Mourners pay their respects to former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens during his funeral at Anchorage Baptist Temple on Wednesday. (Rick Bowmer/Associated Press)

When former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens made a commitment, people could bet their lives that he would follow through, Vice-President Joe Biden said Wednesday at the funeral for the Senate's longest serving Republican.

Stevens, who died along with four others last week in a plane crash in southwest Alaska, was remembered by Biden and other speakers as a fierce defender of Alaska and its way of life.

Former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens died in a plane crash on Aug. 9. (Larry Downing/Reuters)

The funeral in Anchorage marked the end of three days of remembrances that began Monday when several hundred people attended a Catholic mass. Mourners filed past a closed casket Tuesday as Stevens lay in repose at an Episcopal church.

Biden said one could count on Stevens to follow through on his commitments. In remembering how he and Stevens bonded over the deaths of their first wives, the vice-president struck an emotional chord, saying the two grew together as friends and were part of each other's lives.

"His word was his bond," said Biden, a former senator. "His personal generosity was surprising in how quickly it was offered."

Biden also brought laughter to the packed church, recalling Stevens' success in bringing federal money back to Alaska. Biden said "significant" amounts of money that belong to Biden's home state of Delaware and other states are now in Alaska.

More than 20 current and former senators, governors — including former Alaska governor Sarah Palin — and foreign representatives also attended the funeral, which was broadcast nationally.

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a republican from Alaska, said Stevens would be remembered not only for all he did for Alaska — bringing billions of dollars to the state — but also for all the lives he touched.

"Ted gave so many the wings to fly," she said.

The funeral was held at Anchorage Baptist Temple, Anchorage's largest church. It can seat more than 2,000 people in its auditorium, and an additional 2,000 seats were set up in an overflow area to accommodate mourners.

The 86-year-old Stevens was appointed to the Senate in December 1968 and spent 40 years in office, becoming the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history.

He began his career in public service in the days before Alaska statehood and did not abandon politics until 2008, when he was convicted on corruption charges. A federal judge later threw out the verdict because of misconduct by federal prosecutors.

Stevens died along with four others when their plane crashed Aug. 9 north of Dillingham en route to a fishing camp from a corporate-owned lodge. Four people, including ex-NASA chief Sean O'Keefe and his son Kevin, survived.

The others killed in the crash were pilot Theron Smith, General Communications Inc. executive Dana Tindall, her 16-year-old daughter, Corey, and William Phillips Sr., who had worked with Stevens in Washington.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.