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.