Dianne Feinstein Visitors sign a guestbook as Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., lies in state at San Francisco City Hall on Oct. 04, 2023 in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
By Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
SAN FRANCISCO — Mourners have gathered in San Francisco to remember Dianne Feinstein, the groundbreaking U.S. senator from California who died last week at the age of 90.
Hundreds of people paid their respects to Feinstein on Wednesday at City Hall, where the senator was lying in state ahead of a funeral scheduled for Thursday afternoon, KQED reported.
“I would like my daughters to know that she was a trailblazer and that when you have tenacity, big dreams and willingness, you can accomplish all,” Erica Moreno, a Sacramento resident who brought her three daughters to San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday, told KQED. “She was an excellent role model.”
The memorial for Feinstein, which is set to start at 1 p.m. local time Thursday, was initially expected to be open to the public. However, plans changed due to “a larger than expected security perimeter,” officials with Feinstein’s office said.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are among those scheduled to speak at the event, KGO-TV reported. President Joe Biden will also address those gathered in a recorded message, according to the news station.
Feinstein, who was elected to the Senate in 1992 and became the longest-serving woman in the chamber, died at her home in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 28. As the first woman elected to the Senate from California, she was heralded as a trailblazer who paved the way for women in politics and sought common ground with her Republican colleagues.
Before her time in the Senate, Feinstein became the first woman to serve as San Francisco’s mayor following the 1978 assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.
“While this was her last time in City Hall, her legacy and contributions to the people of San Francisco are forever imprinted on our City,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement shared on social media.
Through the years High school student Dianne Goldman wearing a cowboy hat with San Francisco mayor Elmer Robinson, San Francisco, California, March 24, 1950. She is a member of the St Francis Riding Academy drill team. (Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images) (Underwood Archives/Getty Images)
Through the years Dianne Goldman gets her makeup touched up by Mrs Frank HInman for a photo shoot as a doctor's model, San Francisco, California, October 24, 1955. (Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images) (Underwood Archives/Getty Images)
Through the years Dianne Feinstein, member of the California Women's Board of Terms and Paroles, June 24, 1964(Photo by Bob Campbell/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) (San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Imag)
Through the years Dianne Feinstein would win a seat on the Board of Supervisors Photos dated November 4, 1969 (election day) (Photo by Joe Rosenthal/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) (San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Imag)
Through the years New San Francisco Supervisors are sworn in, with Dianne Feinstein taking over as President of the Board of Supervisors, January 8, 1970 She is shown receiving the gavel from John Ertola (Photo by Bill Young/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) (San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Imag)
Through the years Supervisor Dianne Feinstein running for Mayor, October 6, 1971 (Photo by Duke Downey/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) (San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Imag)
Through the years Dianne Feinstein talks to residents at a Tenderloin Cafe while campaigning ;Photo ran 10/09/1975, p. 4 (Photo by Clem Albers/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) (San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Imag)
Through the years HOMELESS7_FILE;;Dianne Feinstein holds a copy of a billboard to be placed in 20 locations throughout the City on January 20, 1983.;;CHRONICLE PHOTO BY MICHAEL MALONEY/1983 (Photo by /San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) (San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Imag)
Through the years Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., at the Democratic National Convention in July 1992. (Photo by Maureen Keating/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images) (CQ Archive/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag)
Through the years UNITED STATES - JANUARY 19: ZOE BAIRD CONFIRMATION HEARING--Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, D-Ill., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., during the Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing for Zoe Baird to be the U.S. Attorney General. (Photo by Michael Jenkins/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images) (Michael Jenkins/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag)
Through the years Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in February 1997. (Photo by Rebecca Roth/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images) (CQ Archive/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag)
Through the years WASHINGTON - MAY 13: Senate Judiciary Subcommittee On Administrative Oversight and the Courts member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) delivers an opening statement during a hearing May 13, 2009 in Washington, DC. The subcommittee heard from witnesses about the the so-called "Torture Memos" produced by the Office of Legal Counsel in the Bush Administration. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Through the years WASHINGTON - MARCH 16: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) listens during a news conference on gay marriage on Capitol Hill on March 16, 2011 in Washington, DC. Feinstein and sixteen other Democrats introduced a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images) (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
Through the years WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 15: U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus (L), commander of U.S. and ISAF forces in Afghanistan, poses for photographs with Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in her office on Capitol Hill June 15, 2011 in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama has nominated Petraeus to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Through the years WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 03: U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (L) participates in a reenacted swearing-in with her husband Richard C. Blum and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in the Old Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol January 3, 2013 in Washington, DC. Biden swore in the newly-elected and re-elected senators earlier in the day on the floor of the current Senate chamber. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Through the years WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 27: Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) speaks to members of the press in the Senate Basement on September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. On Thursday, Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images) (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
Through the years WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 30: Ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), makes an opening statement during a hearing on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The committee is exploring the FBI's investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian election interference. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images) (Pool/Getty Images)
Through the years WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 10: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) escorts Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) as she arrives at the U.S. Capitol following a long absence due to health issues on May 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. Feinstein was fighting a case of shingles and has been absent from the Senate for almost three months. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Through the years WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 11: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) arrives and takes her seat at a business hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill May 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. This was Feinstein's first hearing after fighting a case of shingles and being absent from the Senate for almost three months. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)