HYANNIS , Massachusetts ( CNN ) -- Family and close friends of Eunice Kennedy Shriver attended a Friday morning funeral for the sister of the late President John F. Kennedy . Special Olympics athlete Loretta Claiborne , at casket , and Maria Shriver attend Eunice Shriver 's wake Thursday . Shriver , a champion of the disabled who founded the Special Olympics , died Tuesday at age 88 . A private funeral service was held at Saint Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Hyannis , Massachusetts . Before the service began , Special Olympians carried the Special Olympics torch into the church , a family statement said . They took part in a procession toward the church , followed by the hearse and the Shriver family walking behind . Watch Maria Shriver pay tribute to her mother » . The funeral follows a public wake and prayer service that was held Thursday at Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church in Centerville , Massachusetts . Details about her private burial will not released until after Shriver is laid to rest . Born on July 10 , 1921 , in Brookline , Massachusetts , Shriver was the fifth of nine children of Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy . She emerged from the long shadow of siblings John Kennedy , Robert Kennedy and Sen. Edward Kennedy as the founder of the Special Olympics , which started as a summer day camp in her backyard in 1962 . Today , 3.1 million people with mental disabilities participate in 228 programs in 170 nations , according to the Special Olympics . `` Eunice is now with God in heaven . My sister Jean and I , and our entire family , will miss her with all our hearts , '' Edward Kennedy , who is battling brain cancer , said on his Web site . `` I know that our parents and brothers and sisters who have gone before are filled with joy to have her by their side again . '' Her health began to fail in recent years , landing her in the hospital in 2005 after a minor stroke and hip fracture . She was hospitalized again in 2007 for an undisclosed ailment . She is survived by her husband , R. Sargent Shriver Jr. , who ran President Lyndon Johnson 's War on Poverty in the 1960s and was Democrat George McGovern 's running mate in the 1972 presidential election . Other survivors include her daughter , Maria Shriver , California 's first lady ; and sons Robert Sargent Shriver III , Timothy Perry Shriver , Mark Kennedy Shriver , and Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver .
Funeral for Eunice Kennedy Shriver in Hyannis , Massachusetts . Shriver founded Special Olympics ; athletes carry torch into church . Shriver was fifth of nine children of Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy . 3.1 million people participate in Special Olympics in 170 nations .