Neilia Hunter Biden (July 28, 1942 – December 18, 1972) was an American educator and the first wife of former Vice President Joe Biden.

She died in a car crash in 1972 with her infant daughter, Naomi; her two sons, Beau and Hunter, were severely injured but survived.

Early life and education

Neilia Hunter was born on July 28, 1942, in Skaneateles, New York, to Louise (née Basel; 1915–1993) and Robert Hunter (1914–1991). She attended Penn Hall, a secondary boarding school in Pennsylvania. She was active in the school's French club, hockey, swimming, and student council. After secondary school, she attended Syracuse University and was a school teacher in the Syracuse City School District. She was related to former Auburn city councilman Robert Hunter.

Marriage

Neilia Hunter met Joe Biden in Nassau, Bahamas, while Biden was on spring break. Shortly after, Biden moved to Syracuse and attended law school. The couple married on August 27, 1966. After the wedding, the Bidens moved to Wilmington, Delaware, where Biden was on the New Castle County Council. The couple had three children: Joseph Robinette "Beau", Robert Hunter and Naomi. Biden campaigned to unseat U.S. Senator from Delaware J. Caleb Boggs and Neilia was described by The News Journal as the "brains" of his campaign.

Death

On December 18, 1972, shortly after her husband became U.S. senator-elect, Neilia was driving with children Naomi, Beau and Hunter to buy a Christmas tree. Neilia was driving west along rural Valley Road in Hockessin, Delaware approaching a stop sign at the intersection with Delaware Route 7 (Limestone Road). When she pulled into traffic, the car was struck in the right-of-way by a truck traveling north along Delaware Route 7. Police determined that Neilia drove into the path of a tractor-trailer, possibly because her head was turned and she didn't see the oncoming truck. Neilia and her three children were taken to Wilmington General Hospital. Neilia and Naomi died upon arrival, but her two sons survived with serious injuries. Biden later garnered controversy by making incorrect allegations that the truck’s driver, Curtis Dunn, who died in 1999, was drunk at the time. Biden was sworn into the Senate at the hospital where his sons were being treated.

Legacy

In a commencement speech at Yale University in 2015, Biden spoke of his wife, saying, "Six weeks after my election, my whole world was altered forever. While I was in Washington hiring staff, I got a phone call. My wife and three children were Christmas shopping, a tractor trailer broadsided them and killed my wife and killed my daughter. And they weren't sure that my sons would live."

A park in a suburban area of unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, outside the city of Wilmington, Neilia Hunter Biden Park, is dedicated in her memory. Cayuga Community College in Auburn, where Neilia's father ran the food service operation for many years, annually confers the Neilia Hunter Biden Award on two graduates, one for journalism and one for English literature. Among the early winners was William (Bill) Fulton, who later served as mayor of Ventura, California.