Ward: 'To Marvin Zindler, there were no little people'

More than 1,000 people gathered at Congregation Beth Israel yesterday morning to bid farewell to Marvin Zindler, the legendary TV personality who died Monday. The theme of the funeral — attended by a variety of TV news colleagues, religious leaders and others — was the years of work Zindler put in on behalf of people who needed his help. That's how KTRK anchor Dave Ward remembered him:

"On television, as you know, he was flamboyant and he was loud, arrogant, bullheaded and opinionated. Off-camera, the man was very quiet and composed most of the time. But he was still very passionate in his work to help the helpless, lift up the downtrodden and fight for the rights of the common man. To Marvin Zindler, there were no little people," Ward said. "Marvin Zindler was truly the most amazing man I ever met. He was my friend and I loved him and I know he loved me, too."

Zindler became known as much for his tenacity as for his ever-bluer glasses and ever-whiter wigs. "He was a force of nature," KTRK's Melanie Lawson said. "There is no such thing as 'no' to Marvin. If he wants to get help for someone, you don't want to get in his way." Zindler's son Mark said his dad even tried to put his wife's kitchen on his rat and roach report: "Let me tell you who won that deal," Mark Zindler said. But seriously, he said, Marvin was a family man through and through. "He taught us the importance of family, and it was everything to him, and I'm not kidding you — everything," Mark Zindler said. "He was the captain of the ship until, believe me, the very last day." (Speaking of family, KTRK reports on The Rev. Bill Lawson's remarks at the funeral: Lawson said Marvin and his family argued for the first time the night before he died. The family was worried that Congregation Beth Israel wouldn't be large enough for the funeral, but Zindler wasn't concerned: "Marvin said in characteristic Zindler style, 'That's not my problem,'" Lawson said.)

After the service, Zindler was buried at Beth Israel Cemetery. If you're interested, KTRK has clips of some of the speakers at Zindler's funeral, and the service will be re-broadcast at 8 a.m. Saturday on Comcast Channel 314. KTRK also has clips of some Zindler reports from the '70s, including his story on the closing of the infamous Chicken Ranch. Check 'em out for a healthy dose of nostalgia — and some extremely wide neckties.