President Joe Biden on Wednesday eulogized Ethel Kennedy, the human rights activist and widow of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, as “a hero in her own right,” remembering her decades of public service and personal friendship to him and his family.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend recalled how her mother was fierce and fun-loving, rigorously faithful and reflexively dismissive of authority.

The memorial service in Washington drew major names from the Democratic Party and celebrities, including Sting and Stevie Wonder.