Biden marks fiftieth anniversary of demise of spouse, daughter

President Joe Biden held a personal memorial service on Sunday to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the automobile crash that killed his first spouse and their daughter.

Wilmington,UPDATED: Dec 19, 2022 10:21 IST

President Joe Biden and first woman Jill Biden stroll between tombstones to attend Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del., on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. Sunday marks the fiftieth anniversary of the automobile crash that killed Biden’s first spouse Neilia Hunter Biden and 13-month-old daughter Naomi. (AP Photo)

By Associated Press: President Joe Biden and his household held a personal memorial service Sunday to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the automobile crash that killed his first spouse and their child daughter.

Biden, who had simply been elected to the Senate in November 1972, was not within the automobile when his spouse, 30-year-old Neilia, and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, had been broadsided by a tractor-trailer on Dec. 18 of that 12 months as they went out to purchase a Christmas tree. The couple’s two sons, Beau and Hunter, who had been nearly to show 4 and three on the time, had been additionally within the automobile and had been critically injured.

READ: For Joe Biden, a heartwarming message from his spouse Jill Biden

The tragedy virtually prompted Biden, additionally age 30 when the accident occurred, to surrender his fledgling political profession. But on the recommendation of different senators he stayed in workplace, commuting forwards and backwards from Washington to Delaware. Biden’s uncooked openness round grief and his capability to empathize with fellow Americans who’ve skilled loss have turn out to be defining traits of his political profession.

Biden married Jill Jacobs in 1977 and so they had a daughter, Ashley. Both girls joined him on Sunday, as did Hunter and lots of the president’s grandchildren amongst others at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church. After the service, the household walked out towards the graves carrying two massive wreaths.

Beau Biden died of mind most cancers in 2015 at 46. He can be buried on the cemetery.

Published On:

Dec 19, 2022