Kennedy Family Pays Tribute to Tatiana Schlossberg During Intimate New York City Farewell

A quiet stillness settled over Manhattan's Upper East Side on Monday morning, broken only by the slow arrival of mourners dressed in dark coats and lowered gazes.

Outside the church doors, grief unfolded without spectacle — in clasped hands, tearful pauses, and faces marked by loss.

By midmorning, family members and close friends were filing into The Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola to gather for a farewell that reflected both private sorrow and public history.

A Farewell Steeped in Family History and Tradition

According to an Instagram post, funeral processions had begun for the daughter of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, Tatiana Schlossberg, who died at age 35 after battling leukemia.

The service, held on Monday, January 5, 2026, followed Tatiana's death less than a week earlier on December 30, 2025.

Another media outlet reported that the Kennedy family gathered at the same church where Tatiana's grandmother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, was memorialized decades earlier, underscoring the deep family ties bound to the Upper East Side parish.

A Family United in Grief

Photographs from the scene and reported by the Daily Mail, captured Caroline arriving while holding her young granddaughter close, a moment the publication described as emblematic of the layered grief the family faces.

Tatiana's husband, George Moran, was also seen carrying their son, while her brother, Jack Schlossberg, appeared visibly distraught as he walked beside their father, Edwin, and sister, Rose Schlossberg.

Tatiana, an environmental journalist, had publicly revealed her leukemia diagnosis just six weeks before her death. She and George married in 2017 and shared two children: a three-year-old son, Edwin Moran, and a one-year-old daughter, Josephine Moran.

A Farewell Marked by Power, Presence, and a Notable Absence

Among those in attendance were several prominent figures. Photos released by a media outlet showed Joe Biden in attendance, visibly emotional, with the former president wiping a tear from his eye.

People also confirmed the presence of John Kerry, David Letterman, Carolina Herrera, and David Remnick, reflecting the broad personal and professional circles touched by Tatiana's life and loss.

Historian Steven M. Gillon told People that the family's decision to hold a public funeral was consistent with longstanding tradition, "They understand the role they play in the popular imagination. They understand that people are curious about them and their family, and they've never shied away from holding public funerals."

He added:

"They all recognize that as Kennedys, they have been given great privileges and that they owe something to the public and that they try to strike a balance between their privacy and their personal grief and their recognition of the role that they play in American public life."

The author of "America's Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr.," called the service "very remarkable, very moving, very powerful."

Notably absent from the gathering was Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He was reportedly in Washington, D.C., announcing changes to federal vaccine policy at the time of the service.

Social Media Reacts to Funeral Photos

As images from the funeral circulated online, many viewers responded with raw emotion. One Instagrammer wrote that they were deeply affected, "Seeing that photo of Caroline just breaks my heart." Another commenter observed the family's expressions, saying, "Faces of complete devastation...🙏😪."

Others focused on Caroline's visible grief. "The pain in Caroline Kennedy's face is heartbreaking 💔 🙏," one person commented. Another urged privacy, "That poor family. Their shattered hearts show on their faces. Leave them alone." Another commenter claimed that "RFK JR NOT INVITED," drawing attention to his absence from the service.

Additional reactions echoed the same sentiment. One commenter said, "This is heartbreaking. I can see it in Caroline's eyes," while another added, "Tragic. I feel their pain. 🕊️"

By the time the church doors closed, the moment had already become part of a larger public reckoning with a loss shaped by history, visibility, and the enduring weight carried by a family whose private goodbyes so often unfold in view of the world.

The farewell marked an intimate yet deeply symbolic tribute, as the Kennedy family paid their final respects to Tatiana during a private New York City funeral, honoring her life within the walls of a place long woven into their shared past.

What unfolded inside the church that day was only the visible edge of a far deeper story, one rooted not just in public mourning, but in the long, private battle that had already reshaped Tatiana's final years and the moment her death sent ripples far beyond her family.

Her death was not only a heartbreaking personal blow to America's most storied political dynasty but also reignited fierce political debate, as President Donald Trump seemingly criticized the Kennedy family the very same day she died.

Her Death and Trump's Same-Day Post Draw Attention

On December 30, 2025, the JFK Library Foundation confirmed the heartbreaking loss with a solemn Instagram post. The photo showed Tatiana smiling gently on a boat in a peaceful moment now frozen in time. The caption simply said she would remain in their hearts forever.

