JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS: 1929-1994 Onassis Laid to Rest at Arlington Cemetery ■ Services: President Clinton hails former First Lady at rites alongside grave of John F. Kennedy. ter-in-law as both a friend and an By JOHN M. BRODER icon of American history and cul- and ELIZABETH SHOGREN TIMES STAFF WRITERS ture. "She graced our history," Ken- WASHINGTON—As a sultry nedy said. "And for those of us who spring breeze rippled the eternal knew and loved her, she graced our flame she had lit 31 years ago at lives."'`" another moment of national grief, Mrs. Onassis' body was flown Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was from New York to Washington laid to rest Monday alongside Pres- National Airport aboard a private ident John F. Kennedy at Arling- aircraft. First Lady Hillary Rod- ton National Cemetery. • ham Clinton attended the funeral The former First Lady, who died Mass and flew to Washington with Of cancer last Thursday at 64. was Kennedy family members, where she was met by the President. hailed by President Clinton in a Mrs. Onassis' children, Caroline brief graveside service as a woman Kennedy Schlossberg and John F. who handled great gifts and bore Kennedy Jr., bade her farewell at great burdens "with dignity and Arlington with readings from grace and uncommon common Scripture. They also laid flowers at sense." the foot of her flower-bedecked "We say goodby to Jackie." mahogany coffin. The Most Rev. Clinton said. "May the flame she lit Philip Hannan. the retired arch- so long ago burn ever brighter here bishop of New Orleans who presid- and always brighter in our hearts." ed over President Kennedy's fu- The burial was preceded by a neral, sprinkled holy water on the funeral Mass at the Church of St. coffin and a Navy chorus sang Ignatius Loyola in New York, "Eternal Father Strong to Save." where Sen. Edward M. .Kennedy In a brief 15 minutes, the burial ID-Mass.) paid tribute to his sis- Please see ONASSIS, AS LOS ANGELES TIMES TUESDAY, MAY 24,1994 COPYRIGHT 1994/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY/ F/CC,/ I54 PAGES ReuLers Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg kneels to kiss her and the Most Rev. Philip Hannan look on following mother's coffin as her brother John F. Kennedy Jr. graveside services for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. A8 TUESDAY, MAY 24, 1994 /F House. Rose Kennedy, the 103-year-old ailing matriarch of the clan, re- mained in Florida but planned to watch the burial on television, a ONASSIS: Burial family spokesman said. The Kennedy grave site was closed all day Monday but hun- dreds of onlookers lined the route into the cemetery and gathered Rites at Arlington outside its gates. A cemetery spokesman said that 23 other fu- Continued from Al nerals scheduled during the day at service was over and the Kennedy the 612-acre cemetery were going family members drifted away, memory for all these years, forever young and elegant, mysterious and on as planned. some stopping at the nearby grave "Whether she was soothing a of Robert F. Kennedy to pay their private and yet a public treasure for two generations of Americans. nation grieving for a former Presi- respects. dent or raising the children with The nation watched on live tele- Jerry Grasso, 45, a jeweler from the care and the privacy they vision as America buried yet an- Pinellas Park, Fla., brought his deserved or simply being a good other Kennedy. In the hazy dis- video camera to the avenue leading friend, she seemed always to do the tance, the bell of Washington's to Arlington cemetery to watch right thing in the right way," National Cathedral slowly tolled 64 Mrs. Onassis' funeral procession. He said that he remembered the Clinton said. times. And thus ended an era of glam- deaths of President Kennedy and "May the flame she lit so long our and hope and tragedy that his brother, Robert, as marking ago burn ever brighter here and America's "loss of innocence." always brighter in our hearts," the began with the young President's Mrs. Onassis' death, he said, President said. "God bless you, inauguration in 1961 and came to a friend, and farewell." close on Monday on a verdant "marks the end of the Kennedy era. As long as she was still alive, There were more middle-aged hillside in the nation's best-known ' the Kennedy era was still alive." women than any other group along graveyard of heroes. The burial ceremony was at- the route to the cemetery, but the The widow of the President who crowd was mixed. Some tears were was slain on Nov. 22, 1963, became tended by about 100 members of the Kennedy, Auchincloss and shed, but most people were an image etched in the national Radziwill families, including Lee thoughtful, not outwardly emo- Radziwill