BOSTON (AP) - Former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino's funeral procession is taking him on a tour of the city he loved.
The private Mass for family and friends was scheduled for noon Monday at Most Precious Blood Parish in Hyde Park, Menino's home neighborhood.
Many dignitaries and prominent Bostonians are in attendance, including former President Bill Clinton, Vice President Joseph Biden, Secretary of State and former U.S. Sen. from Massachusetts John Kerry, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, ex-Celtics great Bill Russell, retired Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez and Red Sox slugger David Ortiz.
Menino's casket was carried out of historic Faneuil Hall Monday morning, where thousands had come out in the cold and rain to pay their respects as he lay in state on Sunday.
The procession took the city's longest serving mayor, who died Thursday at 71 after being diagnosed with advanced cancer in February, through a number of significant places in his life.
Among them were city institutions and landmarks like City Hall, Boston University, Kenmore Square and Fenway Park, as well as neighborhood locations like Dudley Square, Grove Hall, Franklin Park, the Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood, Mattapan Library and Roslindale Square.
Hundreds of residents lined the route. Some cheered while others openly wept. Many held green signs reading "Thank You, Mayor Menino."
Schools all along the route took children out of classes to briefly pay their respects to the mayor.
"He was the education mayor. This is a big part of his legacy," said Traci Griffith, principal at Eliot School in the North End, gesturing to about 80 schoolchildren standing with her on City Hall's steps.
Fred Koed, a 62-year-old state government worker, could barely contain his emotions as the hearse passed in front of the Statehouse.
"He did a lot for the city," said Koed, who had worked on Menino's first campaign for mayor. "I felt bad for his family."
