Following an invite-only burial service on Wednesday, Ivana Trump was laid to rest in a grassy area at her ex-exclusive husband’s Bedminster Golf Club.
According to a witness who spoke to the New York Post, the New York socialite’s rose gold casket was dropped into the ground in a “private grassy area” at Trump’s Bedminster Golf Course on Wednesday afternoon, “not too far from the main club house.”
The unnamed source described the burial, which was attended by family members and a few close acquaintances, as “wonderful.”
Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump, three of Ivana’s children, are reported to have spoken at the burial ceremony after praising the former Czech model as a trailblazer to the mourners at the funeral.
Also speaking to the mourners in the vicinity of the grave, former President Donald Trump said, “What a wonderful woman she was and what a strong woman, and she controlled a room.”
At the New Jersey golf club, “a very subtle piece of granite inscribed with her name” now serves as a permanent memorial to Ivana.
Since at least 2007, when he first declared he planned to construct a family mausoleum for himself and his family members, the former president has suggested a cemetery on the upscale golf course.
This is such a beautiful land, and Bedminster is one of the richest cities in the nation, he noted at the time.
The Washington Post reports that at the time, Trump’s designs included placing 19-foot-tall stone obelisks smack in the centre of the golf course.
Local officials were concerned that the location might turn into a “attractive nuisance,” which Trump tried to allay by suggesting that it might also be used as a wedding destination.
The Washington Post writes that after that plan was rejected, Trump went back to the drawing board and returned five years later with a new plan to develop a 1,000-plot cemetery on the property, including one for him.
Even yet, town officials believed that would be too much for the small rural community, so Trump reduced the number to just 10 graves—enough for himself and his family.
The cemetery licence was finally authorised by New Jersey state officials in 2014.