Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, has died aged 96. She was hospitalized on Wednesday after suffering a stroke.
Joe Kennedy wrote on X, “It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother, 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.
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“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 her in your hearts and prayers.”
The Kennedy matriarch, who had children named Kathleen, Joseph II, Robert Jr., David, Courtney, Michael, Kerry, Christopher, Max, Douglas, and Rory, was one of the last members of a generation that included President John F. Kennedy.
Her family claimed she had recently enjoyed seeing several of her relatives before becoming ill.
Ethel Kennedy, a millionaire’s daughter who married the future senator and attorney general in 1950, had seen more deaths by the age of 40 than most people will in their lifetime.
She was with Robert F. Kennedy when he was tragically assassinated in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, shortly after winning the Democratic presidential primary in California. Her brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy, was slain in Dallas less than five years prior.
Her parents were killed in a 1955 plane crash, and her brother died in a 1966 crash. Her son David Kennedy died from a drug overdose, her son Michael Kennedy in a skiing accident, and her nephew John F. Kennedy Jr. in a plane tragedy.
Another nephew, Michael Skakel, was convicted of murder in 2002, but a court ordered a new trial in 2013, and the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2018.
In 2019, she was grieving anew when her granddaughter Saoirse Kennedy Hill died after an alleged drug overdose.
“One wonders how much this family must be expected to absorb,” family friend Philip Johnson, founder of the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation, told the Boston Herald following Michael Kennedy’s death.
Ethel Kennedy supported herself via her faith and love for her family. The family wrote, “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 Saorise and her great-grandchildren Gideon and Josie. Please keep our mother in your hearts and prayers,” the family statement said.
Ethel’s mother-in-law, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, initially worried about how she would handle so much tragedy.
“I knew how difficult it was going to be for her to raise that big family without the guiding role and influence that Bobby would have provided. Times to Remember. And, of course, she realized this too, fully and keenly. Yet she did not give way,” Rose recalled in her memoir.
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