Arizona remembers John McCain, memorial service at 10 a.m. Thursday
Members of late Senator John McCain’s family, friends, local officials and leaders and about 1,000 members of the public are expected to attend a memorial service for the late senator at 10 a.m. Arizona time Thursday.
Preceding the memorial service, a public procession will take McCain from the Arizona State Capitol to North Phoenix Baptist Church, where the service is being held. Arizonans are expected to line the route of the procession.
Thursday’s memorial will be the second in the state. On Wednesday, McCain’s casket was on display at the Arizona State Capitol. Family members and Arizonans said their goodbyes with local and state leaders speaking in honor of the late senator. Many military members also attended, saluting his casket as they passed.
“He had better instincts about how and when and where to assert power than any other leader that I’ve known,” said Jon Kyl, a former Arizona senator. “He’d been to more countries, knew more foreign leaders and had a better grasp of history than any other American official, including our secretaries of state.”
After Thursday’s memorial at North Phoenix Baptist Church, McCain will be flown to Maryland for a memorial service by the Armed Forces Body Bearers. This ceremony is closed to the public.
On Friday, McCain’s casket will be on display at the U.S. Capitol Building. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Vice President Mike Pence and other leaders are expected to attend.
On Saturday, another memorial service will be at the Washington National Cathedral. Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush are scheduled to speak at the request of Senator McCain before he died. He was respected by both men, and many leaders praised McCain as being able to overcome the partisan divide.
“John McCain was about more than politics. He brought us above politics,” Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said. “John is probably the only politician who could get us to set aside politics and come together as a state and a nation, as we have.”
A final memorial service will be Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland where he will be buried.
