Senator John McCain will be laid to rest in the coming days, after he passed away following a battle with brain cancer. McCain is survived by his wife, Cindy, seven children, five grandchildren, and his 106-year-old mother, Roberta.
As the world mourns the loss of a great American hero, many people have been curious about McCain’s three daughters, Sidney, Meghan, and Bridget.
Here’s what you need to know about them:
Sidney Is the Oldest McCain Daughter
John McCain welcomed his first daughter, Sidney, with his first wife, Carol Shepp, back in 1966. She was his first biological child; he previously adopted Shepp’s two sons from a previous relationship, Doug and Andrew.
“[Sidney] worked in the music business in Toronto while her father ran his 2008 campaign. She was born in 1966, one year before her father’s plane was shot down over Vietnam,” ABC News reports.
Sidney, 51, lives in Bay View, Milwaukee, with her husband, Jason Sweet.
“I had gone as far up the corporate ladder as I could. I got loosely offered a job in L.A., and I didn’t want to live in L.A., so we made the decision to move. We thought of three cities: New Orleans, Raleigh, N.C., and Milwaukee. So we thought let’s give Milwaukee a shot,” she told Milwaukee Magazine back in 2014.
Meghan Married Ben Domenech in Arizona in 2017
Meghan McCain is the most well-known of the McCain children. Not only has been a supporter of her father’s politics over the years, but she’s also a co-host of The View.
Meghan wanted to make sure that her dad was a part of her wedding, so she tied the knot in November, while her dad was still doing okay.
“The day was here and her dad was here, which was the most important thing,” Meghan’s mom, Cindy McCain, told People Magazine.
Meghan was extremely close to her dad, who was truly her hero.
“In the thirty three years we shared together, he raised me, taught me, corrected me, comforted me, encouraged me and supported me in all things. His love and his care, ever present, always unfailing, took me from a girl to a woman — and he showed me what it is to be a man. … All that I am is thanks to him. Now that he is gone, the task of my lifetime is to live up to his example, his expectations and his love,” Meghan wrote in a tribute post after her father’s passing.
Bridget Was Adopted From an Orphanage in Bangladesh
John McCain and his wife, Cindy, adopted their daughter, Bridget, from Bangladesh.
“It was primarily my wife’s Cindy’s idea. She was in Bangladesh and she and some of the medical personnel visited Mother Theresa’s orphanage to try and help the children there. There were two little baby girls there. One had a heart problem the other a severe cleft palate. Cindy was very concerned about their ability to survive and their need for medical treatment, so she decided to bring them here for medical treatment. She fell in love with both of them. We decided to adopt Bridget. Two close friends of ours, adopted Mickey, the other child,” John McCain told Dad Mag in an interview several years ago.
McCain will lie in state at the United States Capitol on Friday. On Saturday, a memorial service will be held at National Cathedral in Washington. And, on Sunday, a private memorial service will be held at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Senator McCain will be buried at the academy’s cemetery.