Sen. Dianne Feinstein's remains brought home to the Bay Area
The body of Sen. Dianne Feinstein was returned to San Francisco on Saturday Sept. 30, 2023.
SAN FRANCISCO - The body of Sen. Dianne Feinstein was flown back to the Bay Area Saturday evening onboard a military flight.
Feinstein passed away Thursday night after voting on a funding bill to avoid a government shutdown earlier that day. She was 90 years old.
SkyFOX video of Feinstein's return showed San Francisco Police Department Traffic Division officers escorting a Hearst with the late senator's remains as it traveled from San Francisco International Airport throughout the city in which she previously served as mayor and supervisor to Sinai Memorial Chapel in San Francisco.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed greeted Feinstein's casket at SFO.
The late senator's body laid in a coffin draped in an American flag, and was accompanied by Feinstein's daughter Elizabeth and other family members, as well as Rep. Nancy Pelosi as it was flown from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco.
"I loved her very much," Pelosi told KTVU outside the Sinai Memorial Chapel. "A friend and neighbor for decades. She has been a champion for California. She's been the longest-serving woman in the Senate of the United States. That's pretty remarkable isn't it?"
Across the street, a small group of onlookers gathered and shared stories of the late senator.
"I remember, she was the first person I ever wrote a political letter to," said Jesse Ham.
Another onlooker praised Feinstein for her work in San Francisco.
"She did a lot of great things for the city in the 80s, and as a representative for our country," said Saman Lavasani.
Feinstein was a political giant, whose political career spanned nearly seven decades after she got her start on the California Women's Parole Board in 1960.
"It's so remarkable that it makes the word ‘iconic’ seem inadequate," Pelosi said. "She was greatly admired. In the Senate, people respected her so much for her brilliance and for her generosity of spirit."
Funeral plans for Feinstein have yet to be publicly released.