Sandy never knew that he was a great man. He was so humble he could not accept that title. I tried to get through to him, but failed.
Anyway, he was not only a great man, he was also a good man.

Neither he nor I are very religious, but this has always given me some comfort:

So live, that when your summons comes to join that innumerable caravan
That moves to that mysterious realm where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death; thou go, not like the quarry slave at night, scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave like one who wraps the draperies of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams.(William Cullen Bryant)