed partner's funeral, to prove that he was less about personal recognition and more about family - what really mattered most in his life.A statement issued by the Shriver family yesterday highlighted those values."He loved to make the world a more joyful, faithful and compassionate place," it said. "He centered everything on his faith and his family. He worked on stages both large and small but in the end, he will be best known for his love of others."