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Mary Richardson Kennedy funeral: Divided families bid RFK Jr.’s wife fairwell
New York Daily News ^ | 5/19/12 | Henrick Karoliszyn, Joanna Molloy AND Larry Mcshane

Posted on 05/19/2012 11:22:38 AM PDT by Huntress

Two divided families united in mourning Saturday for an emotional farewell to Mary Richardson Kennedy just three days after her shocking suicide.

Dozens of family members and celebrity friends — including Caroline Kennedy, John McEnroe, Edward James Olmos, Glen Close and Chevy Chase — filled St. Patrick’s Church in Mount Kisco for the funeral.

A police escort brought a gray hearse carrying her body to the house of worship, with her estranged husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and their four children trailing in a black Town Car.

Matriarch Ethel Kennedy, a veteran of such grim family gatherings, rode behind them inside a black SUV. A dozen pallbearers brought the wooden casket inside.

It was the same church where the couple’s children — Conor, Kyra, William and Aiden, ranging in age from 11 to 17 — received their First Communion.

The three oldest kids, along with one of Mary’s sisters, helped steer the casket on its final journey.

The church was absolutely still as the children accompanied their mother body inside the intimate stone church, where huge vases of white roses and delphiniums flanked the altar.

“She was an angel,” said high school friend Virginia Warner. “It was a fitting tribute.”

Comedian Larry David, scheduled to speak at the service, was too distraught to address the mourners. Daughter Kyra read a psalm in one of the funeral’s most touching moments.

At another point, many in the crowd wept when the song “Amazing Grace” reached the lines, “Through many dangers, toils and snares/We have already come.”

The mourners filled the 300 seats in the pews and spread along the side aisles and the lobby.

Kerry Kennedy, the dead woman’s sister-in-law and friend since boarding school, provided a touch of levity with tales from Mary’s political past.

In one, while working for Andy Warhol, she convinced the pop artist to donate a painting as a fund-raiser for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: marykennedy
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1 posted on 05/19/2012 11:22:43 AM PDT by Huntress
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To: Huntress
Forget it, Jake.

It's the Kennedys.

2 posted on 05/19/2012 11:24:12 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Do I really need a sarcasm tag? Seriously? You're that dense?)
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To: Huntress

RIP Mary Kennedy. I am curious as to why the Catholic Church was willing to give her a church funeral, given that she was a suicide. Could some Catholic Freepers enlighten me?


3 posted on 05/19/2012 11:24:33 AM PDT by Huntress ("Politicians exploit economic illiteracy." --Walter Williams)
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To: Huntress

Imagine the evil she witnessed over the years.

May God have mercy.


4 posted on 05/19/2012 11:27:51 AM PDT by Tau Food (Trust God. Reject Obama. Reject Romney. Reject all evil.)
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To: Huntress

One American Family I can’t stand is the Kennedy family.What a bunch of pompous asses who want to regulate how we live but yet their own miserable lives suck.

It’s really No wonder why they have experienced such tragedy in their lives through the years.


5 posted on 05/19/2012 11:28:45 AM PDT by puppypusher (The World is going to the dogs.)
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To: Huntress

Or was it provided by a Protestant/evangelical minister but in that same building?

I do not know if reasons for the suicide are considered by the clergy, whether that sin could be forgivable. Despairing of having to put up with the Kennedys might almost be considered venal without additional factors (OK, I’m being very sardonic about it and I’m one of those lousy Protestants too).


6 posted on 05/19/2012 11:32:44 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Mitt! You're going to have to try harder than that to be "severely conservative" my friend.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

“Despairing of having to put up with the Kennedys...”

I think I would just change my name and relocate under an assumed identity;)


7 posted on 05/19/2012 11:39:12 AM PDT by Frank_2001
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To: Huntress

Well considering the mutant pond scum she was married to I would consider it more of a murder by extreme mental torture.


8 posted on 05/19/2012 11:40:41 AM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (Some day our schools will teach the difference between "lose" and "loose")
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To: Frank_2001

I guess one could split without having to split for eternity. Oh the juicy scandal... a Kennedy absconded for parts unknown!


9 posted on 05/19/2012 11:40:57 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Mitt! You're going to have to try harder than that to be "severely conservative" my friend.)
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To: Huntress
RIP Mary Kennedy. I am curious as to why the Catholic Church was willing to give her a church funeral, given that she was a suicide. Could some Catholic Freepers enlighten me?

I'm no expert on Catholic doctrine but I believe that the Church accepts the existence of mental illness.Both depression and schizophrenia are clearly documented to involve abnormal chemistry of the brain and,as a result,I'd be *very* surprised if she was denied a Catholic burial.

10 posted on 05/19/2012 11:41:18 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Julia: another casualty of the "War on Poverty")
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To: Huntress

I was thinking the same thing. But then, they let that slug Jabba the Senator receive communion after a divorce and a midnight swim.


11 posted on 05/19/2012 11:41:40 AM PDT by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
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To: Huntress
I pity *any* woman who would voluntarily associate herself with the Kennedys.
12 posted on 05/19/2012 11:42:55 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Julia: another casualty of the "War on Poverty")
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To: Huntress

I choose to think the pills and alcohol took voer
How could a Mother leave her children to face this?


13 posted on 05/19/2012 11:44:57 AM PDT by RWGinger (Simpl)
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To: Huntress

Suicide is the most selfish acts one can do

She continues the kennedy curse...of their own making


14 posted on 05/19/2012 11:45:01 AM PDT by Popman (America is squandering its wealth on riotous living, war, and welfare.)
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To: Gay State Conservative

There’s a parallel in orthodox Jewish theology for those who are considered to have been “as distressed as Saul” (of the Old Testament, who fell on his sword rather than accept humiliation). Where the act is considered as though it were not willed by a reasoning person, although personal choices may have played a part in getting the person into the situation in which the act occurred.


15 posted on 05/19/2012 11:46:54 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Mitt! You're going to have to try harder than that to be "severely conservative" my friend.)
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To: Huntress
I am curious as to why the Catholic Church was willing to give her a church funeral, given that she was a suicide. Could some Catholic Freepers enlighten me?

The Catholic church will overlook anything if you have the financial means or celebrity.
16 posted on 05/19/2012 11:48:32 AM PDT by crosshairs
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I’ve never understood why the Kennedy family is considered by some to be American royalty. What did they ever do to deserve such accolades? Who decided that they should be celebrities/quasi-royalty?


17 posted on 05/19/2012 11:49:10 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: PzLdr
"I was thinking the same thing. But then, they let that slug Jabba the Senator receive communion after a divorce and a midnight swim."

Think of history would have been different if he had been driving a VW instead of an Olds.

Ted Ad

18 posted on 05/19/2012 11:50:54 AM PDT by preacher (Communism has only killed 100 million people: Let's give it another chance!)
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To: RWGinger

Quite possible. Carelessly used drugs (alcohol being one), which she had hoped to provide an escape from the despair and distress, instead trapped her more tightly in it.

I can’t fathom the web of lies and delusion one would have to accept to get along in the Kennedy family. It would have (so to speak) driven Sigmund Freud insane.


19 posted on 05/19/2012 11:51:28 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Mitt! You're going to have to try harder than that to be "severely conservative" my friend.)
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To: Huntress

It is now considered mental illness, I believe.


20 posted on 05/19/2012 11:53:35 AM PDT by firebrand
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