Former president, senators attend Palm Beach funeral for Melania Trump's mother

Under a sky filled with gray clouds that promised rain later in the day, the casket carrying a former first lady’s mother was lifted into the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach on Thursday morning.

The funeral for Amalija Knavs, mother to Melania Trump and grandmother to Barron Trump, began at about 10 a.m., with the former first lady, her father Viktor Knavs, Barron, former President Donald Trump and the Rev. Tim Schenck, Bethesda’s rector, meeting the casket at the church sanctuary’s west-facing entrance along South Ocean Boulevard.

The Trumps arrived at the church in a motorcade of black SUVs, with Secret Service and Palm Beach police accompanying the vehicles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, about 2.5 miles to the south.

Amalija Knavs died Jan. 9 at age 78 after an undisclosed illness.

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Her casket — carrying the body of the woman whose cooking former President Trump recently credited with making his youngest son 6 feet, 7 inches tall at age 17 — arrived at the historic church in a black Cadillac hearse.

According to a source close to the proceedings, Knavs will be laid to rest in her home country, Slovenia.

Donald, Melania and Barron Trump were joined at the church by friends and family, including the former president’s daughters Ivanka and Tiffany, and their spouses, Jared Kushner and Michael Boulos. Also present were Donald Trump's eldest sons, Don Jr., who attended with partner Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Eric, who was there with wife Lara Trump.

Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina also attended the service, along with two former members of Trump's White House cabinet: Dr. Ben Carson, who was secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Wilbur Ross, who was secretary of Commerce.

Members of the family did not speak with the media, but Melania Trump did share a message on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, following her mother’s death on Jan. 9.

“It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of my beloved mother, Amalija," the former first lady wrote. "Amalija Knavs was a strong woman who always carried herself with grace, warmth, and dignity. She was entirely devoted to her husband, daughters, grandson, and son-in-law. We will miss her beyond measure and continue to honor and love her legacy."

'The epitome of elegance and grace'

During the private funeral service, Melania Trump eulogized her mother, saying she was "the epitome of elegance and grace," and that she was "the essence of a true woman."

"Her love for her husband, Viktor, my father, Ines, my sister, and me was boundless," Trump said. "Her nurturing spirit had no limits, creating a legacy that will last for generations. She showered her grandson, Barron, with affection, illuminating his world with love, tender care and unwavering devotion.

"She embodied the best mother, wife, grandmother, mother-in-law, a true beacon of love and luxury in our lives."

Amalija Knavs was born in Austria, and lived there and in Slovenia throughout her childhood. She met her husband in 1966, and they had their two daughters: Melania in 1970, and Ines in 1968.

Melania Trump was born Melanija Knavs but adopted an alternate spelling of her name, Melania Knauss, when she began her modeling career.

Over the past decade, her parents traveled frequently to the U.S. from Slovenia. Melania Trump sponsored their green cards, and in 2018 the couple became U.S. citizens during a ceremony in New York City.

"With each step she took, she embraced the privilege bestowed upon her and, in time, the privilege of becoming a U.S. citizen," Melania Trump said during Thursday's service. "She vowed to contribute to make a difference in the world. Filled with uncertainty, she knew an exquisite sense of pride as my husband became the president of the United States, and I embarked on a grand odyssey, traveling the corners of the globe as the first lady."

Melania Trump described the world as seeming "to shimmer with radiant joy" when her mother was near. She described her closeness with her mother, saying that she was a friend and confidant, and the mother-daughter pair shared an unbreakable bond. Her mother taught her to cook, and fostered her love of fashion, she said.

"She was my dear friend, an irreplaceable treasure, a gift bestowed upon me by the universe," Melania Trump said. "And for that, I am entirely grateful. Rest in peace, my beloved mommy."

The church's choir performed during the service, and a soloist accompanied by Bethesda's organ sang "Ave Maria" during communion.

During his message, Schenck noted that the Episcopal Church's prayer book lists the burial rite as an Easter liturgy — while the joy of Easter may be far from the minds of those who attend a funeral.

