Trump family pay final respects to 'trailblazer' Ivana Trump at New York funeral
The life of Ivana Trump, the 1980s style icon and businesswoman who helped husband Donald Trump build the empire that launched his presidency, was celebrated at her funeral in New York.
Ivana and Donald Trump's three children - Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric - stood with their father and their families as her gold-toned casket was carried from the church.
Loved ones paid their respects to Ivana, who died aged 73 last week, at St. Vincent Ferrer Roman Catholic Church in Manhattan - just a few blocks from her home near Central Park.
She died after suffering “blunt impact injuries” to her torso in a fall downstairs at home and her death was ruled as accidental by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office.
Ivanka paid a moving tribute to her mum describing her as a "trailblazer to men and women alike" who "expanded" their minds.
“Growing up, my mother didn’t tell me a woman could do anything she wanted to - she showed me," said Ivanka, according to the New York Post.
“My mother once told me there was nothing she couldn’t do in heels. She taught us how to spear fish and then cook what we caught."
“A very sad day, but at the same time a celebration of a wonderful and beautiful life,” Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, before he, former first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron headed to the church.
Eric Trump briefly put an arm around his sister's shoulders as she held the hand of one of her small children, who clutched a red flower, as the casket was carried inside.
The Mass was “an elegant, wonderful send-off for Ivana Trump,” said longtime friend, R. Couri Hay, as he emerged.
Tiffany Trump, the daughter of the former president and his second wife, Marla Maples, also attended the service, as did family friends including Jeanine Pirro, co-host of Fox News' “The Five,” and Charles Kushner, a real estate developer and the father of Ivanka Trump's husband, Jared Kushner.
Fashion designer Dennis Basso, a longtime friend of Ivana Trump's, was also among the mourners.
Ivana Trump was born Ivana Zelnickova in 1949 in the Czechoslovak city of Gottwaldov, the former city of Zlin that just had been renamed by the Communists, who took over the country in 1948.
She met Donald Trump in the 1970s and they were married from 1977 to 1992. In the 1980s, they were a power couple, and she became well known in her own right, instantly recognisable with her blond hair in an up-do and her glamorous look.
She also took part in her husband's businesses, managing one of his Atlantic City casinos and picking out some of the design elements in New York City's Trump Tower.
Their very public divorce was ugly after Donald Trump met his next wife, Marla Maples, but in recent years, they were friendly.
Ivana Trump was an enthusiastic supporter of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and said they spoke weekly.
Following her death, the Trump family released a statement saying: "Our mother was an incredible woman - a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend. Ivana Trump was a survivor."
“She fled from communism and embraced this country,” the statement continued.
“She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination. She will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children and ten grandchildren.”
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