HYANNIS, Mass. -- Hundreds of friends and family members celebrated the life of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics founder and matriarch of the Kennedy clan, Friday at a funeral Mass on Cape Cod, remembering her as a "queen of humanity," who dedicated her life to the intellectually disabled.

"She was chosen to have a life to serve others, the weakest of the weak, the castaways, the throwaways of society, at the time they would say the mentally retarded, and I am one of those people," Loretta Claiborne, a former Special Olympics athlete and longtime friend, said in her eulogy.

"I come to celebrate the life of my true friend," Claiborne said, recalling how Shriver always urged her to make the most of her own life and taught her to never give up working to help others.

"You'll always have something to do, just remember that," Claiborne told those at the funeral. "I have some work to do and so do you."

Shriver's large extended family turned out to pay tribute to a woman who her daughter Maria called a "transformative figure," who was "tough, scary smart ... fun and funny," in a touching eulogy following the service.

Speaking with her four brothers with her at the podium, Maria Shriver said for all her accomplishments, their mother was their hero simply for being their "mummy."

Maria Shriver described her mother as a woman who was the "ultimate role model," a unique woman ahead of her time who "wore pants, smoked cigars and loved football," but who was also "Determined to change the world for people with intellectual disabilities."

The first lady of California made the congregation laugh when she recalled how her mother instilled a sense of resolve in all her children, sending Maria to Africa when Maria was 15. When Maria complained that there was no running water, Eunice told her to buck up by saying, "I don't want to hear one more yip out of you."

"If she were here today she would ask each of you waht you have done today to better the world," Maria Shriver said, adding that her mother was the "real deal," a woman with a "deep faith in God," who was a "fierce warrior for the voiceless."

Solemn bagpipes signaled the start of funeral services Friday morning for Shriver, 88, who passed away on Cape Cod earlier this week. She had suffered a series of strokes in recent years.

Some 900 invited guests, including Vice President Joe Biden, began arriving at Shriver's private funeral early in the day, as did crowds of observers who came to witness the funeral procession arriving outside St. Francis Xavier Church.

Special Olympians carrying a banner led the funeral procession behind the bagpipes, followed by Kennedy elders and the Shriver children and grandchildren who carried her casket into the church.

Among the pallbearers was Shriver's son-in-law, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who offered a prayer during the funeral Mass along with other family members, including Eunice Shriver's 19 grandchildren, who each offered an offertory prayer during the service.

Shriver's brother, Sen. Ted Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, did not attend the funeral, although his current wife Vickie and former wife Joan Kennedy were included in the funeral procession of Kennedy family members.

Included among the other invited guests were TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey, singing superstar Stevie Wonder and rocker Jon Bon Jovi.

Shriver, 88, the sister of a U.S. president, U.S. senator and a U.S. Attorney General, had suffered a series of strokes in recent years and died at Cape Cod Hospital early Tuesday.

Thousands Attend Public Wake

An estimated 7,000 people paid their respects to Shriver and her family at a public wake at Our Lady of Victory church in Centerville Thursday. They were greeted by Shriver's four sons and her daughter, Maria, and her husband, Schwarzenegger.

Also in attendance at the wake were many other members of the Kennedy clan, including the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, Caroline Schlossberg. Also there to pay respects were Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick as well as Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley.

The scores of visitors from around the country who made the trek to Cape Cod for the wake spoke of Shriver's dedication to the disabled. Her family remembered her tenderly as a woman who was passionate about her causes but who was also genuine and unpretentious.

Her children said, despite her great achievements, above all, to them, she was a devoted mother.

"To me her absolute greatest accomplishment was that through all the chaos and all the craziness that is my family, and is my mother, that at the end of the day she picked up the phone every single day and called me. She made me think that there was nothing greater than to be Anthony Shriver," her son Anthony said.

Devoted friends, fans pay tribute

Most of the thousands who trooped through the small Cape church past her casket did not know the Shrivers or the Kennedys personally. What they knew of Eunice was her work, which touched so many lives.

They came from as far as Miami and North Carolina.

"What we're seeing here today, in my opinion, is the passing of living history," one man said.

"It is the end of an era," said another.

Special Olympics athletes waited in long lines to say a final goodbye to the woman who sparked a movement on the behalf of people with special needs.

"I know that if it wasn't for Mrs. Shriver, I wouldn't be standing here today," said Claiborne at the wake.

"She was like Noah that opened the gates to the arc for people with intellectual disabilities," Claiborne said.

"She started a great program for people that aren't able to do what normal kids do and it just helps them achieve their goals," said Special Olympian Meghan O'Brien.

Since its founding in 1968, the program has grown to be an international force, with 176 countries participating.

Shriver's nephew, Bobby Kennedy, said there was no question that Shriver cast a tall shadow.

"She was one of the greatest organizers of humanity that's ever lived. If she had been a man, she would have been president of the United States," he said.