The U.S. Post Office will honor former President George H.W. Bush, who died Nov. 30 at age 94, with a commemorative Forever stamp.
The USPS said Saturday that the first-day-of-issue ceremony will be held on the president’s birthday, June 12, at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas.
Robert M. Duncan, chairman of the USPS board of governors, will officiate at the dedication ceremony.
The 41st president guided the United States through the end of the Cold War and pushed for the creation of a multinational coalition that forced Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War, the USPS said.
Bush advocated for public service, and explained his vision of a nation of volunteers as “a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.”
Bush spent summers at the Walker’s Point compound his family has owned in Kennebunkport since the late 19th century.
The coastal enclave served as the summer White House during Bush’s presidency from 1989 until 1993. It also was an important place of stability for him and his wife, Barbara, who moved more than 30 times to accommodate his work as a businessman, CIA director and elected official.
“Walker’s Point is a home away from home, an anchor to windward,” Bush told the Bangor Daily News in 1990. “I cherish the time Barbara and I spend there.”
The portrait of Bush on the stamp is by award-winning artist Michael J. Deas. It is based on a 1997 photograph by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. Phil Jordan was the art director and stamp designer.
The stamp is available for pre-order now for delivery on or after the June 12 ceremony at usps.com/stamps or by calling 800-782-6724.
This article originally appeared on www.bangordailynews.com.
