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TRAGIC LOSS

Who was Joe Biden’s first wife, Neilia Hunter?

a man and a woman are sitting next to each other and smiling

NEILIA Hunter was a school teacher, and most notably, Joe Biden’s first wife.

Tragically, the 30-year-old and her infant daughter, Naomi, died in a car crash in 1972.

Joe Biden and Neilia Hunter with their children Beau and Hunter Biden
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Joe Biden and Neilia Hunter with their children Beau and Hunter BidenCredit: Corbis

Who was Neilia Hunter? 

Neilia Hunter was Joe Biden’s first wife as well as a school teacher in the Syracuse, New York district.

She was born in New York and attended Penn Hall boarding school in Pennsylvania, before graduating from Syracuse University.

The two met in the Bahamas while Biden was visiting Nassau on spring break. Biden decided to relocate to Syracuse and attended law school there. 

The couple married in August of 1966 and moved to Wilmington, Delaware, where Biden was on the New Castle County Council.

How many children did Neilia Hunter and Joe Biden have?

Biden and Neilia had three children, including two who passed away.

On December 18, 1972, Neilia tragically died in a car crash when she was just 30 years old along with the couple's infant daughter, Naomi.

Beau Biden, who survived the car crash as a young boy, served as Delaware’s Attorney General from 2007-2015 but died from brain cancer at age 46.

The couple’s only surviving son, Hunter Biden, 52, works with the Ukrainian gas company, Burisma.

Many were critical of Joe Biden when he became president of the United States because Hunter's torrid past. Joe withdrew as the Democratic presidency race in 2024 during his reelection campaign.

How did Neilia and her daughter die? 

Neilia was on her way to buy a Christmas tree with her children, Naomi, Beau, and Hunter when they were involved in a car accident. 

Her car was struck by a truck, killing Neilia and Naomi. 

Their sons Beau and Hunter sustained critical injuries but survived. 

Joe Biden and Jill Jacobs married in 1977
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Joe Biden and Jill Jacobs married in 1977

Biden eventually remarried Jill Jacobs in 1977 and had one daughter, Ashley in 1981.

Jill became Beau and Hunter’s stepmother and helped raise them upon her marriage to Biden. 

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