WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was remembered Saturday as a man who loved God, country and family at a solemn funeral Mass capping two days of mourning.
Scalia’s son Paul — a Catholic priest — led the service and mixed humor and reverence for the conservative icon and father of nine who died unexpectedly last weekend.
The younger Scalia told thousands of mourners at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception that with nine children, his father “forgot our names at times or mixed them up.” But he said his father loved his children and “sought to share the blessing of the faith he treasured.”
Dignitaries who attended included Vice President Joe Biden, former Vice President Dick Cheney, members of Congress and all eight sitting justices of the Supreme Court. Four of the five Catholic justices took communion.
President Obama did not attend. He and first lady Michele Obama were among the more than 6,000 people who paid tribute to Scalia as he lay in repose at the Supreme Court on Friday.
