Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy, dies

Days after suffering a stroke, Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy has died.

She was 96 years old.

Her daughter, Kerry Kennedy announced her mother’s death on X, writing, “It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our mother, Ethel Kennedy. She died this morning from complications related to a stroke suffered last week.”

Ethel Kennedy, according to The Associated Press, raised the couple’s 11 children after the assassination of her husband — Kathleen, Joseph II, Robert Jr., David, Courtney, Michael, Kerry, Christopher, Max, Douglas and Rory. She was the final member of the generation led by her husband and his brother President John F. Kennedy.

She also pushed for social causes and supported the Kennedy family legacy over the decades.

Ethel Kennedy had suffered a stroke in her sleep on Oct. 3 and had been hospitalized.

“She has had a great summer and transition into fall,” the family said shortly after her stroke the AP reported. “Every day she enjoyed time with her children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She was able to get out on the water, visit the pier, and enjoy many lunches and dinners with family. It has been a gift to all of us and to her as well.”

Ethel Kennedy was born into the wealthy Skakel family in 1928 in Chicago. She married the future senator and eventual Attorney General of the United States in 1950 after meeting him through his sister Jean, her college roommate. Ethel Kennedy suffered tremendous losses over the years. she was with her husband when he was shot in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel 18 years after they were married. She was pregnant with their 11th child, Rory.

Ethel Kennedy, despite being linked to several men after his murder, never married again, the AP reported.

She had also lost her brother-in-law when he was hit by an assassin’s bullet in Dallas in 1963.

Her parents died in a plane crash in 1955. Her brother died in a crash in 1966. She lost her son David to a drug overdose, her son Michael to a skiing accident, her nephew, John Jr. to a plane crash and her grandaughter Saoirse Kennedy Hill to an apparent drug overdose, the AP reported.

Ethel Kennedy said she stayed strong thanks to her Catholic faith and her family. She met Pope Francis in 2015.

“I knew how difficult it was going to be for her to raise that big family without the guiding role and influence that Bobby would have provided,” her mother-in-law, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, wrote in the memoir, “Times to Remember,” the AP reported. “And, of course, she realized this too, fully and keenly. Yet she did not give way.”

Ethel Kennedy went on to found the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights after his death and was an advocate for gun control, human rights, Special Olympics and environmental causes.

She was rarely able to talk about her husband’s death. Her daughter Rory said in the documentary “Ethel” that her mother couldn’t share her grief.

“When we lost Daddy,” Ethel began, but then teared up and asked Rory to “talk about something else,” the AP reported.

The Kennedy family remained a powerhouse in politics. Ethel, her brother-in-law and niece endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president, saying that he was a lot like Robert Kennedy. She visited the White House several times and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.

Her son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. followed in the family business, but not as liberal as the rest of the Kennedys. He was an environmental lawyer but then started to spread his beliefs about vaccines. He launched a failed campaign as an independent in the current presidential election to unseat President Joe Biden, but dropped out of the race, throwing his support behind former President Donald Trump, despite remaining on ballots in several states.

Ethel Kennedy, according to the AP, did not comment on her son’s political aspirations.

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