Ethel Kennedy, family matriarch and the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, has died at the age of 96. According to a statement from the family, Kennedy was hospitalized on Oct. 8, when she suffered a stroke in her sleep. She passed away on Thursday, Oct. 10 from complications related to the stroke suffered last week.
Daughter Kerry Kennedy and former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, Ethel’s grandson, shared a statement from the family posted to social media: “It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our mother, Ethel Kennedy. Please keep our mother, Ethel Kennedy. She died this morning from complications related to a stroke suffered last week. Along with a lifetime’s work in social justice and human rights, our mother leaves behind nine children, 34 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren, along with numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom love her dearly. She was a devout Catholic and a daily communicant, and we are comforted in knowing she is reunited with the love of her life, our father, Robert F. Kennedy; her children David and Michael; her daughter-in-law Mary; her grandchildren Maeve and Saoirse; and her great-grandchildren Gideon and Josie. Please keep our mother in your hearts and prayers.”
Ethel Skakel Kennedy was born in Chicago in 1928 and grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut. She married Bobby Kennedy on June 17, 1950, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenwich. Bobby Kennedy served as attorney general in his brother John F. Kennedy’s administration; after JFK’s assassination in 1963, Ethel supported Bobby in his political career and his presidential aspirations before he was shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in June 1968.
Kennedy was the mother to 11 children — seven sons and four daughters – including one with whom she was pregnant when her husband was murdered. She was predeceased by son David Kennedy, who died of a drug overdose in 1984, and son Michael Kennedy, who died in 1997 in a skiing accident.
After her husband’s death, Ethel Kennedy founded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights foundation which celebrates her husband’s and others’ dedication to human rights and public service by supporting programs for rights advocates around the world. Ethel Kennedy also co-chaired the Coalition of Gun Control and was involved with many other human rights organizations. President Obama honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a ceremony at the White House in 2014, where she was praised for her perseverance and generosity.
President Biden said in a statement Thursday: “Ethel Kennedy was an American icon – a matriarch of optimism and moral courage, an emblem of resilience and service. Devoted to family and country, she had a spine of steel and a heart of gold that inspired millions of Americans, including me and Jill. We were blessed to call her a dear friend … For over 50 years, Ethel traveled, marched, boycotted, and stood up for human rights around the world with her signature iron will and grace. May God bless Ethel Kennedy, a dear friend, and a great American.”
Ethel Kennedy is survived by nine of her children, as well as the large extended Kennedy family.
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