Biden Family Honors Beau in Delaware on Ninth Anniversary of His Death

Joe Biden paid tribute to his late son, Beau Biden, on Thursday, May 30 — the ninth anniversary of his death.

President Biden, 81, and his wife Dr. Jill Biden, 72, brought their family to visit St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del., where their son Beau — a former attorney general who died of brain cancer in 2015 46 — he was buried.

The first couple arrived at the church around 7:30 a.m., joined by other members of their family, including the president’s second son, Hunter Biden, who will go on trial on June 3 on firearms charges.

About an hour after arriving at the private service, the Bidens left the church property and headed to nearby Veterans Memorial Park in New Castle, Del.

Joe and Jill Biden enter the church for a private service marking the ninth anniversary of Beau Biden’s death on May 30, 2024.

Evan Vucci/AP

The president left the procession without his loved ones and greeted former Delaware state senator Nancy Cook, who was in attendance with her son Thomas Cook, executive director of the Delaware River and Bay Authority.

President Biden’s son and grandchildren attend a private service to honor Beau Biden. Beau’s son, 18-year-old Robert “Hunter” Biden, is shown in the center in a light gray sweater.

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty

Biden placed flowers at the monument and spoke briefly with the former politician, thanking her for her contribution to his success.

Photos taken at both locations show Biden in a blue suit with a striped tie. He wore sunglasses at the memorial park and also saluted Delaware National Guard Maj. Gen. Michael Berry.

Former Delaware Sen. Nancy Cook hugs President Joe Biden on May 30, 2024 at Veterans Memorial Park in New Castle, Del.

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty

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The president’s visit ended around 9 a.m. when a motorcade arrived at the Delaware Air National Guard Airport and he boarded Marine One.

President Joe Biden stands with Delaware National Guard Maj. Gen. Michael Berry at Veterans Memorial Park on May 30, 2024.

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty

In 2020, Biden spoke with PEOPLE about dealing with the loss of his son. “You have to find a purpose — especially a purpose that aligns with what the person you lost would want you to do,” he said on the campaign trail in Iowa.

“Part of going through it publicly is … it puts you in a position where you’re either going to walk away from trying to give hope and comfort to somebody … or you get involved in it and it’s hard,” he said.

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“But at least you get the satisfaction, at least in my case, of knowing that’s what my late wife would have wanted me to do; it’s what my son would have wanted me to do,” he added.

Beau and Joe Biden at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Last year, Biden mentioned Beau, who served a year with the Delaware Army National Guard in Iraq from 2008 to 2009, during his Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery, according to CNN.

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“Tomorrow marks eight years since we lost our son Beau,” he said at the time. “Our loss is not the same — he did not die on the battlefield, cancer stole him away … after he was deployed as a major in the United States National Guard in Iraq. As for many of you, the pain of his loss is with us every day, but it is especially sharp on Memorial Day.”

Beau served as Delaware’s Attorney General from 2007 to 2015. He received the Bronze Star Medal during his tour and delegated his day-to-day duties as Attorney General while serving in the Middle East. At the time of his death, he was seeking the Democratic nomination for governor of Delaware.

Beau and his brother Hunter survived the 1972 car accident that killed President Biden’s first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden, and their daughter, Naomi. Biden also shares a fourth child, daughter Ashley, with Jill.

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