W. Mark Felt, the former FBI second-in-command who helped unlock the secrets of Watergate as the shadowy "Deep Throat," was regarded Friday as a man who stood for truth in deceptive times.
His memorial service on Friday in Santa Rosa was attended by 300 people, including Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The two Washington Post reporters wrote stories that uncovered the Watergate scandal and helped bring down President Richard Nixon.
Felt leaked information to Woodward about the 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington's Watergate building. Felt's identity stayed secret until he came forward in 2005.
Woodward called the former FBI official a "truth-teller."
“He steered and helped us, but the real help was in insisting that we do our job,” Woodward said. “He always said, ‘Get to work. Dig. The story is there. Put it together. See the pieces.’ The subtext always was ‘Are you dumb? Don’t you get it?’”
Felt died last month at his home in Santa Rosa. He was 95.
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