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

Ethel Kennedy attends the ceremonial installation for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at George Washington University March 27, 2009, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 10, 2024 / 14:20 pm (CNA).

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

Kennedy passed away in her sleep on Thursday morning due to “complications related to a stroke [she] suffered last week,” according to a statement on behalf of the Kennedy family posted on X by her grandson Joe Kennedy III.

“She was a devout Catholic and a daily communicant,” the statement reads, adding: “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.”

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

Kennedy met her future husband, Robert F. Kennedy, at a ski resort in Canada in 1945 when she was 17 years old. The two eventually married in June 1950 at St. Mary Catholic Church in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Deeply interested in politics, Kennedy was a staunch supporter of her husband’s career and also campaigned on behalf of her brother-in-law, John F. Kennedy, during his presidential campaigns. 

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 announcing that he had won two presidential primaries in California and South Dakota.

Ethel Kennedy, who was by Robert’s side as he died, gave birth to their 11th and last 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 the human rights and journalistic spheres. 

She never remarried but instead dedicated the rest of her life to public service, both through 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 after she passed, highlighting her extensive record as a human rights activist as well as her perseverance and strength, which she maintained despite suffering loss throughout her life.

“Few would have blamed her for giving up,” the center wrote. “Yet, she steadfastly raised 11 children alone, instilling in them all a firm sense of faith, empathy, ebullience, 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.