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| Joe Biden among mourners at funeral of Republican senator Arlen Specter | Joe Biden among mourners at funeral of Republican senator Arlen Specter |
| (4 months later) | |
| Friends and colleagues including vice-president Joe Biden, gathered on Tuesday to mourn the death of the former senator Arlen Specter, calling him an "irreplaceable" man. Biden, former governors Ed Rendell and Dick Thornburgh and other power-brokers from various walks of life were among hundreds who attended the funeral in a Philadelphia suburb. Specter died at his home on Sunday at the age of 82, after battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma. | Friends and colleagues including vice-president Joe Biden, gathered on Tuesday to mourn the death of the former senator Arlen Specter, calling him an "irreplaceable" man. Biden, former governors Ed Rendell and Dick Thornburgh and other power-brokers from various walks of life were among hundreds who attended the funeral in a Philadelphia suburb. Specter died at his home on Sunday at the age of 82, after battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma. |
| Specter, a political moderate who switched parties twice in his career but mostly served as a Republican, won his Senate seat in the Reagan landslide of 1980. As one of the Senate's sharpest legal minds, he took part in 14 supreme court confirmation hearings. Early in his career, he had served as counsel to the Warren Commission investigating the death of president John F Kennedy's. He also prosecuted Teamsters officials in Philadelphia, as an assistant district attorney. | Specter, a political moderate who switched parties twice in his career but mostly served as a Republican, won his Senate seat in the Reagan landslide of 1980. As one of the Senate's sharpest legal minds, he took part in 14 supreme court confirmation hearings. Early in his career, he had served as counsel to the Warren Commission investigating the death of president John F Kennedy's. He also prosecuted Teamsters officials in Philadelphia, as an assistant district attorney. |
| District Judge Jan DuBois, a law-school friend, recalled how Specter had approached everything in life "with intensity, determination and grit", including managing to teach a final law class on 4 October at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, on the relationship between Congress and the supreme court. | District Judge Jan DuBois, a law-school friend, recalled how Specter had approached everything in life "with intensity, determination and grit", including managing to teach a final law class on 4 October at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, on the relationship between Congress and the supreme court. |
| Biden said he had never seen someone with as much "undaunted courage" as Specter, and added that his former Senate colleague's fights against cancer should give hope to all families battling the disease. | Biden said he had never seen someone with as much "undaunted courage" as Specter, and added that his former Senate colleague's fights against cancer should give hope to all families battling the disease. |
| "He believed he could change the world, if he just worked hard enough at it," Biden said. | "He believed he could change the world, if he just worked hard enough at it," Biden said. |
| Specter was also recalled for his independent streak. | Specter was also recalled for his independent streak. |
| "He really set the standard for working across party lines and we're going to miss that," said Senator Bob Casey, adding that Specter had taught him a lot when he joined the Senate. | "He really set the standard for working across party lines and we're going to miss that," said Senator Bob Casey, adding that Specter had taught him a lot when he joined the Senate. |
| Anthony J Scirica, the chief judge on the 3rd US circuit court of appeals, called Specter "irreplaceable". | Anthony J Scirica, the chief judge on the 3rd US circuit court of appeals, called Specter "irreplaceable". |
| "He touched so many lives," Scirica said. "He had some tough times, but he always thought that he was working for the public good. He was a staunch friend of judiciary and of keeping the judges free from political influence." | "He touched so many lives," Scirica said. "He had some tough times, but he always thought that he was working for the public good. He was a staunch friend of judiciary and of keeping the judges free from political influence." |
| Specter had fought two previous bouts with Hodgkin lymphoma, and also overcame a brain tumor and cardiac arrest following bypass surgery. He is survived by his wife, Joan, sons Shanin and Steve and four granddaughters. | Specter had fought two previous bouts with Hodgkin lymphoma, and also overcame a brain tumor and cardiac arrest following bypass surgery. He is survived by his wife, Joan, sons Shanin and Steve and four granddaughters. |
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