At funeral, friends, family honor ex-Sen. Arlen Specter

Associated Press

NARBERTH, Pa.

Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter was an “irreplaceable” force who approached politics — and life — with grit and determination, a who’s who of politicians and others said Tuesday at the longtime senator’s funeral.

“I’ve never seen as much undaunted courage as Arlen had — both physically and politically. He believed he could change the world, if he just worked hard enough at it,” Vice President Joe Biden told mourners, including three Pennsylvania governors, federal judges and hundreds of friends, at Har Zion Temple in Narberth, a Philadelphia suburb.

Specter died at his Philadelphia home Sunday at 82 after battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He had spent 30 years in the Senate before losing his seat in 2010, after crossing party lines to vote for President Barack Obama’s stimulus package and later switching parties.

“In a dark time for our nation, he was willing to lose his seat to cast a decisive vote,” said Specter’s son Shanin, whose remarks capped about 90 minutes of tributes.

U.S. District Judge Jan DuBois recalled how his friend approached everything in life “with intensity, determination and grit,” managing to teach one last law class Oct. 4 at the University of Pennsylvania, even as he was losing his third fight with cancer.

Specter’s influence on law, medicine, politics, Judaism and other walks of life was clear from the diverse, bipartisan and powerful crowd of mourners, including Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett and rows dotted with current and former members of Congress, along with federal judges whose careers Specter backed.

Specter, a political moderate, switched parties twice but mostly served as a Republican. Speakers said he honed his respect for opposing viewpoints as a child, growing up in the only Jewish family in Russell, Kan.

“He really set the standard for working across party lines and we’re going to miss that,” said Casey, who said Specter had helped smooth his transition when he arrived in Washington.

Specter served as counsel to the Warren Commission investigating President John F. Kennedy’s death. He won his Senate seat in the Reagan landslide of 1980 and, as one of the Senate’s sharpest legal minds, took part in 14 Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

Specter also is survived by his wife, Joan, sons Shanin and Steve and five granddaughters.