TRIBUTE TO THE SPEAKER--Ohio House Minority Leader Ross Boggs, D-Andover, pauses at a statue of former House Speaker Vernal G. Riffe Jr., on the mezzaine level of the Riffe Center, in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, July 31, 1997. Riffe, who served as House Speaker for a record 20 years, died early this morning.

A MOMENT OF SILENCE--Ohio House Speader Jo Ann Davidson, R-Reynoldsburg, bows her head after calling for a moment of silence for former speaker Vernal G Riffe Jr., in the House Chamber, at the Ohio Statehouse, in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, July 31, 1997. Riffe, who served as speaker for a record 20 years, died early this morning.

THE HOUSE REMEMBERS VERN--Members of the Ohio House of Representatives bow their head for a moment of silence for former House Speaker Vernal G. Riffe Jr, in the House Chamber, at the Ohio Statehouse, in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, July 31, 1997. Riffe, who served as House Speaker for a record 20 years, died in Columbus early this morning. .

OHIO MOURNS RIFFE--Flags at the Ohio Statehouse fly at half-staff in honor of former House Speaker Vernal G. Riffe Jr. in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, July 31, 1997. Riffe died in Columbus early this morning.