Copyright New York Post
Pioneering wildlife conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall was laid to rest Wednesday, with friends, family and a line of rescue dogs paying their respects alongside prominent names like Leonardo DiCaprio and California Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Goodall’s ashes were carried up the steps of Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC, around 11 a.m., where an honor guard of pups flanked the entrance to greet her remains as mourners filed into the moving service. Goodall’s three grandchildren addressed the service inside, as did DiCaprio, who befriended her through his own work as an environmental conservationist. “Most people knew her as Jane Goodall, the icon, the legend. But the Jane I was fortunate enough to get to know was gentle, curious, funny, witty and absolutely unstoppable,” the “One Battle After Another” star said. “She could be clear-eyed, even blunt about the greed and relentless consumption of our species, but beneath that fierce honesty was an unwavering faith that every voice matters, that we are all connected to the living world and that each of us can make a difference,” he added. Goodall, 91, died of heart failure in California on Oct. 1 as she was travelling for a speaking tour. The Jane Goodall Institute confirmed she died peacefully in her sleep. She was an icon of conservation and science, and was best known for her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees after she immersed herself in the jungles of Tanzania in 1960, when she was 1960. Born to a comfortable London family, she spent years living nearly full-time in the African wilds where she studied different bands of chimpanzees and made groundbreaking discoveries about their human-like behavior, intelligence and personalities. Among her discoveries was chimpanzees’ ability to use tools — something generally believed to be the domain of humans alone prior to her work. Other speakers at the invite-only funeral included Executive Director of the Jane Goodall Institute USA, Anna Rathmann, who talked about Goodall’s “many superpowers.” “She reached across the chasms that divided people from other animals and across the chasms that divide all of us,” Rathmann said. “Jane was always firm in her beliefs, but never unfeeling in others’ views. She was always direct, but never aggressive, always kind, but never contentious,” Rathmann added. “She treated all beings on earth with a civility and respect. She was a matriarch and a model in attitude and in action.” With Post wires
