Ethel Kennedy obituary: The other Kennedy widow endured relentless heartache and a racism scandal
Ethel Kennedy helped steer Americas most famous political dynasty through tumultuous times.
Ethel Kennedy helped steer Americas most famous political dynasty through tumultuous times.
She was by her husband Robert F. Kennedys side when he was fatally shot in L.A. in 1968 — less than five years after her brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas.
On Thursday, her daughter, Kerry Kennedy, announced on X/Twitter that the family matriarch had died at the age of 96 from complications related to a recent stroke.
She praised her lifetimes work in social justice and human rights and resolve in raising 11 children — and heading a clan of 34 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.
Please keep our mother in your hearts and prayers, Kerry posted.
Ethel Kennedy died on Thursday from complications after a stroke, her daughter Kerry revealed on social media.
Ethel Kennedy with Robert F. Kennedy on their wedding day in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1950.
Ethel Kennedy was one of the last remaining members of the extended familys generation that included President Kennedy.
For a generation of Americans, the Democratic Party clan was the closest thing the US had to royalty.
The JFK era was dubbed Camelot because the youthful president and his glamorous wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, inspired a sense of national optimism.
Ethel was born in Chicago, in April 1928, the sixth of seven children from George Skakel and his wife Ann.
Their rags-to-riches story saw Skakel make millions in the coal industry and move his family to Connecticut.
Ethel became friends and then roommates with Jean Kennedy, a younger sister of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, while attending Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in New York.
She met future husband Robert on a ski trip to Mount Tremblant Resort in Quebec, Canada, in 1945, when she was 17.
They began dating and were married in June 1950. Their first child, Kathleen Kennedy, was born the next year.
Ethel suffered tragedy in 1955 when both her parents were killed when their private airplane crashed.
She supported the blossoming political careers of her husband and his brother, and campaigned enthusiastically for JFK in his successful presidential campaign in 1960.
Ethel was at home with husband Robert in November 1963, when news of JFKs assassination in Dallas reached them.
Later, during Robert Kennedys own presidential campaign in June 1968, she was at his side when he was fatally shot in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
The two widows: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, left, and Ethel Kennedy
Ethel Kennedy with her husband the then Attorney General Robert Kennedy in 1962
Kennedy being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama on November 24, 2014
He had just won the Democratic presidential primary in California.
Six months after her husbands death, Ethel gave birth to their eleventh child, Rory.
Ethel vowed that she would never remarry and largely devoted her life to raising her children as a single mom, according to Britannica.com.
Still, she was well aware that her husband RFK had cheated on her during their marriage.
These included his affairs with actresses Kim Novak and Lee Remick, and his sister-in-law Jackie.
The details of Ethels unwavering support for him were outlined in the 2016 book Bobby Kennedy: The Making of A Liberal Icon by Larry Tye.
The book said Ethel loved her husband more completely than she dreamed possible – and this meant she was able to look the other way.
Ethels relationship with JFKs wife Jacqueline Kennedy got off to a famously bad start in the 1950s.
Jackie reportedly felt that Ethel has tried to upstage her and other women by wearing an emerald-green gown, when most guests at the formal event wore black.
Jackie left early, complaining of a dreadful headache, according to People.
But the two women later developed a friendship and bonded over the killings of their respective husbands.
After her husbands death, Ethel founded The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights in 1968, which promotes human rights through litigation, advocacy, and education.
The nonprofit also gives awards to journalists, authors, and others who promote human rights.
She also was active in the Coalition of Gun Control, Special Olympics and the Earth Conservation Corps.
She remained socially active into her 90s, participating in a 2016 demonstration in support of higher pay for farmworkers in Florida and a 2018 hunger strike against the Trump administrations immigration policies.
When then-President Barack Obama awarded Ethel the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the countrys highest civilian honor, in 2014, he praised her social efforts.
Ethel Kennedy has dedicated her life to advancing the cause of social justice, human rights, environmental protection, and poverty reduction by creating countless ripples of hope to effect change around the world, Obama said.
But Ethel was not universally venerated, and faced allegations that she treated her immigrant servants like dogs.
After RFKs assassination in June 1968, Ethel was the sole mistress of Hickory Hill, the Kennedys fabled estate in McLean, Virginia.
It became known as Horror Hill because of Ethels temper tantrums and abusive treatment of the help.
She earned a reputation for slapping and berating immigrant household workers, cheating them out of money, and screaming at them like a mad woman, causing them to flee in tears, or be fired, sources recalled.
I really dont think Ethel liked Hispanics or blacks, her one-time secretary, Noelle Fell, told The Mails writer Jerry Oppenheimer.
Ethel Kennedy posing backstage with members of her family in 2012 at Carnegie Hall
An image of Ethel Kennedy surrounded by family celebrating her 96th birthday in April shared by her grandson
Ethels eleven children were Kathleen, Joseph II, Robert Jr., David, Courtney, Michael, Kerry, Christopher, Max, Douglas, and Rory.
Many of her offspring became well known.
Daughter Kathleen became lieutenant governor of Maryland; Joseph represented Massachusetts in Congress; Courtney married Paul Hill, who had been wrongfully convicted of an IRA bombing; Kerry became a human rights activist and president of the RFK center; Christopher ran for governor of Illinois; Max served as a prosecutor in Philadelphia and Douglas reported for Fox News Channel.
Her son Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also became a national figure, although ultimately not in the familys liberal tradition.
He ran for president as an independent after briefly challenging President Joe Biden, and his name remained on ballots in multiple states after he suspended his campaign and endorsed Donald Trump.
Ethel Kennedy did not comment publicly on her sons actions, although several other family members denounced him.
But tragedy haunted Ethel and the rest of the stricken Kennedy family.
In 1984, she lost her son David who died from an accidental drug overdose, and in 1997, her son Michael died in a skiing accident.
She divided her time between homes in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and Palm Beach, Florida.
Ethel Kennedy had been hospitalized after suffering a stroke in her sleep on October 3, her family said.
She had recently enjoyed seeing many of her relatives, before falling ill.
It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother, Joe Kennedy III posted on X.
