Ethel Kennedy, the widow of assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy and a tireless human rights advocate, passed away on Thursday at the age of 96. Her grandson, Joseph Kennedy III, announced her death on social media, citing complications from a recent stroke.
“It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother, Ethel Kennedy. She died this morning from complications related to a stroke suffered last week,” Kennedy said in a post on X.
Born Ethel Skakel, she married into one of America’s most prominent political dynasties in 1950. Throughout her life, she faced numerous tragedies with remarkable resilience, including the assassination of her husband in 1968 and the untimely deaths of two of her eleven children.
Ethel stood by Robert F. Kennedy’s side throughout his political career, from his time as U.S. Attorney General to his run for the Democratic presidential nomination. On that fateful night in June 1968, she was present at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles when her husband was shot by Sirhan Sirhan. Despite the shock, witnesses reported that she maintained her composure as she knelt beside him in his final moments.

Following her husband’s death, Ethel dedicated herself to carrying on his legacy. She founded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Centre, championing causes such as poverty alleviation, social justice, and environmental protection. Her efforts were recognized in 2014 when President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, praising her as “an emblem of enduring faith and enduring hope, even in the face of unimaginable loss and unimaginable grief.”
The Kennedy family’s tragedies did not end with Robert’s assassination. Ethel lost her parents in a 1955 plane crash, and her brother in a similar accident in 1966. She also endured the loss of two sons: David to a drug overdose in 1984, and Michael in a skiing accident in 1997. RFK Jr. had drug problems that led to a heroin arrest and in 2019 her granddaughter Saoirse died after an apparent overdose. In 2002 Ethel’s nephew, Michael Skakel, was convicted of murdering 15-year-old Martha Moxley 27 years earlier in a case that featured in a string of TV documentaries.
Despite these personal losses, Ethel remained committed to public service. She was involved in projects ranging from cleaning up Washington’s Anacostia River to revitalising New York’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood. In a 2014 NBC interview, she cited her late husband Bobby and his brother Jack as her primary inspirations.
Ethel’s life was not without controversy. Her son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recently made headlines by breaking from the family’s Democratic tradition to endorse Donald Trump for president. He has also been a vocal anti-vaccine advocate.
Throughout her life, Ethel Kennedy embodied the spirit of perseverance in the face of adversity. As she once reflected in a documentary by her youngest child, Rory, “Nobody gets a free ride.”
Ethel is survived by nine of her eleven children and numerous grandchildren. Her death will undoubtedly be mourned by her family and by many who were touched by her lifelong commitment to public service and human rights.
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