Mrs.Ethel Kennedy, a matriarch of America’s most celebrated political family who carried on her husband Robert F. Kennedy’s fight for civil justice after witnessing his assassination on the night he won the 1968 California Democratic presidential primary, has died at the age of 96.
“It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother, Ethel Kennedy,” former Rep. Joe Kennedy III, her grandson, announced Thursday. “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,” the statement added, in part. “Please keep her in your hearts and prayers.”
Ethel Kennedy was hospitalized on Oct. 8, when she suffered a stroke in her sleep, according to her family.
Ethel Kennedy poses for a portrait during…Show more
Victoria Will/AP
“Ethel Kennedy was an American icon – a matriarch of optimism and moral courage, an emblem of resilience and service,” President Biden said in a statement Thursday. “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. We were blessed to call her a dear friend.”
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Biden’s statement noted how Robert F. Kennedy was “one of my heroes,” and touched on the lifetime of friendship he and his family shared with Ethel Kennedy.
“For over 50 years, Ethel traveled, marched, boycotted, and stood up for human rights around the world with her signature iron will and grace,” Biden’s statement declared. “May God bless Ethel Kennedy, a dear friend, and a great American.”
The mother of seven sons and four daughters – including one with whom she was pregnant when her husband was murdered – Ethel Kennedy, who never remarried, raised her children to live up to the Kennedy creed touted by her assassinated brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy, that “to those who are given much, much will be required.”
Mrs.Ethel Kennedy, a matriarch of America’s most celebrated
“For anyone to achieve something, he must have to show a little courage. You’re only on this earth once. You must give it all you’ve got,” she said following her husband’s 1968 assassination.
When President Barack Obama presented Ethel Kennedy with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014, the nation’s highest civilian honor, he said Kennedy’s “love of family is matched only by her devotion to her nation.”
