Kennedy mourned near and far

Partisan battles cooled as even Kennedy’s most fervent political foes paused to honor the scion of a storied family who championed liberal causes but enjoyed genuine friendships with colleagues across the political spectrum.

President Obama ordered flags flown at half-staff on all public buildings, military bases, and US embassies. Kennedy’s family - mourning privately at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port where he died late Tuesday night - made arrangements for the senator to be taken from his beloved seaside home to a public viewing and funeral Mass in Boston and then to Arlington in Virginia, where he will be buried on a grassy hill next to John F. and Robert F. Kennedy.

Obama, remembering Kennedy in a brief statement from the lawn of his rented vacation home on Martha’s Vineyard, across Nantucket Sound, called Kennedy “not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy.

“His fight has given us the opportunity we were denied when his brothers John and Robert were taken from us: the blessing of time to say thank you - and goodbye,’’ Obama said in remarks that were delayed as the president was personally working to find the right words.

“At times, Ted was the target of partisan campaign attacks,’’ Obama added. “But in the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle.’’

The Kennedys expect Obama to attend the funeral Saturday, according to a family friend who asked not to be named to protect the family’s privacy. Obama is planning to deliver a eulogy at the service, according to a White House official who talked on the condition of anonymity.

While Kennedy’s passing had been long expected since the 77-year-old senator was diagnosed with brain cancer 15 months ago, the news early yesterday of his death at home had a profound impact as Massachusetts, Washington, and the rest of the country woke up to the news.

“Words sort of leave you at moments like this. I lost my best friend in the Senate,’’ said Senator Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, echoing the sense of loss expressed by colleagues, friends, and others whose lives he touched.

Kennedy’s raspy, roaring voice played on a loop of speeches shown throughout the day on cable news stations. Players at Fenway Park last night lined the basepaths as an Air Force bugler played taps in his honor. At Yankee Stadium, the public address announcer read a moving tribute to Kennedy before last night’s game as his image flashed on the massive outfield screen. That was followed by a moment of silence, and then the national anthem.

Massachusetts lawmakers began delicately looking toward how his seat would be filled, and whether they would honor Kennedy’s last public wish - to give the governor authority to appoint a temporary successor before a special election is held.

Kennedy was famous for making unexpected personal phone calls or offering handwritten notes of condolence or congratulations, and such meticulous attention to detail extended to his own funeral plans, according to a family friend who declined to be identified out of respect for the family’s privacy.

The senator’s body will be transported by motorcade today from his family estate in Hyannis Port to the John F. Kennedy Library, where a public viewing will be held today and tomorrow. Before a flight to Arlington on Saturday afternoon for a private burial, a funeral Mass will be said in the morning at The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Mission Hill, where the senator prayed daily for the health of his daughter, Kara, in 2003 when she was battling lung cancer at a nearby hospital. She recovered, and it became a place that to him represented hope and optimism.

Last night his body remained at Hyannis Port as relatives said their goodbyes, friends said.

“There is a very beautiful and personal private vigil taking place, and the senator is there lying at rest. It’s very spiritual and about as beautiful as it could be. I think it’s everything that Senatory Kennedy would want it to be,’’ Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry said yesterday after visiting the compound.

Kennedy’s death came two weeks after that of his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and it leaves just one surviving sibling among the children of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, 81-year-old Jean Kennedy Smith.

Kennedy had been battling cancer for more than a year, but family members and aides only began discussing funeral plans earlier this week after several months of steady decline in his health. He was sometimes unable to communicate what he was thinking in the past month, Dodd said, and he had taken to using a wheelchair with some frequency.

Still, even Tuesday afternoon, no one expected his death was within hours. It wasn’t until early evening when relatives were summoned to the main house on the compound, and a priest from nearby Our Lady of Victory Church in Centerville arrived at the house between 9 and 10 p.m.

“The truth is, he had expressed to his family that he did want to go,’’ the Rev. Patrick Tarrant told WCVB-TV yesterday. “He did want to go to heaven. He did want to die. . . . He was ready.’’

Tarrant, who has ministered to the Kennedy family for years, said “there was a certain amount of peace - a lot of peace, actually - in the family get-together.’’

“I couldn’t help but think that the world doesn’t know that part of the senator at all,’’ he said. Kennedy died at about 11:30 p.m., he told the TV station.

The president was awakened on Martha’s Vineyard by a staffer at 2 a.m. and informed of Kennedy’s death. Obama called Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the senator’s wife, 25 minutes later. She also received condolence calls later, including those from Governor Deval Patrick; Vice President Joe Biden; Kerry; former presidents George W. and George H.W. Bush and their wives; Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona; former senator Alan Simpson, Republican of Wyoming; and US Representative Niki Tsongas, who lost her husband, Paul, also a former senator, to cancer in 1997.

Political foes took a break from their bickering, joining in mutual tribute to the man who dominated the political arena for many years in Washington. Conservatives for Patients Rights, a group that has been aggressively attacking the health care plan Kennedy spent his last year trying to pass, announced it would suspend its advertising campaign out of respect for Kennedy. The House Republican whip’s office dropped its daily “whip-up’’ criticism of Democrats.

While Kennedy had been fighting a brain tumor since May 2008, his death still left friends struggling to accept the fact that the man who comforted so many others during times of tragedy was gone. Former Kennedy staffer David Smith recalled how Kennedy was the first to call after Smith returned to the United States with the ashes of his father, who had died while in Spain for the staffer’s wedding.

And Dodd, who had successful prostate cancer surgery earlier this month, said he was in the recovery room when Kennedy called to check up on him and crack a dark joke.

“He was welcoming me to the cancer club,’’ Dodd said.

Brian MacQuarrie of the Globe staff contributed to this article.