Family, friends grieve at Michael Kennedy's funeral

Family and friends carry Michael's body into the church.

January 3, 1998
Web posted at: 2:21 p.m. EST (1921 GMT)

CENTERVILLE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- The nation's most prominent political family emerged from a Cape Cod church Saturday and left in a somber procession to bury 39-year-old Michael Kennedy.

Kennedy, son of the late U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy, died New Year's eve in a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado.

The father of three was buried at a family plot in Brookline, near his brother David, who died of a drug overdose in 1984, and his grandparents, Joseph and Rose Kennedy.

Funeral arrivals
	3.6M/00 sec./240x180 1.5M/00 sec./160x120 QuickTime movie

As a hearse brought his mahogany casket to the Roman Catholic church still decorated with Christmas wreaths, the mourners arrived in three chartered buses from the Kennedy family home in Hyannis Port.

Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II mixed family humor and poetic verse in a eulogy for his brother at the funeral Mass.

"A whole nation knows his name, but few know the best of what he did," he said. "Michael was one man, but he was 100 points of light."

U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy arrives, as well as John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy.

'You can still talk to your father'

The Democratic congressman from Massachusetts also recalled their father's 1968 assassination, and he urged Michael's three children, ages 10 to 14, to remember their father through prayer.

"To little Michael, to Kyle and Rory, you can still talk to your father," Kennedy said.

Reporters and photographers were not allowed into Our Lady of Victory Church, but the family released a schedule for the service. It was to open with "Ave Maria," sung by family friend Andy Williams.

Kennedy's sisters, Rory Kennedy and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, and brother Maxwell did the Scripture readings.

Michael Kennedy was the sixth of Robert and Ethel Kennedy's 11 children, and was married to Victoria Gifford Kennedy, the daughter of sportscaster Frank Gifford.

Gifford was among the estimated 450 to 500 mourners. Before the service began, security guards handed out lapel pins to relatives and friends so they could easily get past police lines that separated them from onlookers.

Christmas decorations provide backdrop

The Mass began shortly after 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) with the processional song "Ode To Joy." Rows of poinsettias, white roses and white lilies lined the front of the alter.

The Rev. Michael Kennedy, a namesake and parish priest from Dungarvan County, Waterford, Ireland, who is a long-time family friend, helped celebrate the Mass.

Others who attended the service were actress Glenn Close; actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is married to Maria Shriver, Kennedy's cousin; former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo; shoe designer Kenneth Cole; and U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

The 12th Baptist Church Choir from Roxbury sang "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" outside the church as the entourage left for the cemetery.

Correspondents Brian Jenkins and Gary Tuchman, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Related stories:

• Michael Kennedy's final farewell - January 3, 1998
• Kennedys gather to mourn Michael - January 2, 1998
• Kennedy's body arrives home in Massachusetts - January 1, 1998
• The new Kennedy generation: Service, ambition, bad behavior - January 1, 1998
• The Kennedys: Legacy of power, glamour and grief - January 1, 1998
• Coroner: Kennedy death accidental - January 1, 1998
• Divorce, Kennedy-style - May 12, 1997

Related site:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

• Citizens Energy Corporation

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

---

 

---

Sound off on our message boards & chat

© 1998 Cable News Network, Inc.
A Time Warner Company
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.