Ivana Trump’s three children, as well as Dennis Basso, a fashion designer and longtime friend of Trump, delivered eulogies, a source familiar with the service told CNN.
Former first lady Melania Trump also attended Wednesday’s funeral for her husband’s first wife, a person with knowledge of her schedule told CNN. The person confirmed that Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump’s daughter from his second marriage to Marla Maples, was present at the New York City service.
When the couple finally settled, Ivana Trump walked away with $14 million, in addition to other perks like a massive mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut. She married and divorced twice more while maintaining a jet-setting, globetrotting lifestyle.
She once cited her “freedom” and “perfect life” as reasons for turning down an offer to serve as the ambassador to her native Czech Republic.
“I was just offered to be the American ambassador to Czech Republic — and Donald told me. He said, ‘Ivana, if you want it, I give it to you,'” Trump told “CBS Sunday Morning” in 2017. “But I like my freedom. I like to do what I want to do, go wherever I want to go, with whomever I want to go. And I can afford my lifestyle.”
“OK, why would I go and say bye-bye to Miami in the winter, bye-bye to Saint-Tropez in the summer and bye-bye to spring and fall in New York?” she continued. “I have a perfect life.”
“Her pride and joy were her three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. She was so proud of them, as we were all so proud of her. Rest In Peace, Ivana!” the post read.
Her children, too, paid public tribute, with Ivanka Trump tweeting that her late mother “was brilliant, charming, passionate and wickedly funny,” adding: “She lived life to the fullest — never forgoing an opportunity to laugh and dance. I will miss her forever and will keep her memory alive in our hearts always.”
Eric Trump wrote in part on Instagram that his mother was “a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend.”
Zach Erdem, a New York restaurant owner and longtime friend, told CNN he was glad to have “so many memories” with her. “All she wanted is, like everyone, to live their life peacefully and be themselves,” he said.
Ivana Trump, Erdem added, “was just a peaceful woman.”
This story has been updated with additional developments Wednesday.
CNN’s Gabby Orr and Kate Bennett contributed to this report.
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