Private Funeral For Onassis -- Former First Lady To Be Buried At Arlington Next To Jfk

NEW YORK - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who sought privacy in life and died at her home here Thursday on "her own terms," will be buried Monday in America's most public final resting place, Arlington National Cemetery. The former first lady will lie near the eternal flame that marks the grave of her first husband, President John F. Kennedy.

"She was surrounded by her friends and her family and her books, the people and the things that she loved," her son, John Kennedy Jr., told reporters yesterday, 12 hours after his mother died in her Fifth Avenue apartment.

Onassis's afternoon burial will follow a private funeral Mass in New York, said spokeswoman, Nancy Tuckerman. The Mass is set for 10 a.m. at St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church on Manhattan's Upper East Side. She will be buried next to President Kennedy; their son, Patrick, who died three days after birth in August 1963; and a daughter, who was stillborn in 1956.

The burial will be closed to the public and the news media. White House officials said that President and Hillary Clinton would likely attend the service at Arlington. Officials also said a military plane would be made available to carry Onassis's body to Washington.

The president, speaking in the First Lady's Garden, which was planned by Onassis during her years in the White House, called Onassis an "astonishing woman" who reared "two very fine children in what could have been the destructive public glare."

Hillary Clinton added, "Every day this nation owes a great debt to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The nation has lost a treasure and our family has lost a dear friend."

John Kennedy Jr., 33, his sister Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, 36, and their mother's longtime companion, Maurice Tempelsman, were at her side when the former first lady died at 10:15 p.m. Thursday.

The widow of Kennedy and Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis was 64. When doctors told her earlier this week that they could do no more for her, she asked to be brought home to be with her family and friends, family members said.

Onassis disclosed in February that she was suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system. She had been receiving chemotherapy and radiation. As recently as Sunday, she had gone for a walk in Central Park, but looked tired and frail. She was hospitalized Monday but returned to her apartment Wednesday evening.

"There was nothing more to do for her," said Tuckerman. Onassis had signed a living will requesting that no extraordinary measures be taken to prolong her life. Tuckerman said the cancer had spread to Onassis's liver and she had pneumonia. She was in a coma for only a brief time before her death.

"When she died it was very peaceful," Tuckerman said. "She was alert some of the time. She could hear. She just sort of slipped away."

Onassis's body remained at her apartment, where there will be a viewing for the family and close friends.

John Kennedy Jr. told the crowd outside his mother's Upper East Side apartment that "I hope that we can have these next days in relative peace," but crowds of people came and stood for hours outside the building facing Central Park, some to mourn, others out of curiosity.

At Arlington National Cemetery, nearly 4 million people visit the Kennedy grave site, which is surrounded by a low wall inscribed with passages from Kennedy's inaugural address. Nearby, a simple white cross marks the grave of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. Behind President Kennedy's memorial stone burns an eternal flame.

Cemetery Superintendent J.C. Metzler said the Kennedys would be the second presidential couple to be buried at Arlington. William Howard Taft, the 27th president, and his wife, Helen Herron, are buried about one-eighth mile from the Kennedy grave site. No other presidents or first ladies are buried there.

Arlington is set aside for those who have served in the armed forces. Metzler said surviving spouses and dependent children also are entitled to burial there.

Information from Knight-Ridder Newspapers is included in this report.