Donald Trump, Melania, other kin gather at NYC church for funeral of his sister, Maryanne Trump Barry
A somber-looking Donald Trump led his family and dozens of other people in mourning his former judge sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, at her Upper East Side funeral Friday.
The ex-president, his wife Melania, and his children Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka were seen waiting on the sidewalk in front of St. Ignatius of Loyola church on Park Avenue around East 84th Street in Manhattan to greet the black Cadillac hearse carrying the coffin of the Queens native and former no-nonsense federal judge and assistant US attorney, who died Nov. 13 at age 86.
As the hearse pulled up to the church, the Trump family embraced until Trump Barry’s coffin emerged, and then the kin watched silently as pallbearers carried it inside.
Part of the area was closed off as the service got underway, with the block teeming with Secret Service agents and NYPD counterterrorism cops carrying semiautomatic rifles.
The ex-commander-in-chief, 77, wore a dark navy suit, eschewing his signature red tie in favor of a dark gray necktie.
He was flanked by Melania, who was wearing dark glasses and a black button-down coat.
Ivanka Trump wore a black lace long-sleeve dress with a black bow in her hair and carried a black handbag.
Beside her was her husband Jared Kushner, wearing a dark navy suit.
Donald Trump Jr., who wore a black suit, had by his side fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was dressed in a knee-length black dress and a black coat draped over her shoulders.
Eric Trump was seen in a dark gray coat.
Inside the church, the altar was decorated with large bouquets of white lilies. A cross made from lilies was placed in the vestibule.
According to the funeral program handed out to attendees, the blessing of Trump Barry’s body was performed by New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan.
The Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola sang, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” as the processional hymn.
Thirteen priests took part in the service, including Jesuit Rev. Joseph “Joe” Parkes, a concelebrant who knew Trump Barry and told The Post she was “a lovely woman.”
The celebrant for the funeral was the Rev. Gerald Blaszczak, a former St. Ignatius Loyola pastor who Parkes said was “very close” to Trump Barry and her family.
Parkes said Trump Barry was a Catholic convert who would walk to morning Mass at the church every day to receive Communion until an injury a few years ago.
“She was a very generous woman. The homily was about the type of life she led, caring for so many people,” Parks said. “She certainly helped the Jesuits out, particularly the schools we run for low-income kids. She was an extraordinarily generous person.
“Her son [David Desmond] gave the eulogy. It was beautiful,” the priest said. “He spoke for maybe 15 minutes. Cardinal Dolan was here very early, he couldn’t stay, he had another commitment, but he wanted to make sure he showed up to say hello to the family.”
After the brief service, which was attended by around 100 friends and loved ones, a lone bagpiper played as Trump Barry’s casket was led out of the church and loaded into the hearse.
Donald Trump shook the hands of priests on the steps of the church as his family stood by.
Trump Barry was an accomplished jurist, spending decades in the legal world before her retirement in February 2019 during an investigation over alleged tax fraud stemming from her father Fred Trump’s real estate empire.
She rarely commented publicly about her brother’s tenure in the White House but leveled sharp criticism about the former president in conversations secretly recorded by their niece Mary L. Trump in August 2020, in which she called her younger brother “cruel” and said he had “no principles.”
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