Friends and former colleagues gathered outside of Philadelphia Tuesday to remember former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter.
He died on Sunday at his home in Philadelphia after a battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The public funeral service for Senator Arlen Specter focused on his most personal moments. He made his name in political office, but he cemented his loyalties in private.
“The thing that Arlen did that you never had the camera for or never had the microphone for, that's why I'm here today,” stated Rep. Bob Andrews.
Friends and family comforted Specter's wife Joan as she left Har Zion Temple following the service. Speakers like Vice President Joe Biden and Governor Ed Rendell remembered Senator Specter for his honesty and his fairness to his friends and his country.
“Arlen Specter is a great individual who always did what he thought was right,” explained Rendell. “You may have disagreed with him, I even disagreed with him at times, but he always made his decisions based on what he thought was right.”
Twice Specter beat cancer and many in his closest circle thought he could beat it one more time with his strength and willpower. But after all the fights in Congress he outlasted, this was one battle he couldn't win.
“He is certainly a unique and wonderful hero, he is a truly great man and we have endured a great loss,” commented Karen Errington.
Hundreds who knew him, and many more who didn't, came to pay their respects. He was one of the biggest supporters of the National Institute of Health. Through his work he saved the lives of people he will never meet.
“Senator Specter was a tremendous supporter for securing funding for the NIH which is the primary source of funding for medical research,” added Pam Schrieber.
Specter's family chose to end the service with one of the senators' favorite songs from Frank Sinatra, ‘I did it my way,’ an appropriate end to his lifetime of public service.
“If there's anybody in public life who you can say did it his way, it was Arlen.”
He died on Sunday at his home in Philadelphia after a battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The public funeral service for Senator Arlen Specter focused on his most personal moments. He made his name in political office, but he cemented his loyalties in private.
“The thing that Arlen did that you never had the camera for or never had the microphone for, that's why I'm here today,” stated Rep. Bob Andrews.
Friends and family comforted Specter's wife Joan as she left Har Zion Temple following the service. Speakers like Vice President Joe Biden and Governor Ed Rendell remembered Senator Specter for his honesty and his fairness to his friends and his country.
“Arlen Specter is a great individual who always did what he thought was right,” explained Rendell. “You may have disagreed with him, I even disagreed with him at times, but he always made his decisions based on what he thought was right.”
Twice Specter beat cancer and many in his closest circle thought he could beat it one more time with his strength and willpower. But after all the fights in Congress he outlasted, this was one battle he couldn't win.
“He is certainly a unique and wonderful hero, he is a truly great man and we have endured a great loss,” commented Karen Errington.
Hundreds who knew him, and many more who didn't, came to pay their respects. He was one of the biggest supporters of the National Institute of Health. Through his work he saved the lives of people he will never meet.
“Senator Specter was a tremendous supporter for securing funding for the NIH which is the primary source of funding for medical research,” added Pam Schrieber.
Specter's family chose to end the service with one of the senators' favorite songs from Frank Sinatra, ‘I did it my way,’ an appropriate end to his lifetime of public service.
“If there's anybody in public life who you can say did it his way, it was Arlen.”