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John McCain's 'vivacious and rebellious' 106-year-old mother, Roberta, is expected to attend memorial services in Washington and his burial in Maryland later this week.

Roberta McCain, the wife of a Navy admiral and mother of a Navy captain, once said the middle child she called 'Johnny' liked to use her as an example of 'what he hopes his lifespan will be'.

But she now mourns her son, with whom she shared many similarities, including determination and a rebellious streak that the senator said he was 'grateful to her for the strengths she taught me by example'.

Her 'vivaciousness is a force of nature', he wrote in his final book published this year.