He was a statesman, a voice for the less fortunate, a “giant in the Senate” whose record of accomplishment touched everything from foreign affairs to education.

He was also a character, a son of privileged upbringing who could mingle with high rollers and regular people, never straying from the self-effacing manner and the eccentricities that made him who he was.

One day, he might be entertaining the ambassador from Italy, or the Dalai Lama. The next, he might be visiting a friend at a bar in Central Falls.

In either case, Claiborne Pell, a Rhode Island senator from 1961 to 1997, was right at home, friends and colleagues said yesterday.

“He was considered to be an aristocrat, he came from a wealthy family,” said former Gov. J. Joseph Garrahy. “His interest was always in helping the average person.”

That interest led Pell to do many things — join the Coast Guard just before the United States entered World War II, sponsor bills to create the National Endowment for the Arts, push for education subsidies, later named Pell Grants, to help the less privileged pay for college.

The education grants, perhaps his best-known legacy, were mentioned by many yesterday as word of his death spread and tributes began pouring in.

“He was someone who truly gave a voice to people who needed to have their voices heard,” said Congressman James R. Langevin, who worked for Pell as an intern after meeting him during a talk at Rhode Island College. “He never lost his touch with the common man. People really mattered to Senator Pell, and opportunity and pursuing the American Dream really mattered.”

“His record is extraordinary,” added Sen. Jack Reed: “His accomplishments will not be duplicated for a very very long time by anyone in the Senate.”

If Pell’s accomplishments tell part of the story, recollections of seemingly insignificant moments of his life also tell a part, shedding light on a man who was unabashedly himself.

Garrahy recalled having dinner at Pell’s home with the ambassador from Italy and then going to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was raining and the crowd got unruly, but Pell insisted everything was OK.

Garrahy said he and the ambassador eventually left, and afterward the ambassador told him, “You saved me.”

Eddie Beard, a three-term congressman who served from 1975 to 1981, recalled meeting the Dalai Lama at Pell’s Washington office. Before going in, Beard said he asked Pell how to address the man who was the spiritual leader of the world’s Tibetan Buddhists.

Pell, he said, replied: “Just say ‘Hello Dolly.’ ”

Beard also hinted that Pell’s penchant for hanging onto and wearing old belongings (shoes and clothes) extended beyond his wardrobe.

One time, Pell invited Beard and other friends to dinner at his house in Georgetown. After dinner, he passed out cigars.

“Normally, that wouldn’t be a big deal, but these were,” Beard said. “They were 40 years old. … They came from Cuba by way of his father.”

Reed recalled going to the commissioning of a Coast Guard cutter. There, at the decidedly formal event, was Pell, wearing a “pretty well-worn” pair of shoes.

“He said, ‘You know what, these are the shoes I had when I joined the Coast Guard in 1942.’ ”

Pell didn’t like the shoes just because they were old, Reed said. He liked them because of the bond he had with the Coast Guard.

But Pell’s openness also helped him make bonds with people.

Reed recalled Pell visiting his Washington office when Reed was a Congressman, shaking hands with everyone on his staff, even “the lady answering the phones.”

It was Pell’s way of treating everybody as important.

On one occasion, Pell and Reed met with the Secretary of Defense and then were picked up by a Reed staffer in a compact car.

Pell refused to get in the front seat.

“He was probably a foot taller than me, but he insisted that he get in the back seat because it was my driver, it was my car,” Reed said. “I looked back and his knees were resting against the seat.”

Those qualities, while not the norm for a rich and powerful politician, contributed to his success, friends and colleagues said.

He would listen to people who disagreed with him, he would reach across the aisle to Republicans, and he would disarm people with his honesty and fairness.

One clear indication of his legacy was the outpouring of sympathy yesterday from people that included Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. John F. Kerry and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

“Claiborne Pell loved Rhode Island and was beloved by its people,” Kennedy said in a statement. “He loved this country, and he served it with honor and distinction. And we are a better nation because of him.”

Reid, in his statement, said the Pell Grants revolutionized the country’s education system, opening doors for people who otherwise would not have been able to pursue a college education.

“Any student who ever received federal aid has Senator Pell to thank,” he said.

Beard, now living in Warwick, said there were many unique qualities that made Pell who he was. Among them: He was an aristocrat, a character, one of the best politicians Rhode Island has ever seen, and he was “a nice guy.”

“That’s what my memories will always be of him,” he said.

— With reports from John Mulligan

redgar@projo.com