"But in the Christian faith, death cannot be separated from resurrection," he told the crowd of mourners. "Death opens the gate to a larger life in God's eternal care. So rather than a liturgy of despair, the burial rite is an affirmation of our hope in Jesus Christ."

Schenck said that while he did not know Amalija Knavs — he joined Bethesda-by-the-Sea as rector in 2022 — he was grateful to Melania Trump for sharing her memories of her mother.

"Perhaps my biggest takeaway from meeting with the family this week was just how much delight Amalija took in absolutely spoiling her grandson rotten. Which is always a good and holy thing to do," he said in his message.

"But just because we gather this morning to celebrate Amalija’s life in the context of our Lord’s resurrection; just because our faith proclaims that death is not the end, that death doesn’t actually get the last word; that doesn’t mean that grief isn’t real. Or hard. Losing a loved one hurts. Deeply and unimaginably."

Trump family history with the church

The setting for Thursday's funeral service was a familiar one for the Trump family.

Donald and Melania Trump were married at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in 2005, and Barron Trump was baptized there in 2006.

Over the years, the Trumps attended services at the church when they were in town, including Christmas Eve and Easter services.

The church's history dates to 1889, when four congregants formed the first Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea on the lakeside of Palm Beach island. A larger second church was built just north of the first in 1896. That building is now a private home.

Construction of the current gothic revival-style structure on South Ocean Boulevard began in 1925, with the first service held on Christmas Day in 1926.

It is the oldest house of worship in Palm Beach.

During the beginning and ending processions of Knavs' funeral, traditional incense was used, with a member of the clergy dressed in a robe and carrying a thurible, the name for the metal censer in which the incense burned throughout the service.

Incense has been used in religious services for thousands of years, Schenck told the Palm Beach Daily News following Thursday's service.

"In this context, there's a psalm that says, 'Let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense. The lifting up of my hands is the evening sacrifice,'" he told the Daily News, quoting Psalm 141 from The Bible's Old Testament. "So I always think about connecting incense with the lifting up of our prayers, as our eyes and our senses move heavenward. That seems like an apt metaphor for resurrection."

A funeral service is about Jesus' resurrection and new life, and the sense that death isn't the end, Schenck said: "It's not the final answer," he added. "We believe that we enter into a new larger life in God's eternal care."

'Entrusted to God's care'

Following the service, the casket adorned with white flowers was led back to the hearse by a procession of clergy from the church, with a priest carrying incense at the head and Schenck at the rear. The casket followed Schenck, and Viktor Knavs and Donald, Melania and Barron Trump followed the casket.

As the casket and family moved down the sanctuary's center aisle, the organ played a song requested by Amalija Knavs' family: a Slovenian tune, "Oh Happy Home Above the Stars," Schenck told the Daily News. It was a song her family said she loved.

Speaking to the mourners before the service's end, Schenck asked that they hear the song and imagine Amalija being carried to heaven, to her new home above the stars.

"May Amalija rest in peace in that happy home above the stars, and may God richly bless you all," he said. "Amen."

Trump’s eldest four children remained at the church’s entrance as the casket made its way down the sidewalk to the waiting hearse, where the pallbearers lifted it in and the hearse's driver closed the door.

Knavs and the Trumps stood in a row along the curb of South Ocean Boulevard. The camera shutters of photographers across the street clicked rapidly as about a dozen members of the media shifted places on the sidewalk to jockey for a clear image.

Once the door to the hearse was closed, Schenck spoke with each of the four family members, then led the clergy back toward the church.

Melania Trump and her father went into the black SUV waiting for them, just behind the hearse. Donald and Barron Trump sat in the SUV behind theirs. As the former president helped his wife into the car, he appeared to say, “I’m going to ride with our son.”

After the motorcade departed and traffic flowed once more on South Ocean Boulevard, Bethesda’s bells pealed for Amalija Knavs.

The slow, steady ringing of the bells is a tradition, Schenck told the Daily News.

"It's letting the community know that we have buried someone, and that this soul has now been entrusted to God's care," he said.

Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Melania Trump's mother's funeral attended by former president in Florida