Sen. John McCain returned to Washington for the final time.
Following his private memorial service at North Phoenix Baptist Church in Arizona, during which Joe Biden delivered a tearful eulogy, McCain’s body was transported to the state capitol on Thursday, five days after McCain died of brain cancer. He was 81.
His casket landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and was met by his visibly distraught daughter Meghan and widow Cindy.
On Friday, McCain’s body will lie in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda for a public viewing according to the late Arizona senator’s official website.
And on Saturday, a service will be held in the war hero’s honor at Washington National Cathedral. Finally, McCain will be buried in the cemetery at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, after a private memorial service.
McCain’s mother Roberta, 106, will be in attendance.
A source close to the McCain family previously told PEOPLE Roberta is a “very strong woman” with a “spunky” spirit.
“She is all there, mentally, and is still going strong at 106,” the source continued. “She outlived her 81-year-old son. That tells you a lot. But it’s a tough blow to bury your child.”
“My heart is broken. I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years. He passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the place he loved best,” Cindy wrote.
Meghan, 33, also honored her father. “In the thirty-three years we shared together, he raised me, taught me, corrected me, comforted me, encouraged me, and supported me in all things,” The View co-host said in a statement shared on Twitter.
“He taught me how to live. His love and his care, ever-present, always unfailing, took me from a girl to a woman– and he showed me what it is to be a man,” she said.
McCain’s death comes a little over a year after he revealed he had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer.
