20
'Trailblazer' Shriver Laid to Rest
Special Olympian: she was 'Queen of humanity'
By Matt Cantor
|
Posted Aug 14, 09 1:45 PM CDT
|
Share
(Newser)
–
At today's funeral Mass for Eunice Kennedy Shriver, daughter Maria called her a “trailblazer” who “was scary smart and not afraid to show it,” the Cape Cod Times reports. Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, Joe Biden, and Arnold Schwarzenegger attended the private service for the Special Olympics founder at the Kennedy family church in Hyannis, Mass. Her only surviving brother, Sen. Ted Kennedy, was too ill to attend.
She was “the queen of humanity,” said a Special Olympian. “She was chosen to have a life to help others, the weakest of the weak, the castaways.” Added Maria: “Mummy wore men's pants. She smoked Cuban cigars and she played tackle football. She was tough but also compassionate, driven, but also really fun and funny … restless and patient. She fought and she fought and she fought right up until her very last breath.”