Dianne Feinstein memorialized at SF City Hall by family, friends and Blue Angels

By Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez and Marisa Lagos, KQED

As the Blue Angels roared overhead, about 1,500 mourners gathered in front of San Francisco City Hall Thursday to remember the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who made history here as the city’s first female mayor in the aftermath of two political assassinations that shook San Francisco to the core, and then as California’s first woman Senator, a post she held for 31 years. She was the longest-serving female senator in U.S. history.

The state’s biggest political stars, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom, were among those gathered to pay respects to a woman who broke numerous glass ceilings over her decades in politics.

“Dianne commanded respect and she gave respect,” Harris said. “She was a serious and gracious person who welcomed debate and discussion, but always required that it would be well informed and studied. And I believe that this city where she started had a lot to do with that.”

“To the uninitiated here, I will let you in on a well-known secret. San Francisco politics is rough and tumble,” Harris added, to laughter from the memorial’s attendees.

Feinstein died last week in her Washington, D.C., home at age 90. She had struggled in recent years to fulfill her senatorial obligations as her health declined — but in true Feinstein fashion, she showed up to cast a vote hours before her death.

California's Dianne Feinstein, longest serving woman in the Senate, has died at 90

That tenacity and grit was honored by many of the speakers Thursday, who in addition to Harris included San Francisco Mayor London Breed, U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Feinstein’s only grandchild, Eileen Mariano.

“Senator Feinstein, that is her official title. It’s how Californians and people all over the world knew her. But to us San Franciscans, she was Mayor Dianne Feinstein,” Breed said in opening remarks.

Breed recounted an old memory of playing French horn in a junior high school band in San Francisco, which was nicknamed the “Dianne Feinstein Band.” She told KQED last week that playing for Feinstein was one of her most cherished memories.

Feinstein as a role model

Feinstein inspired a generation of women, including Breed.

“She showed us a world where women lead, where we lift each other up, so that girls like me could follow in her footsteps,” Breed said.

Butler pick draws praise, mounting speculation over 2024 plans

High-profile memorial attendees also included Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee and Adam Schiff, who are competing for Feinstein’s Senate seat. Other attendees included Christine Pelosi, former Mayor Willie Brown, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, and newly sworn-in U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler, who Newsom appointed this week to Feinstein’s seat.

Feinstein was also honored in the skies above, as the Blue Angels soared over the memorial. They are set to perform a “Missing Woman” formation this weekend in her memory, an appropriate homage to Feinstein who is credited with bringing Fleet Week to San Francisco in 1981.

The Blue Angels fly over a memorial for Senator Dianne Feinstein outside of City Hall in San Francisco on Oct. 5, 2023.Beth LaBerge/KQED

In a recorded message played across the City Hall lawn, President Joe Biden noted Feinstein’s work on the assault weapons ban, her environmental stewardship, and her leadership for women.

“Based on her character in action up close and personal, she was always tough, prepared, rigorous, compassionate. She always served the people of California and our nation for the right reasons to make life better for everyday people and ensure America stood for freedom, transparency and justice at home and abroad,” Biden said.

“She was something else,” he added. “And she was a dear friend. God bless Dianne Feinstein.”

Stories of resilience, sage advice and hydrangeas

Schumer told a story about Feinstein he said was “quintessentially her.”

Feinstein injured her ankle on a morning walk to Lake Tahoe. Some might go to the doctor, Schumer said, but Feinstein said “‘forget it.'” — even after hearing her bone “pop.” It was the week of the Lake Tahoe Summit, what she considered a “signature” event to convene leaders in the California public and private sectors that she started after taking office in the Senate.

When Schumer asked how she got through the day, he remembered Feinstein answering, “‘I just did.'”

Schumer said there were a lot of words to describe Feinstein: strong, unflappable, winning, fierce. But one quality stood out to him.

“Her integrity made her sparkle like a diamond in the Senate,” said Schumer.

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi was Feinstein’s close ally for decades, and spoke of many accolades after her death, from the San Francisco Giants and 49ers to the thousands who attended her casket-viewing in City Hall, Wednesday.

But of all the memorial’s speakers, she spoke the most personally of her longtime friend. She called Feinstein a “matchmaker.”

“Dianne loved cultivating people, and flowers. She cultivated relationships, bringing people together officially, personally, and romantically,” Pelosi said.

Feinstein also loved flowers, Pelosi said, and had “the most fabulous” hydrangeas.

“We all have gotten great advice from Dianne, but the most constant advice I ever got from her again and again was, ‘Nancy, you don’t always have to be the one going out on the attack. Let some other people do that from time to time. Why don’t you do that?'” Pelosi said.

Feinstein also loved San Francisco, she said. Feinstein was such a “commanding” mayor for “ten powerful years,” that when her term was up and men began to run for mayor, Pelosi recalled schoolchildren saying, “can a man be mayor of San Francisco?”

Pelosi accompanied Feinstein’s body on a military plane back from Washington, D.C., earlier this week, along with her daughter Katherine Feinstein and the senator’s chief of staff, James Sauls.

On Thursday, Pelosi, a longtime San Francisco neighbor of the senator, said Feinstein lived, and died, on her own terms — and recalled her as not only a stateswoman, but a friend.

On Wednesday, Feinstein laid in state inside City Hall, where members of the public mourned alongside political leaders to pay their respects.

A granddaughter’s farewell

Thursday’s memorial was closed out by Feinstein’s granddaughter, Eileen Mariano.

“To me, she will be remembered as the most incredible grandmother. Minutes after I was born at the hospital, she exclaimed to my mom and dad, ‘Oh wow, she looks just like me! You should change her name to Dianne,'” Mariano said.

For her entire life, Mariano said she enjoyed an “effortless connection” with her grandmother. Feinstein sketched flowers with her granddaughter, cut her hair and would teach her about San Francisco history.

“At the end of the day, we would curl up, close on the couch, and watch a movie or our favorite TV show. And when it was time to go to sleep, she would say goodnight and she would always sing me the song ‘You Are My Sunshine,'” Mariano said.

“Your family loves you. We are so proud of you. We miss you. And you will always, always be my sunshine,” Mariano said.

The late Senator will be buried at a private funeral later today, according to Feinstein’s office.