WASHINGTON — A private burial is planned for the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd at a suburban Washington cemetery.

Byrd is to be buried today at a cemetery in Arlington, Va., next to his late wife, Erma. The burial is the final moment of farewell for the elder West Virginia statesman who served half a century in the U.S. Senate.

Byrd died June 28 at the age of 92 at a hospital in Fairfax, Va.

His body lay in repose on the Senate floor in Washington last week and thousands in West Virginia also paid their respects at a public viewing in Charleston, where President Barack Obama attended a memorial service.