Friends and Family Took

Friends and Family Took By JANNY SCOTT Throughout yesterday, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was surrounded by close friends and family members who gathered at her Fifth Avenue apartment in Manhattan while a crowd of reporters, admirers, tourists and passers-by kept a sodden vigil outside the apartment A priest administered the Sacra- ment of the Sick, Roman Catholic ' rites for the seriously ill. Mrs. Onas- sis, the 69-year-old widow of Presi- dent John F. Kennedy, died last night after suffering from an aggressive form of cancer. "There's a lot of love in her room and in her apartment," Representa- tive Joseph P. Kennedy 2d said after visiting his uncle's widow. Mr. Ken- nedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, is the oldest son of former Senator Rob- rites and given to those close to death. ert F. Kennedy. Outside the Fifth Avenue apart- Mrs. Onassis, who married the ment building, between East 85th Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Street and East 86th Street, the crowd Onassis in 1968, five years after Pres- grew steadily. ident Kennedy was assassinated, re- They wanted her to die in peace, turned home on Wednesday after her admirers said. But they came spending two days at New York Hos- anyway, for reasons they could not pital-Cornell Medical Center. really explain, to stand in the rain, Family at Her Side behind barricades and in the surging wake of a journalistic sea. Throughout yesterday, family Many wanted something — a sliver members came and went: her chil- of history, a glimpse of celebrity Oth- dren, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg ers simply said they had to be there if and John F. Kennedy Jr.; her sister, Jackie was about to die. Lee Radziwill Ross; her former There was a furniture designer brother-in-law, Senator Edward M. whose dead lover had idolized her. Kennedy of Massachusetts and three There was the man who remembered of his nephews, Congressman Ken- reading, as a child, that she would be nedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. moving into that building. William Kennedy Smith, and his niece At one point John Kennedy Jr. Maria Shriver. emerged from the building's service Msgr. George Bardes of the Church entrance on 85th Street, accompanied of St. Thomas More, Mrs. Onassis's by his sister, Caroline, and her hus- parish church, administered the Sac- band, Edwin Schlossberg. A mob of rament of the Sick, said Margot Peet, reporters and photographers surged a spokeswoman for the church. The up the street after them, surrounding sacrament was formerly called last their car as they tried to leave. Friends Leave Weeping Later, Senator Kennedy arrived with his wife, Victoria, followed short- ly by one of his nephews, William Kennedy Smith. Other friends and relatives left the building weeping. Mrs. Onassis's companion, Maurice Tempelsman, spent the day at her side. Among those drawn to the sidewalk outside Mrs. Onassis' apartment were tourists from Ireland and Bra- zil, lifelong admirers and a woman who promised a miraculous recovery if she could pray for seven hours in the apartment. "I think it's real sad," said Sharon Madson, a tourist from Fargo, N.D. "It just seems this should be a pri- vate time. But obviously, I don't feel Over After the Doctors Could Do No More radio, he smashed it on The floor. that too much. I'm sitting here gawk- aspiring writer, said she had been ing." there before — sitting on a bench "We were poor. We had worked a Some were blunt about their mo- across the street from the building year to buy that radio," she said. tives. "I just want to see one of the for three hours last summer, hoping "Kennedy was a supporter of democ- Kennedys," said Mike Stevens, a 35- racy. That's why I'm here." "I to see Mrs. Onassis. year-old printer from Manhattan. Barbara Skowronska, a 55-year-old "It's like the end of a dynasty," said Lynne Applebaum, a 33-year-old should have brought my video cam- housekeeper and Polish immigrant, era." recalled Nov. 22, 1963, the day Presi- artist. "She's like a queen. I admire Kennedy Shooting Recalled dent Kennedy was shot in Dallas. She the way she raised her children and kept them out of the public eye. I had was a teacher in Poland, and when Others said they were fans of Mrs. no idea she was that sick. They cov- Onassis. Alexandra Rushfield, 22, an her husband heard the news on the ered it up very well." .

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