Sen. Specter has died

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, 82, died Sunday at his Philadelphia home, according to a statement released Sunday by his family and confirmed by a spokesman.

Specter, who had been Pennsylvania's longest-serving U.S. senator until his retirement passed away at 11:39 a.m. from complications of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

A one-time Philadelphia district attorney before launching an illustrious career in Pennsylvania, Specter had publicly confirmed only several weeks earlier that he was again battling cancer.

He had radiation treatments in 1996 for an undisclosed ailment and a heart-bypass operation in 1998. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a lymphatic cancer, in 2005. He beat that, but the disease returned in April 2008.

A funeral service was scheduled for Tuesday at Har Zion Temple, 1500 Hagys Ford Road in Penn Valley and will be open to the public, though cameras and recording devices will be forbidden.

Interment will immediately follow at Shalom Memorial Park at Pine and Byberry Roads in Huntingdon Valley. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Philadelphia University or another charity.