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Biden and family members pay tribute to Biden's first wife and young daughter

The president and his family marked the 49th anniversary of their deaths in an automobile accident in 1972 with a memorial service

President Biden, the first lady and members of his family commemorated the anniversary of the death of his first wife, Neilia Biden, and their baby daughter, Naomi Biden, on Saturdayaccording to The Associated Press

The Bidens visited the graves of both family members at Saint Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church in Greenville, Del. President Biden's parents, Naomi and Neilia Biden, died shortly after he was elected to the Senate.

Hunter Biden was in attendance with his father, according to the White House pool report.

Biden attended Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church near his Wilmington, Del. home, surrounded by family members including his wife Jill, son Hunter, and many grandkids.

He then brought family members to the graves of Neilia Biden and her infant Naomi, who was 13 months old at the time of the accident, in the graveyard.

Hunter's 21-month-old son, Beau Biden, toddled behind his father as the family walked out of the church for the cemetery visit.

When Neilia piled their three children into the family car to buy a Christmas tree on Dec. 18, 1972, Joe Biden was a fresh senator-elect. She and Naomi were murdered when a tractor-trailer collided with them, and their kids Hunter, then three, and Beau, then two, were gravely injured. In the year 1977, President Biden married Jill Biden.

President Biden priest
Joe Biden had recently been elected senator when the fatal car crash occurred.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Neilia Biden had taken her kids out to buy a Christmas tree when the crash happened.
Wilmington News-Journal via AP
President Joe Biden, third from left, watches as his son Hunter Biden follows his grandson Beau Biden as the family leave St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del., Saturday, Dec. 18
President Joe Biden watches as his son Hunter Biden follows his grandson Beau Biden as the family leave St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
US President Joe Biden (R) and First Lady Jill Biden (2nd R) walk towards the graves of President Biden's first wife and children after visiting St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware, on December 18, 2021.
Joe and Jill Biden walk toward the graves of President Biden’s first wife.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

The tragedy, combined with Beau's death from brain cancer in 2015, has tormented the president, who has spoken openly about his sadness and how it shaped him into a caring public servant.

Hunter Biden has struggled with drug addiction and has been investigated for questionable business dealings in China and Ukraine.

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