NEW YORK — Mary Richardson Kennedy, the 52-year-old estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who was found dead of an apparent suicide last week at her home in Bedford, was praised for her generosity and spirit at a private memorial Monday.

The event at the Standard Hotel in Manhattan was hosted by the Richardson family. It was closed to the media.

"I think it was one of the most amazing memorials I've ever been to in terms of the level of affection," said Linda Crowley, 59, of Madison, N.J. "It was incredible."

Crowley, a friend of the Richardson family and an editor at Town & Country magazine, said a slide show of photographs of Mary played during the nearly two-hour memorial, which was attended by many of Mary's friends, including sister-in-law Kerry Kennedy.

Crowley said participants avoided any mention of Mary's troubles, but talked about her "generosity and spirit" and described her as a "beautiful and intelligent woman."

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A funeral for the architect and environmentalist was held Saturday in Bedford, a hamlet north of New York City. Mourners included actors Susan Sarandon, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase and Edward James Olmos, tennis great John McEnroe and musician Paul Shaffer. Burial was at a cemetery in Centerville, Mass., several miles from the Kennedy seaside compound in Hyannisport.

Mary Richardson married into the Kennedy family in 1994. She had four children with Robert, the son of assassinated U.S. senator and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, but the couple separated years ago. He filed for divorce in 2010. The case was pending when she died.

Shortly after the split, her internal struggles became public when she was arrested twice on charges of driving while intoxicated. In preparations for her funeral, one of her brothers went to court to request custody of her body, which could have spoiled the Kennedy plan to bury her near the family compound.

Robert Kennedy and a lawyer for the Richardson family were in court Friday arguing the case, before Mary's body was released to her husband. A judge sealed the case.

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