Brooke Astor

The women came cloaked in black, wearing strings of pearls and floppy hats with thick bows. The men came in designer suits with silk handkerchiefs tucked into their breast pockets.It was in some respects the ultimate A-list funeral, where high-society New York notables were ushered past cameras and crowds into St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue. They had come to honor Brooke Astor, the Manhattan philanthropist and socialite who died Monday of pneumonia at the age of 105. Her funeral Friday, like her parties, brought out New York's upper echelon of celebrities, politicians and dignitaries, including former opera star Jessye Norman, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and co-host of "The View" Whoopi Goldberg.Astor began planning the ceremony more than a decade ago, updating her guest list of more than 400 names over the years. Known for impeccable style, Astor picked every hymn, Bible verse and prayer to send her spirit off spectacularly. Just after 2 p.m. in Midtown, the important people began to arrive. Escorts guided them past the Episcopal church's pale limestone exterior, into the nave of French gothic arches and a towering mosaic of stained glass. They took seats on red-velvet pews on the ground floor, beneath soft spotlights and dangling chandeliers.