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U.S. Vice President Biden's mother dies, aged 92
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January 10, 2010
Original URL: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/U.S._Vice_President_Biden%27s_mother_dies,_aged_92



Catherine Eugenia "Jean" Biden, mother of United States Vice President
Joe Biden and matriarch of the Biden family, died Friday evening after
suffering from a brief illness  --  possibly related to a recent hip
fracture. She was 92 years-old.

In a statement to the Associated Press, the Vice President said his
mother died at home in Wilmington, Delaware surrounded by family and
friends.  Details of scheduled funeral services and memorials will be
released in the upcoming days, the Vice President’s Washington office
said. 

Jean Biden, whom the Vice President often quipped "ran the show" and
taught him to believe in what he calls "America's creed ... [how]
everyone is your equal and nobody is better than you," was always a
source of strength for Biden ever since he was a young working-class boy
growing up Scranton.

In his autobiography, Joe Biden recalls, when in seventh-grade, being
publicly mocked at school by a belligerent nun for his speech
impediment. The current Vice President maintains that, upon hearing
this, his mother went to the school, confronted the nun, telling her,
"If you ever speak to my son like that again, I'll come back and rip
that bonnet right off your head! Do you understand me?"

He also writes about how his mother, a devout Irish-Catholic, used her
faith in comforting him after his wife and daughter were killed in fatal
car crash in December 1972  --  the month he was elected to his first
term as a Delaware Senator. He emotionally writes how, "After the
accident, she told me, 'Joey, God sends no cross that you cannot
bear...'" 

Biden also states that his mother taught him to have dignity,
self-respect, and principle. On the subject he remembers how, in his
youth, "When[ever] I got knocked down by guys bigger than me, and this
is the God's truth, she sent me back out [on] the street and told me,
'Bloody their nose so you can walk down the street the next day.' And
that's what I did.'"

Biden said in a separate statement to the media, "Together with my
father, her husband of sixty-one years who passed away in 2002, we
learned the dignity of hard work, and that you are defined by your sense
of honor. Her strength, which was immeasurable, will live on in all of
us."

He continued, "She was the center of our family, and taught all of her
children that family is to be treasured, loyalty is paramount, and faith
will guide you through the tough times. She believed in us, and because
of that, we believed in ourselves."

Jean Biden is survived by the Vice President, two other sons, her
daughter, grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

== Sources ==
* http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34752988/ns/politics-white_house/
* http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100109/NEWS02/1090351/Biden-matriarch-was-source-of-strength