Among those mourning John McCain is his 106-year-old mother, who says she is “incredibly proud” of what the late senator and Vietnam War hero accomplished in his life.
“Roberta was his biggest supporter and the leader of his fan club,” a close friend of Roberta McCain told People magazine. “She was incredibly proud of him. His mommy loved him. He knew that.”
Her son, who was awarded numerous honors in a military career that included six years as a prisoner of war, died Saturday at his Arizona home following a battle with brain cancer. He was 81.
His mother’s friend assured People that Roberta “is a very strong woman,” adding, “She is all there, mentally, and is still going strong at 106. She outlived her 81-year-old son. That tells you a lot. But it’s a tough blow to bury your child.”
Roberta McCain has always been a supporter of her son’s ambitions. She even stumped for him during the 2008 presidential campaign.
McCain will be laid to rest Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Before his death, he had requested that former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush speak at his services, according to CBS News. President Trump, however, was not invited to speak.
“Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did,” Obama, who bested McCain in the 2008 presidential election, said in a statement. “But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own. At John’s best, he showed us what that means. And for that, we are all in his debt.”
Bush, who beat McCain in the primaries to become the 2000 Republican presidential nominee, also released a public statement.
“Some lives are so vivid, it is difficult to imagine them ended,” Bush wrote. “Some voices are so vibrant, it is hard to think of them stilled.”
