Ethel Kennedy, the widow of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and sister-in-law of the former United States President John F. Kennedy, died at the age of 96, about five decades after her husband was assassinated.
The Kennedy matriarch, who single-handedly raised their eleven children after her husband’s assassination and yet continued to uphold the family’s legacy, passed away on Thursday, a week after she reportedly suffered a stroke and was hospitalized.
The news of her demise was made public by her family in a statement that read, “It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother; she died this morning from complications related to a stroke suffered last week.” This was shared on X by her grandson, Joe Kennedy III, in the early hours of Thursday, 10 October 2024.
Ethel Kennedy was born in Chicago on April 11, 1928, to George Skakel, a millionaire coal magnate, and Ann Brannack Skakel. She grew up in a 31-room English country manor house in Greenwich, Connecticut. She attended Greenwich Academy before graduating from the Convent of the Sacred Heart in the Bronx in 1945. A few years later, she met Robert Kennedy, and they got married.
Robert F. Kennedy was a legal practitioner who became chief counsel to the Senate Select Committee in 1957. His brother, the newly elected President Kennedy, later appointed him attorney general. He was shot dead in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, shortly after he won the Democratic presidential primary in California. This came less than five years after his brother, President John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated in Dallas.
Ethel Kennedy was beside her husband when he was shot dead; she had lived with that traumatic experience for several decades, and apart from her husband’s death, she experienced a plethora of tragic events, ranging from the death of her parents, who died in a plane crash in 1955. She also lost her brother in an auto crash in 1966, her son Michael Kennedy in a skiing accident, and her nephew John F. Kennedy Jr. in a plane crash; she also lost her son David Kennedy, who died of a drug overdose and several others.
Despite the tragedy that surrounded Ethel Kennedy, she strived to uphold the Kennedy’s legacy. Many of her progeny became prominent in several parastatals in the US government and non-governmental entities. Her daughter Kathleen became lieutenant governor of Maryland, Kerry became a human rights activist and president of the RFK Centre, Max served as a prosecutor in Philadelphia, Christopher ran for governor of Illinois, Joseph represented Massachusetts in Congress, and Douglas was a reporter for Fox News Channel.
Ethel Kennedy dedicated her life to facilitating social justice and upholding human rights. She was active in the Coalition of Gun Control, Special Olympics, and Earth Conservation. She took part in the 2016 demonstration supporting higher pay for farmworkers in Florida and also in the 2018 hunger strike against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. She left behind nine children, 34 grandchildren and 24 great-great-grandchildren, along with numerous nieces and nephews.