But that same day, the President made a curious post on Truth Social. He shared screenshots from X, where netizens were locked in a heated debate about the renaming of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, now set to become the Trump-Kennedy Center.

Some of the posts reacted to a report that the family was upset by the change. One netizen argued the Kennedys had allegedly not been involved with the center for years. Others accused them of neglect.

Another claimed the President had personally provided the capital that saved the institution, and said his family had always supported the arts. Many commenters voiced strong support for the new name.

Still, far beyond the swirl of opinions, one truth remains. Tatiana had endured a long and private battle after a surprising diagnosis at a young age, and right after welcoming a baby.

Something Was Wrong

Approximately one month before her death, Tatiana revealed the truth she had kept hidden from the world. In an emotional essay for The New Yorker titled "A Battle with My Blood," she shared everything she and her family had gone through from the moment her body began sending quiet warnings.

Her second child, a baby girl, was born on May 25, 2024. Tatiana and her husband were still basking in the wonder of her arrival when her doctor noticed something disturbing in her blood work.

Her white-blood-cell count, normally between 4,000 and 11,000 per microliter, had skyrocketed to 131,000.

There were only two possible explanations. Either it was a rare pregnancy-related spike, or it was something much worse. She turned to George and said there was no way it could be cancer. But her husband, a urology resident at the hospital, knew better than to wait.

He immediately reached out to colleagues — primary care physicians, OBGYNs, anyone who might offer answers. At first, they leaned toward the pregnancy. But the further they looked, the more that theory began to fade.

Her parents arrived to introduce her then-two-year-old son to his new baby sister. Soon after, they watched her being wheeled away for more tests. Later, the diagnosis came: acute myeloid leukemia. A brutal and aggressive cancer, most often seen in much older patients.

Even her doctors were confused. One asked if she had spent time at Ground Zero. Many first responders from 9/11 had developed blood cancers. But Tatiana had only ever visited the memorial years after the attacks.

She was fit. She ran in Central Park and swam in the Hudson. Her family hosted dinner parties and visited museums. She had just had a baby. It couldn't be real, but it was.

Fighting to Stay

For a year and a half, Tatiana fought with everything she had. By her side was her husband, but also her entire family. Her parents and siblings stepped in to care for the children, while also spending time at the hospital, doing everything they could to lift her spirits.

They tried to stay upbeat. They smiled when they could. But behind that, they were watching someone they loved suffer more than words could explain.

"For my whole life, I have tried to be good, to be a good student and a good sister and a good daughter, and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry," she wrote. "Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family's life, and there's nothing I can do to stop it."

Her cancer carried a rare mutation known as Inversion 3. That meant standard treatments weren't enough. She needed chemotherapy, then a bone marrow transplant, and even after that, she would require more chemotherapy for the rest of her life just to keep the disease from coming back.

She was also recovering from childbirth. At one point, she suffered a postpartum hemorrhage that nearly ended her life. She was in and out of hospitals. After the transplant, Tatiana went into remission. But her immune system had been wiped out. She had to be vaccinated all over again. The chemo continued.

Eventually, the cancer returned. Her doctors had actually warned that it could happen. And it did.

Holding On

By January 2025, Tatiana had entered a clinical trial. She had already endured so much, but she continued to fight. Despite complications, she went into remission again and had lost more than 20 pounds in the process.

Then came another relapse. She underwent a second transplant. Remission came again. Then another relapse. Her body had begun to waste away from the relentless battle.

During her final trial, her doctor gave her the harshest truth yet. With continued treatments, she might survive another year, but only under the same brutal conditions. Her thoughts immediately turned to her children. Her son, she feared, would be too young to remember her.

Her daughter had barely had time with her at all.

So she decided to be fully present for them for whatever time she had left. Her son knew her as a writer, someone who cared deeply about the planet.

Had she not gotten sick, she planned to write a book about the oceans. It would have included not only the dangers they face but their surprising gifts, like the Caribbean sponge that led to the creation of cytarabine, the chemo drug that helped keep her alive.

She made sure to tell her son about her work every day, so he would remember more than just the illness. Meanwhile, her daughter, with "curly red hair like a flame," was learning how to play and sing, asking for music on a portable speaker, dressing up, and discovering joy.

Those were the memories Tatiana hoped she would carry with her, even if she never knew what came after. We extend our deepest condolences to her husband, her children, and the Kennedy family.

Now, Tatiana Schlossberg is remembered not only for the history she was born into but for the courage, love, and purpose she carried quietly until the end.