SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota (Reuters) - Former U.S. Democratic Senator George McGovern was a friend, a mentor, a role model and a soft-spoken family man, mourners said on Thursday as they celebrated the passionate opponent of the Vietnam war who was defeated in the 1972 presidential race.

A photo of former U.S. Democratic Senator and three-time presidential candidate George McGovern with his late wife Eleanor sits next to his casket during a public viewing at the First United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota October 25, 2012. REUTERS/M. Spencer Green/Pool

McGovern, who was born and raised in South Dakota, died in Sioux Falls on Sunday at a hospice centre at age 90.

"George McGovern was a good and decent man," Vice President Joe Biden said at a prayer service in Sioux Falls for McGovern, whom he credited for giving him the courage to run for the U.S. Senate.

Biden said McGovern's call to end the war in Vietnam helped shape his political sensibilities more than anyone before or since. "I honest to God believed that I could maybe go help him end this war," Biden said. "I honest to God believed that."

McGovern suffered one of the most lopsided defeats in U.S. history in the 1972 election, winning only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, against a well-oiled Republican political machine headed by Richard Nixon.

Later, as Nixon's presidency unravelled in the Watergate scandal, bumper stickers saying, "Don't blame me, I'm from Massachusetts," and buttons saying "Don't blame me, I voted for McGovern," appeared.

"What people don't realize, had your father not been there, had your father never been in the Senate, so much more blood and so much more treasure would have been wasted," Biden told McGovern's children.

Robert Duffett, president of Dakota Wesleyan University, said the university, the city of Mitchell and the state of South Dakota "lost a dear friend" who had an impact worldwide.

"George McGovern spoke truth to power," said Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the national finance director on McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign.

McGovern was a mentor to many Democrats. His 1972 campaign workers included former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"When I think of George, I think of a man of uncompromising integrity who dedicated his life to serving our state and our country," said U.S. Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota.

Before the prayer service a steady stream of mourners viewed McGovern in a flag-draped dark wood casket that was flanked by photographs of the senator and flowers.

The soft-spoken son of a Methodist minister, McGovern was a fierce advocate in the fight against world hunger who continued to give speeches and write until shortly before his death. He served in the Senate for South Dakota from 1963 to 1981.

The senator had "an uncommon sort of patriotism that was expressed with great integrity and eloquence and the courage of his convictions," Thomas Knock, a professor at Southern Methodist University who is writing a biography of McGovern, said in a telephone interview.

McGovern's legacy stretches well beyond his terms in Congress and presidential bids, to include the fight against world hunger, AIDS and other social issues.

McGovern's funeral was set for 1 p.m. on Friday at the Mary Sommervold Hall in the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science in Sioux Falls.

• Malaysia tycoon Vincent Tan plans IPO of football club Cardiff City
• Google, like Facebook, in talks to buy Waze for about US$1bil
• Crown selling entire 10% in rival Echo, partly owned by Genting(Update)
• First edition of 'Great Gatsby' to be sold at auction, can fetch US$150,000
• Malaysia leads the way in Basel III debt
• Markets face rough summer ride as Fed pullback feared
• Wall Street sags, HP hits 52-week high
• Commodities trader sues BP, Shell others for alleged oil price fixing
• Billionaire Icahn seeks up to US$7bil for Dell bid
• Google faces new federal antitrust probe
• Goldman Sachs unveils checks on conflicts in bid to fix tarnished image
• Air Asia's Tony Fernandes to ‘fire up’ investors
• Maybank bullish on growth, to expand regionally under new leadership
• Khazanah appoints Nor Mohamed deputy chairman
• Lafarge Malayan Cement to finalise next expansion plans by August

• London's Heathrow airport closed after emergency landing
• Far East quake felt in Moscow, tsunami warning lifted
• Police make new arrests in London soldier killing
• Britain's press demands jailing of Islamist preacher
• Tsunami warning in Russia's Far East after 8.2 quake
• US bridge collapse sends cars, people into river
• Strong quake strikes off Tonga
• Jury fails to decide on US murderer death sentence
• One killed in Brazil giant fuel depot blaze

• Kingston leads, McIlroy in Wentworth woe
• LPGA plans 12-hole rounds in water-logged Bahamas
• Ryan Palmer sizzles with 62 to seize lead at Colonial
• Kelly overcomes scare to clinch title in KLGCC
• Time to make amends Garcia wants to meet Woods to defuse racist row
• American Johnson back to defend Colonial crown
• Rain dampens debut of LPGA Bahamas event
• Tianlang adds another US event to schedule
• Clock ticking for next golden generation
• Nadal wants to create history at Roland Garros
• Serena out to tame French Open demons
• Zheng Jie stuns Wozniacki in Brussels
• British Open: Ramy Ashour racks up 38th successive win
• Nicol David sails into quarter-finals of British Open in 35 minutes
• BAM must stop rewarding mediocrity or be doomed

• Please wait.

• Air Asia's Tony Fernandes to ‘fire up’ investors
• Singapore GDP growth surprises, beats economists’ forecast of contraction
• KL car number plates to bear ‘W1A’
• Tian, Tamrin and Haris released after remand denied (updated)
• Malaysia leads the way in Basel III debt
• Three held over May 13 statements
• Inventions a-plenty, but no real innovation
• Fernandes does his first firing in Apprentice Asia
• Wall Street sags, HP hits 52-week high
• Malaysia tycoon Vincent Tan plans IPO of football club Cardiff City