The White House announced that President Joe Biden will travel to Scranton to privately pay respects to former Pennsylvania first lady Ellen Casey in advance of a public viewing on Thursday.
Casey, the wife of former Pennsylvania Gov. Robert P. Casey and mother of current Sen. Bob Casey Jr., passed away on Friday at the age of 91.
A public visitation is currently scheduled from 2-8 p.m. at St. Peter’s Cathedral on Wyoming Avenue in downtown Scranton. A funeral mass is scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m., also at St. Peter’s. Private interment will follow the mass in St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow.
There’s been a strong security presence around St. Peter’s Cathedral on Wednesday to prepare for the president.
Biden, who was born in Scranton, released a statement on Casey’s passing.
“On the many trips I’ve taken home to Scranton over the decades, one of the things I’ve looked forward to most was the chance to visit or talk with Ellen Casey – I truly loved her.
I’ve often said that everything important I learned in life I learned in Scranton and you didn’t have to look any further than Ellen Casey to know why. To spend just a few minutes with Ellen was to get a lifetime’s education in Scranton values. Honesty. Decency. Integrity. Character. They were non-negotiable. It was who you were. Kindness was not a sign of weakness – it was a sign of strength. And no one was more kind. Hard work was expected. Family always came first. But life was about serving others. Public service was a public trust – an opportunity to help others and change lives for the better.
She and Bob raised their eight children with those values, passing along a devotion to family and serving others.
Growing up just a few blocks from the big Irish Catholic Casey household on Washington Avenue, I admired them from a young age. I got to know Ellen as an adult when I became a Senator, and I came to respect her even more. I watched the resolute and loving support she offered her husband, Pennsylvania’s former governor. I saw the work as she did as First Lady in literacy and breast cancer. And later, I saw the extraordinary young man she raised, my friend Bobby, become one of the most effective and respected members of the United States Senate.
Ellen Casey lived a life of extraordinary dignity and grace. Jill and I will miss her dearly, never more so than on our trips back to Scranton. We’re grateful to her and Bob for giving the world so many wonderful children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, to carry on the Casey family legacy and values. Our hearts are with them today.”
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7 Responses
Ironic that joe would mention honesty, decency and integrity in his* (wink, wink) statement. joe know nothing about those traits.
Ironic, too, that PPa continues to use a several-years-old pic of ‘senate joe,’ taken long before the big D set in.
or, perhaps, we used the official downloadable pic of the president from the White House website.
I don’t doubt you did just that, Steve. But even you have to agree that the “official” pic used above is an OLD pic of joe. Come on, man! joe simply doesn’t look like that anymore.
Joe Biden exemplifies those virtues that he noted. He still prays like he learned in Scranton, and unlike the man you support who has no values and practices no religion.
In addition, he has accomplished more positive legislatively in two+ years than the last three Republican presidents have in 16.
How do you know who I support, Meghan?
Growing up in Green Ridge everybody knew or knew of the Casey’s. A wonderful lady we will never forget .