Ethel Kennedy dead at 96: JFK’s sister-in-law and matriarch of the political dynasty passes away after stroke
Ethel Kennedy, the matriarch of the Kennedy dynasty and the widow of former US Attorney General Robert Kennedy, has died at the age of 96.
The sister-in-law of the late President John F. Kennedy suffered a stroke in her sleep last week and was rushed to the hospital.
She was the mother of eleven children with the late Senator Kennedy β whom she married in 1950 β and was one of the last links in the Camelot era.
At the age of 40, she was widowed in 1968 when Robert Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles while running for president on the Democratic ticket.
She was pregnant at the time with their youngest child, a daughter the senator never met.
Ethel Kennedy, the matriarch of the Kennedy dynasty and the widow of former US Attorney General Robert Kennedy, has died at the age of 96.
Ethel never remarried and devoted her life to gun control and philanthropy.
After RFK was assassinated, she founded the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and worked tirelessly for world peace.
She also spent her summers on Cape Cod at the legendary family retreat in Hyannis Port, but largely stayed out of public life.
Her death was announced by former Rep. Joe Kennedy III β a grandchild β who now serves as US special envoy to Northern Ireland under President Joe Biden.
“It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our wonderful grandmother, Ethel Kennedy,” Joe Kennedy said on X. “She passed away this morning from complications related to a stroke she suffered last week.”
βIn addition to a lifetime of work in social justice and human rights, our mother is survived by nine children, 34 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren, along with numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom love her dearly,β he said.
βShe was a devout Catholic and a daily communicant, and we are comforted to know that she has been 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,β Joe Kennedy said. “Please keep her in your hearts and prayers.”
It was in 1945 when a 17-year-old Ethel became friends and roommates with Jean Kennedy at Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart.
The same year, she met Jean’s brother Robert during a ski trip in Quebec, Canada.
Robert was in a relationship with Ethel’s sister Patricia at the time. But when that relationship ended, she and Robert started seeing each other.
In 2012, she appeared in a documentary about her life, directed by her youngest child, Rory.
Ethel Kennedy with Robert F. Kennedy on their wedding day in Greenwich, CT in 1950. The couple had 11 children
Ethel Kennedy with her husband, then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy in 1962
Kennedy receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama on November 24, 2014
An image of Ethel Kennedy surrounded by family celebrating her 96th birthday in April, shared by her grandson
In 2014, then-President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States for “advancing the causes of social justice, human rights, environmental protection and poverty alleviation.”
At the ceremony, he said she “touched the lives of countless people around the world with her generosity and grace.”
In 2021, she released a rare public statement opposing the release of her husband’s killer, Sirhan Sirhan.
The California parole board recommended he be released, but this was blocked by Governor Gavin Newsom.
In April, Kennedy celebrated her 96th birthday surrounded by her family, including children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.