Those remembrances came as members of the Kennedy clan, including Robert F. Kennedy`s widow Ethel and late President John F. Kennedy`s daughter Caroline, gathered for her funeral here at St. Patrick`s, a small Catholic church in this wealthy Westchester County hamlet about 50 miles north of New York City.
They were joined for the service on a sunny, warm spring morning by dozens of friends, including celebrities Chevy Chase, John McEnroe, Dan Aykroyd and Glenn Close, who was listed as a vocalist in the funeral program.
"Mary suffered from depression," Kerry Kennedy, her sister-in-law and longtime best friend, said to more than two dozen members of the press gathered outside the church before the ceremony.
Mary Kennedy (52) was found hanging in a barn behind the family`s home in Bedford, N.Y. on Wednesday, and the cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation by hanging. The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported she had left a note.
Mary Kennedy had four children with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a lawyer and environmentalist and the son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of JFK. The couple filed for divorce in 2010, but it had not been finalized.
Her death is the latest traumatic episode for a family known nearly as well for the many untimely deaths of its members as for its prominent standing in U.S. society and politics. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
