President Barack Obama ordered flags lowered to half-staff today in honor of Arlen Specter, a former Pennsylvania senator who was born in Kansas.

Specter died Sunday from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Obama’s order applies to the White House and all public buildings and grounds, all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels  throughout the United States and its territories, as well as all embassies, legations, consular offices and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

Specter, 82,  served in Congress from 1981 to 2011. The Wichita-born lawmaker was widely known for having switched parties from Democrat to Republican in the mid-1960s, then later switched back to the Democratic Party in 2009. He also served as assistant counsel for the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback served with Specter for 14 years in the U.S. Senate, and the two were on the Senate Judiciary Committee together.

“On behalf of the citizens of Kansas, Lt. Governor Jeff Colyer and I offer our deepest condolences to Sen. Specter’s wife Joan, and their family,” Brownback said. “A native Kansan, Arlen was an amazing man. He was a tough fighter you always wanted on your team. He loved what America stood for and lived the American Dream. God blessed Arlen Specter with talent and tenacity, and he used those traits to the utmost.”