WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President George W. Bush says he told his father just before he died that he had been a “wonderful dad” and that he loved him. Delivering a eulogy at the elder Bush’s funeral on Wednesday, George W. Bush said his father’s “last words on earth were ‘I love you, too.’”

George W. Bush extolled his father, not only for his service as president but also as a role model as a loving husband, father and grandfather.

Bush choked up at the end of his eulogy before regaining his composure. He patted his father’s flag-draped coffin twice as he went back to his seat at the Washington National Cathedral. Former first lady Laura Bush wiped her eyes with a tissue as her husband sat next to her.