Ross, Mrs. Onassis' sis- tional. The crowd was hushed as ter. the relatively modest motorcade of Those attending the service black limousines and mini-buses were all family except for a few, passed. • mall crowds gathered around Smourners who carried radios so they could listen to the burial service taking place inside the including Providencia Paredes, the cemetery gate. former First Lady's personal maid in the White House; Paredes' son, Many of those who came to pay their respects praised Mrs. Onassis' Gustavo, who grew up with John Kennedy Jr. and is still a close fashion sense and elan, but more friend, and Maurice Tempelsman, than anything else they remem- Mrs. Kennedy's close companion bered her for the support she provided the whole country during for the last 12 years or so. Buried alongside Kennedy and those tragic November days three decades ago, when she proved to Mrs. Onassis are the couple's first child, an unnamed daughter still- the nation, through her composure born in 1956, and an infant son, and calm, that life would go on. Patrick, who died three days after Person after person remarked on his birth in August, 1963. how the image in 1963 of the young widow's face, dry-eyed and draped he honorary pallbearers were with a black veil, had remained TRobert F. Kennedy Jr., Timo- thy Shriver, Christopher Lawford, William K. Smith, Edward M. Ken- nedy Jr., Anthony Radziwill, Lewis Reuters Rutherford Jr. and Jack Walsh. All but Walsh are cousins. Walsh was Man waves goodby as hearse of a Secret Service agent who Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis en- watched over the Kennedy chil- ters Arlington National Cemetery. dren when they were in the White Reuters, John F. Kennedy Jr. touches gravestone of father at Arlington, where mother is laid to rest. Behind him, sister Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, with Clem through their lives, a symbol of strength and courage. Sally Grieb, 50, of Rochester, N.Y., made a point of coming to Washington with her husband, John, during their vacation to pay their respects. "I always looked up to Jacqueline; I think all women my age did," she said. Laura Frost, 34, of Livermore, Calif., said that Mrs. Onassis pre- served her dignity by not appear- ing on talk shows or writing books. "She was such a graceful, wonder- ful woman. The world will not be the same without her. An era has passed." Mimi Ford, 72, of Alexandria, Va. stood in the shadow cast by a tall hedge lining the road leading to the cemetery gate. "I think Jackie was outstanding. She bore whatever come her way with dignity and with more under- standing than we gave her credit for. She never let her emotions get the better of her," Ford said, choking back tears. Times staff writer Jeff Leeds con- tributed to this story. The casket of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is fol- Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, son-in-law Edwin lowed at church by, from left, John F, Kennedy Jr., Schlossberg and companion Maurice Tempelsman. Onassis Remembered as a 'Blessing' Johnson, widow of President Lyn- Onassis' favorite poems, "Ithaca" By JOHN j. GOLDMAN don B. Johnson. She used a cane by the Greek poet Constantine and ROBERT L JACKSON and held the arm of a Kennedy aide Cavafy. TIMES STAFF WRITERS as she moved slowly up the church "But now the journey is over. EW YORK—In the great steps. Too short, alas too short," he marble church of her child- There were Kennedy relatives concluded. "It was filled with ad- Nhood where she was both and cousins and nephews and a venture and wisdom, laughter and baptized and confirmed, Jacqueline Hollywood contingent that includ- love, gallantry and grace. So fare- Kennedy Onassis was remembered ed actress Daryl Hannah, a friend well, farewell." Monday as a "blessing" who "made of John F. Kennedy Jr., and actor In a highly emotional moment, a rare and noble contribution to the Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Metropolitan Opera star Jessye American spirit." wife, Maria Shriver. From the Norman sang "Ave Maria." "She was a blessing to us and to Senate came Daniel Patrick Moy- For all the tributes, it was the the nation . ," Sen. Edward M. nihan of New York, Claiborne Pell senior senator from Massachusetts, Kennedy, her brother-in-law, told of Rhode Island and John Kerry of no stranger to sad eulogies, who 1,000 mourners during a moving Massachusetts. perhaps captured Mrs. Onassis eulogy, while outside on Park Ave- From the world of New York best—her political savvy, sense of nue, solemn crowds stood six deep. politics came Mayor Rudolph W. hurnor, love for her children and "No one ever gave more meaning Giuliani and his predecessor David grandchildren, her desire for pri- to the title of First Lady.