Scalia said Wednesday that his father "would have been the first to tell you ... that we’re from dust, we return to dust, your life could be taken from you at any instant."

"He was a month shy of 80 years old. He lived this incredibly full and active life, but I knew, and he knew, that he was at a place in life where he could be taken from this world at any time," Eugene Scalia continued.

"Our family just has no doubt he died of natural causes. And we accept that. We’re praying for him. We ask others to accept that and pray for him," he added.