Ethel Kennedy, wife of Robert F. Kennedy and devout Catholic, dies at the age of 96

Washington, DC Newsroom, October 10, 2024 / 2:20 p.m

Ethel Kennedy, the wife of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and a pillar of American politics for decades, died Thursday at age 96, her family said Thursday.

Kennedy died in her sleep Thursday morning due to “complications related to a stroke she suffered last week,” according to a statement from her grandson Joe Kennedy III on behalf of the Kennedy family published on X.

“She was a devout Catholic and communicated daily,” the statement said, adding: “We are comforted to know that 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.”

Born Ethel Skakel on April 11, 1928, Kennedy was the daughter of wealthy Protestant coal magnate George Skakel and his wife, a devout Catholic, Ann Brannack Skakel. According to the John F. Kennedy Library, both of her parents tragically died in a plane accident in 1955.

Kennedy met her future husband Robert F. Kennedy in 1945 at the age of 17 at a ski resort in Canada. The two finally married in June 1950 at St. Mary Catholic Church in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Kennedy was very interested in politics and was a staunch supporter of her husband's career. She also supported her brother-in-law John F. Kennedy during his presidential campaign.

Kennedy's husband Robert successfully campaigned for and won a seat in the U.S. Senate representing New York in 1964. He was assassinated on June 6, 1968, less than 24 hours after it was announced that he had won two presidential primaries in California and South Dakota.

Ethel Kennedy, who was at Robert's side when he died, gave birth to their eleventh and final child six months later.

Immediately after her husband's death in 1968, Kennedy founded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center, dedicated to continuing his work in human rights and journalism.

She never remarried, but devoted the rest of her life to public service through both the RFK Human Rights Center and the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Project, a community development organization in Brooklyn, New York. She was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The center issued a statement following her death, highlighting her extensive career as a human rights activist and the perseverance and strength she maintained despite the losses she suffered throughout her life.

“Few would have blamed her for giving up,” the center wrote. “Yet she steadfastly raised eleven children alone and instilled in them all a strong sense of faith, compassion, high spirits and, above all, courage.”

Kennedy is survived by nine of her 11 children – including 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – 34 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.