NEW CONCORD, Ohio - The residents of John Glenn's hometown in eastern Ohio say he never forgot where he came from and always made time to talk with anyone who wanted to visit.

Flags around New Concord have been lowered and the university where he was a trustee held a moment of silence before a basketball game Thursday after the former astronaut and U.S. senator died earlier in the day.

Glenn became a national hero in 1962 when he became the first American to orbit the Earth.

George St. Clair is on the board of the John and Annie Glenn Museum housed in Glenn's boyhood home.

He tells The Columbus Dispatch that anyone who's lived in New Concord for a while knows the Glenns.

He says the town has lost a hero and a friend.