Ethel Kennedy, Wife of Robert F. Kennedy, Dies at 96
Ethel Kennedy, the wife of the late Robert F. Kennedy, has died. She was 96.
Ethel died on Thursday, Oct. 10, of complications after suffering a stroke the previous week. Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the nonprofit she co-founded in 1968, confirmed the news of Ethel's death in a Thursday statement. The organization also shared a compilation video containing snapshots taken throughout Ethel's lifetime on Instagram.
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"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's family said in a statement about her passing.
"She 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," the statement continued. "Please keep our mother in your hearts and prayers."
President Joe Biden also recognized the death of the "American icon" in a statement released by the White House.
"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 said of Ethel. "We were blessed to call her a dear friend."
Ethel was born to George and Ann Skakel on April 11, 1928, in Chicago, Ill. She met the man who would later become her husband in 1945, and they were married five years later. The two had 11 children over the course of their marriage, which ended when Robert was assassinated in June 1968 while campaigning for president after winning the Democratic primary in California.
Ethel first became involved in politics while campaigning for Robert’s older brother, John F. Kennedy, as he was running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1946. She later campaigned for John’s successful 1960 presidential campaign and supported her husband in his own political pursuits after John was assassinated in 1963.
In the decades that followed her husband’s death, Ethel remained active in public service through Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and other nonprofit organizations.
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