Who is the richest Kardashian beau? From Travis Barker to Travis Scott

Ivanka added in an Instagram post: “Heartbroken by the passing of my mother. Mum was brilliant, charming, passionate and wickedly funny. She modelled strength, tenacity and determination in her every action. She lived life to the fullest – never forgoing an opportunity to laugh and dance. I will miss her forever and will keep her memory alive in our hearts always.”

Here’s how the mother of Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump will be remembered.

A “survivor”

Ivana Marie Zelníčková grew up under Communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia, but her skiing talent brought opportunities to travel around Europe. She eventually married an Austrian skier, obtained an Austrian passport and moved to Canada.

Ivana’s mother, Marie Zelníčková, told Newsweek in 2017: “Ivana didn’t want to stay here. She was always ambitious, and her father treated her like a boy.”

A world-class athlete

Ivana was an alternate on the 1972 Czechoslovak Olympic ski team and worked as a ski instructor in Canada before she met Donald in 1976. But apparently the Don didn’t know that, so when he asked “Are you good?” before their first ski trip to Aspen, Ivana simply responded, “Yes I’m good.” Ivana also admitted that “Donald was furious” when he saw her tackle the slopes like a pro, she recalled in an interview with LiveSigning.

10 richest tennis stars of 2022, from Nadal to Federer – net worths, ranked

In 2009, just before she turned 60, Ivana told Harper’s Bazaar: “I can ski backwards on one ski. And [blindfolded]! But I don’t go through moguls very often. I prefer powder.”

A radiant beauty

After working as a ski instructor in Canada, Ivana started a career as a model and ended up meeting Donald on a business trip in 1976. But Ivana said she only viewed modelling as a job rather than a career.

So gorgeous she was that even Marla Maples, who Donald was caught cheating on her with, said on TV in the 90s that Ivana was “very gorgeous”.

The former model never made an appearance without her signature beehive hairdo and her grandchildren clearly noticed. Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr.’s kids affectionately referred to her as “glam-ma”, she told Oprah Winfrey on her show, Oprah: Where Are They Now?

George Floyd race protests: which celebs marched and who donated only $50?

A force in business

As the vice-president of interior design for The Trump Organization and the CEO of some Trump Hotels, Ivana helped design the famous Trump Tower and managed New York’s iconic Plaza Hotel. After their split, she became an entrepreneur in her own right.

Following the launch of lifestyle brands that perhaps inspired her daughter Ivanka to get into the fashion and accessories business – plus buying a stake in Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija in 1998, per The Independent – she was reportedly worth US$100 million at the time of her death, per Celebrity Net Worth.

A caring mother

“I was a tough and loving mother who taught them the value of a dollar, not to lie, cheat or steal, respect for others,” Ivana wrote in her book Raising Trump: Family Values from America’s First Mother.

She wrote in a Time magazine op-ed: “It wasn’t easy to raise three kids as a full-time working mother, even with nannies …”

“No matter how busy I was, I had breakfast with my children every day. I sat with them at dinner every night and helped them with their homework (I loved algebra) before going out in a Versace gown to a rubber-chicken charity event. The kids and I celebrated, travelled, and grieved together. Our bond was, and is, our most valuable possession.”

Ivana added: “I was strict and demanding but always loving and affectionate.” And it appears her kids surely remember her as a loving mum.