Ivanka Trump said her mother Ivana Trump was “the ultimate role model” for working women years before her death.
The fashion designer and businesswoman passed away on Thursday at the age of 73.
In a July 2016 interview with PEOPLE, Ivanka recalled Ivana’s ability to balance her personal and professional lives.
“I think one of the things that was amazing about my mother is her role as a parent was complementary to her role as an executive and vice versa,” said Ivanka. Her mother was married to Donald Trump from 1977 to 1992.
“I think she learned a lot of skills negotiating with us that she brought into the boardroom,” she continued. “She spent very meaningful time with us, but she was also working very hard professionally and was very ambitious and very successful.”
Ivanka also said that her parents were careful to be sure that her “very privileged” childhood didn’t stand in the way of cultivating the ambitions of her and her brothers.
“I grew up in an environment where I had access to many luxuries that are highly unusual … I’m enormously grateful for that. But it was also a childhood that was really grounded and traditional,” she said. “They were strict. They were able to instill in us a sense of gratitude for how fortunate we were to be born into their household … And I think they were able to also cultivate in us a sense of passion and work ethic and also an entrepreneurial mindset.”
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Donald Trump announced Ivana’s death in a post on his social media site Truth Social Thursday afternoon, calling her a “wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great inspirational life.”
“Her pride and joy were her three children,” the post announcing her death read. “She was so proud of them, as we were all so proud of her. Rest in Peace, Ivana!”
Eric posted a tribute to his mother on Instagram shortly after his father made the announcement, remembering her as “a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend.”
“She fled from communism and embraced this country,” her youngest child, 38, wrote of his mother, who emigrated from what was then Czechoslovakia. “She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination. She will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children and ten grandchildren.”