Funeral today for Geraldine Ferraro

 Albright recalls feisty friend FerraroPrivate service will be held for family and friendsFerraro died Saturday after a 12-year battle with blood cancer

(CNN) -- Funeral services for former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro will be held Thursday morning in New York City.

The 9:30 a.m. service at the Church of Saint Vincent Ferrer will be for family and friends and will closed to the press, a family statement said.

A resident of New York City, Ferraro died in Massachusetts General Hospital Saturday.

Ferraro's cause of death was complications from multiple myeloma, a blood cancer she had battled for 12 years, according to the statement released by her family from Boston.

In 1984, the congresswoman from New York became the first female vice presidential candidate from a major U.S. political party when she was picked as the running mate for Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale.