WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - Hundreds of mourners greeted Vice President Joe Biden and his family with hugs and condolences as they paid their respects to his eldest son, who died of brain cancer last week.
Former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden was 46.
Beau Biden lay in honor Thursday in the state Senate chamber in Dover.
The vice president and other family members stood for hours in a receiving line at Legislative Hall, embracing and shaking hands with well-wishers.
The farewell tribute was to continue Friday, with afternoon and evening viewing hours at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Wilmington.
A funeral Mass was to be held Saturday at St. Anthony, with President Barack Obama delivering a eulogy.
House Resolution
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring Vice President Joe Biden’s son.
Before the resolution was approved on a unanimous vote fellow Delawarean Congressman John Carney spoke in favor of its passage.
The Delaware Democrat recalled that Beau Biden and his younger brother survived a car accident that killed his mother and baby sister just as his father was entering the Senate.
Carney said Biden leaves a legacy that “calls on each of us to be more gentle in our judgments.”
In short, he added. Biden “was one of the good buys.”
Carney also noted that many in his home state were hurting and wished the Biden family well in their time of grief.
In Delmar, local residents told Delmarva Public Radio's Rachel Taylor about their sense of loss at Beau Biden's passing.
Beau Biden Foundation Raise $125,000
The new Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children has received $125-thousand in just the first two days of its existence.
Fred Sears, head of the Delaware Community Foundation, told the Wilmington News Journal that there were more than 600 contributors.
Contributions came from around the world including a $20 donation from a woman in France.
The largest gift was $25-thousand with most of the rest under the $100 range.
The foundation has been established to honor Biden’s work to protect children from predators – something he emphasized as when he was Delaware Attorney General.
