ETHEL Kennedy, the widow of former New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy, has died a week after suffering a stroke.
Kennedydied on Thursday at age 96, her grandson, Joe Kennedy III announced.
Ethel Kennedy, the widow of former US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, has died[/caption]
Ethel Kennedy and her late husband, Robert F. Kennedy[/caption]
Ethel Kennedy was a human rights advocate[/caption]
The Kennedy family pictured – Robert Kennedy holding baby Michael while posing with Ethel and their children (L-R) Bobby Jr., Kathleen, Courtney, David, & Joe[/caption]
“It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother, Ethel Kennedy,” Kennedy III wrote.
Ethel was hospitalized on October 3 after suffering a stroke in her sleep, her grandson, Joe announced in a statement on Tuesday.
“She is comfortable, she is getting the best care possible, and she is surrounded by family,” he said at the time.
“She is, as you may know, a strong woman who has led a remarkably fulfilling life.
“We are here looking after her.”
Ethel’s death comes decades after her husband, Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Los Angeles on June 6, 1968, in the middle of his presidential campaign trail.
RFK, also known as Bobby Kennedy, addressed supporters at the Ambassador Hotel shortly after winning the California and South Dakota primaries.
After giving an impactful speech and thanking his supporters, RFK proceeded to exit the hotel through a kitchen passageway, only to be shot by a 24-year-old Palestinian, Sirhan Sirhan.
Kennedy was shot three times, including once in the back of the head. Five others were wounded, including his campaign labor chair.
RFK died from his injuries on June 6, 1968, at age 42. He was three months into his presidential campaign.
The killing of RFK came almost five years after the assassination of his older brother, President John F. Kennedy, in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
Ethel Kennedy became a widow at age 40, having to care for her 11 children.
Born on April 11, 1928, Ethel and her siblings were raised in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Her family suffered a devastating tragedy when her parents, George Skakel and Ann Brannack, died in a plane crash in 1955.
She began her college education at Manhattanville College, where she met her eventual sister-in-law, Jean Kennedy.
Ethel first met Robert F. Kennedy in December 1945.
The couple became engaged in February 1950 and married four months later in Greenwich.
The Kennedy family was no stranger to politics.
Patriarch Joe Kennedy, a Harvard graduate, was a leading member of the Democratic Party and served as chairman of the US Maritime Commission under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration.
Robert F. Kennedy was brought into the spotlight in the late 1950s as a razor-sharp attorney who declared war on organized crime in the US.
He famously squared off with Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa during the Senate Rackets Committee between 1957 and 1959.
RFK stepped down as chief counsel of the rackets committee to join his brother JFK’s presidential campaign.
After winning the election, JFK appointed his younger brother as US attorney general despite having no political experience.
RFK continued his relentless attack on organized crime as attorney general and helmed successful convictions against prominent mob figures,
After his brother’s assassination in 1963, RFK resigned as attorney general and ran for the US Senate from New York.
As New York’s Senator, RFK was committed to assisting underprivileged children and students with disabilities, improving living conditions, and creating employment opportunities.
RFK was also dedicated to advancing human rights abroad, a goal Ethel Kennedy carried and continued to illustrate years after her husband’s assassination in June 1968.
On the heels of her husband’s assassination, Ethel founded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization.
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