WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The moderator's chair on NBC's "Meet the Press" stood empty on Sunday in remembrance of Tim Russert, the man who had occupied it for 17 years. 

The moderator's chair on NBC's "Meet the Press" stood empty Sunday in remembrance of Tim Russert. 

As the show's host, Russert became a mainstay of television journalism's political talk. 

He died Friday of apparent heart attack, according to the network. He was 58. The network said Russert collapsed while at work. 

Colleague and former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, who broke the news about the anchor's death, spoke on Sunday the familiar first four words of the news program, "Our issues this Sunday." He noted that those were the same words Russert had been recording for the show when he collapsed and died. 

"Our issue this sad Sunday morning is remembering and honoring our colleague and friend," Brokaw said. 

"He said he was only the temporary custodian," of this program, which he called a national treasure, Brokaw said. "Of course, he was so much more than all that." 

Brokaw sat among some of Russert's other colleagues in the front of the show's set, including Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin and political analysts Mary Matalin and James Carville, who is also a CNN contributor. 

"This is where you separated the men from the boys," said Matalin, who is married to Carville. "You weren't a candidate until you came on this show." 

A montage of clips from past years showed various politicians -- former President Bill Clinton, President Bush, former presidential candidate Ross Perot, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff -- sitting across the table from Russert. Watch politicians, journalists pay homage to Russert » 
What did the memorial montage show?
A montage of clips from past years showed various politicians -- former President Bill Clinton, President Bush, former presidential candidate Ross Perot, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff -- sitting across the table from Russert.