PALM BEACH, Fla.—Former First Lady Melania Trump on Thursday remembered her mother as “a ray of light in the darkest of days” during a funeral service at a church not far from the family’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
The former first lady said she always found peace in the presence of her mother, Amalija Knavs, 78, and that her mother was always there to listen.
“In her presence, the world seemed to shimmer with radiance and joy,” Melania Trump said during a eulogy as her husband, former President Donald Trump, sat nearby. “Our bond was unbreakable.”
After finishing the eulogy, Mrs. Trump stepped down from the pulpit and stood in front of her mother’s casket. She then touched her fingers to her lips and placed them on the casket.
Among the guests who arrived before the start of the private service for Mrs. Knavs at The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea were two of President Trump’s children from previous marriages, Tiffany Trump and Ivanka Trump; Ivanka Trump’s husband, Jared Kushner; and Republican U.S. Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
The church is where President Trump and his wife were married in 2005. Mrs. Knavs died Jan. 9 in Miami after an undisclosed illness.
At midmorning, a hearse pulled up in front of the church followed by an SUV carrying the former president and first lady and two other vehicles with their Secret Service detail. Wearing a black dress and sunglasses, Mrs. Trump and her father, Viktor Knavs, led a procession up to the church, followed by the former president and their son, Barron.
They then waited on the steps of the church as the coffin was lifted from the hearse and taken into the church.
During the Trump presidency, the first lady’s mother lived in New York along with her father and occasionally appeared at the White House. Amalija Knavs was at a 2018 ceremony where the first lady debuted her “Be Best” public awareness campaign to help children.
The Knavses raised Melania, born Melanija, and her older sister, Ines, in the rural industrial town of Sevnica while Slovenia was under Communist rule as part of Yugoslavia. Amalija Knavs was a textile worker and homemaker, while her husband worked as chauffeur before becoming a car dealer.
The former first lady, 53, attended high school in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, and changed her name to Melania Knauss when she started modeling. She settled in New York in 1996 and met President Trump in 1998.
She sponsored her parents’ immigration to the United States, and they became citizens at a New York City courthouse in 2018, while Trump was president.
Their lawyer said at the time that they applied for citizenship on their own and didn’t get any special treatment.
By Terry Spencer
