Family announces death of Ethel Kennedy at 96; she was devoted to family, slain husband’s legacy

(OSV News) — Ethel Kennedy, the widow of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, a human rights activist and mother of 11, died Oct. 10, her family said. She was 96.

Kennedy had been hospitalized after suffering a stroke on Oct. 3, her family said.

Former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., her grandson, said in a statement posted 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,” Joe Kennedy said. “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.”

Ethel Kennedy, he said, “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,” he added.

In a statement, President Joe Biden called Ethel Kennedy “an American icon — a matriarch of optimism and moral courage, an emblem of resilience and service. Devoted to family and country, she had a spine of steel and a heart of gold that inspired millions of Americans, including me and Jill.”

Biden praised her for “turning pain into purpose” after her husband’s assassination and “continuing his march toward civil rights and social justice, an end to poverty at home, and securing peace abroad — all while raising their 11 children.”

“Four years later, when I lost my own wife and infant daughter, Ethel was always there for me and my sons,” he said. “She helped us find strength and perseverance. She taught us how to channel grief into the service of a greater good.”

According to her biography from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Ethel Skakel Kennedy was born on April 11, 1928, in Chicago to George Skakel, a Protestant, and his devoutly Catholic wife, Ann Brannack Skakel. The family later moved to Connecticut, as her father became a successful coal magnate. Ethel and Robert Kennedy were married on June 17, 1950, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenwich.

The matriarch of one of the most prominent U.S. political families not only lost her husband to an assassin’s bullet in 1968, but also her brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy, in 1963.

When her husband was assassinated while he sought the Democratic nomination for president, Ethel Kennedy was pregnant with their youngest child, born six months after his death.

She later founded the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, which seeks to promote what it calls on its website “his unfinished work.”

In 2014, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor given by the U.S. government, for her work on several causes, including human rights, environmental protection and social justice.

Kennedy’s death came just weeks after her third child, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ended his failed bid for president campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump, a move criticized by his family.