Ethel Kennedy, who married her husband, Robert F. Kennedy, and brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy, who was killed by assassin's bullets and who channeled her grief into raising her 11 children and a lifetime of public service, died Thursday. He was 96 years old.
Kennedy recently suffered a stroke and when she died, she was caring for a grandson, former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass. said in a statement posted on X.
“It is with love in our hearts that we announce the passing of our incredible grandmother, Ethel Kennedy,” the statement read. “He died this morning from complications from a stroke last week.”
Born Ethel Skakel on April 11, 1928, in Chicago, Kennedy's life was marked by tragedy, even becoming a widow in 1968 when Sirhan Sirhan shot and killed her husband while running for president.
Kennedy's parents, coal magnate George Schekel and his wife Anne Branck Schekel, died in a plane crash in 1955.
Kennedy met her future husband in 1945 at a ski resort in Quebec. At the time, he was dating his older sister, Patricia, according to An Official Biography at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
Five years later, “Bobby and Ethel” were married and their first daughter, Kathleen, was born on July 4, 1951.
In 1956, the young couple lived with their growing family in the sprawling Virginia mansion they had purchased from JFK. Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy's public profile continued to rise as chief counsel to the Senate Select Committee.
Like the rest of her family, Kennedy participated in JFK's presidential campaign and, after being elected in 1960, her husband was appointed attorney general.
After JFK's assassination, Robert F. Kennedy successfully ran for the United States Senate from New York. Then, in 1968, he launched his own presidential campaign with his wife's blessing.
“Kennedy's wife, always his most ardent believer, was his most consistent supporter of a run for the White House,” By RFK biographer Evan Thomas “Robert Kennedy: His Life.” “If he harbored intimate thoughts about being a widower, he did not discuss them.”
Six months after RFK's death, Kennedy gave birth to her last child, Rory. At that time, Kennedy established the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and dedicated herself to working for the same cause that her husband championed.
For his efforts, Kennedy received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2014.
Kennedy never remarried, although she was frequently seen in the 1970s in the arms of singer Andy Williams, a family friend who denied being romantically involved.
In the years following RFK's assassination, Kennedy's life was marked by more misfortune.
In 1977, his son Michael died in a skiing accident. Then, in 1984, his son David was found dead of a drug overdose in a hotel room in Palm Beach, Florida.
In 2002, Kennedy's nephew Michael Skakel was tried and convicted of the 1975 murder of his then-neighbor Martha Moxley. He was released in 2013 when a judge agreed that Skakel's former lawyer had failed to adequately defend him.
And in 2019, Kennedy's 22-year-old granddaughter, Colina Saoirse Kennedy, died of a drug overdose.
Kennedy's personal grief over her husband's death returned to the public domain in 2021, when the California Parole Board recommended for the first time that RFK's killer be released.
Then, at age 93, Kennedy objected.
“One man’s inhumanity has caused incalculable loss to our family and our country.” Kennedy wrote. “We believe in the kindness that saved his life, but to curb his violence, he should not be given the opportunity to terrorize again.”
Kennedy was supported by his six surviving children—Joseph P. Kennedy II, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Christopher G. Kennedy, Maxwell T. Kennedy, and Rory Kennedy.
But Kennedy's other two sons, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Douglas Kennedy, said Sirhan served time and supported his request for parole.
California Governor Gavin Newsom agreed with Kennedy and blocked Sirhan's release from prison in 2022. And when Sirhan appeared before the parole board again in March 2023, his request for release was denied.
