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WILKES-BARRE — After serving for more than 60 years as a Democratic committeewoman, 91-year-old Bernice Sakaduski of Wilkes-Barre Township got a thank you from a high ranking party official.
Vice President Joe Biden met Sakaduski’s son, Joe, at a Democratic event Saturday in Sussex County, Delaware. When he learned of Bernice’s long service, he asked her son to “get her on the phone.”
It took a while, but the call finally went through.
“Hello Bernice? This is Joe Biden from Scranton,” the vice president said. Biden thanked Bernice for her service and told her he loved her.
He then said, “I’m going to put your son back on the phone so you know I’m not making this up” and handed the phone back to Joe Sakaduski.
“It was interesting and exciting,” Mrs. Sakaduski said Monday. “Especially because I knew my son and his wife were attending, but they didn’t expect Vice President Biden to attend.”
Joe Sakaduski said he happened to be standing near where Biden would be speaking. He told the vice president about his mom and then placed the call.
“The vice president thanked me for being a good Democrat for all those years,” Bernice said. “It was very loud. I could hear people cheering ‘Joe, Joe, Joe,’ in the background.”
Bernice said it was impossible to have a long conversation. If she had the chance, she said she would have asked him if he was going to run for president next year.
“I think he would get a lot of votes,” Bernice said. “But I can say I was proud to talk to the vice president of the United States. The conversation was brief, but it was very meaningful to me.”
Bernice said she attended an event on Sunday for state Sen. Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township. She said a lot of people at the event knew about her conversation with Biden.
Joe Sakaduski, a graduate of Marymount High School and King’s College, said he never expected Biden to call his mom.
“When I met him, I told him about her long service to the Democratic Party and that she is where I got my Democratic roots,” Joe said. “After the vice president handed me the phone, I wanted to make sure my mom knew who she had just talked to.”
Sakaduski said Biden is “like a rock star” in Delaware.
“We were very excited to see him and meet him,” Joe said. “It made me very proud to be a Democrat.”
The phone call even got the Sakaduskis some national media attention, Joe said.
Joe’s wife, Nancy, witnessed the entire scene. She said it was at the annual Democratic Jamboree in Lewes, Delaware, at Cape Henlopen State Park.
It’s an event that Biden’s late son, Beau, would attend almost every year. Beau Biden was a former Delaware attorney general who died May 30 of brain cancer.
Sakaduski said Vice President Biden was not expected to attend, but he did hear some rumors.
Nancy Sakaduski said she noticed U.S. Sen. Chris Coons and one of the event organizers standing in a driveway as if they were waiting for someone.
“I thought this must be somebody important to have a U.S. Senator waiting for him,” Nancy said.
She said five dark colored SUVs pulled up and stopped and Biden got out.
“He is so beloved here,” she said. “People know him and were very supportive of him when Beau died. He is considered part of everybody’s family among Democrats in this part of the state.”
Nancy said Biden was greeted by the crowd and he stopped to sign autographs and pose for pictures with all.
Joe Sakaduski’s sister, Valerie, is married to Wilkes-Barre City Fire Chief Jay Delaney. He has another sister, Karen Daywood, and a brother, Michael.
Nancy said Biden spoke to supporters for about 15 minutes in an emotional speech, recalling his son and all of the times he had attended the event.
“It was a personal thrill when the vice president asked me to get my mother on the phone,” said Joe Sakaduski. “I knew how much it would mean to her.”
According to media reports from the Delaware area where the event was held, “Biden climbed atop a picnic table and choked up as he began about 10 minutes of remarks at the Sussex County Democrats’ Jamboree in Lewes, referring to his son as ‘my Beau’ and ‘my boy.’”
“I came because Beau would want me to come,” Biden said in one of the reports. “The reason is to say ‘Thank you.’ This is where I got started.”
