Ethel Kennedy, human rights activist and widow of Robert F Kennedy, dies aged 96

ETHEL KENNEDY, THE widow of US senator Robert F Kennedy, has died aged 96. 

In a statement shared this afternoon, her grandson and US Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, Joe Kennedy III, said: “It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother, Ethel Kennedy.”

He said she died this morning from complications related to a stroke she suffered in her sleep last week. 

“Along with a lifetime’s work in social justice and human rights, our mother leaves behind nine children, 34 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren, along with numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom love her dearly,” he said. 

Born Ethel Skakel in Chicago in 1928, she met her future husband at the age of 17. They married in 1950 and had eleven children, including Robert F Kennedy Jr, the controversial politician who recently dropped out of the US election after endorsing Donald Trump. 

She was with her husband when he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on 5 June 1968, just after he had won the Democratic presidential primary in California.

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Her brother-in-law, US President John F Kennedy, had been assassinated in Dallas less than five years earlier.

She founded the Robert F Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights after her husband’s death, when she was pregnant with their eleventh child. She also went on to co-chair the Coalition of Gun Control. 

In 2014, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President Barack Obama “for her dedication to “advancing the cause of social justice, human rights, environmental protection, and poverty reduction”. 

“She was a devout Catholic and a daily communicant, and 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,” Joe Kennedy said. 

In a statement, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he learned of Kennedy’s passing with great sadness.

“She lived a remarkable life, dedicating herself to her family, and to social justice,” he said.

“She was a tireless advocate for the rights of migrant workers, the rights of Native Americans, and a variety of environmental causes, as well as a political force in her own right, playing important roles in the various congressional, senate, and presidential campaigns undertaken by her husband and her brother in law.”

Martin also said she exemplified “the extraordinary commitment to public service we associate with the Kennedy family”.

“Her inspiration and shining example is evident in contributions to political and public life of many of her children and grandchildren,” he added, extending his sympathies to her extended family and “many friends here in Ireland”.

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