Arizona residents paid their respects to their late senator, John McCain, by parking along an interstate to salute his hearse as it passed.

State troopers accompanied the body of the maverick Republican from his family ranch in Cornville to a Phoenix mortuary Saturday night as dozens of onlookers gathered along the 100-mile stretch of Route 17, carrying signs and American flags.

“The word that pops into my head the most with him is ‘integrity,’ ” said Molly Anderson who met up with the procession after it arrived at the A.L. Moore Grimshaw Mortuary and brought candles to place outside the facility.

About 200 people gathered outside, and some could be heard shouting, “I love you John!” The Arizona Republic reported.

“He led a good life, and I’m sure his family is proud of him. He left a legacy that will long be remembered,” one onlooker told the Republic.

McCain, a Vietnam prisoner of war and former presidential nominee, died of brain cancer Saturday at 81, four days shy of his birthday. He will be honored in Arizona and in Washington before being laid to rest at the US Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Md.

With Post Wires