Ethel Kennedy, RFK's Widow, Dead At 96

MASSACHUSETTS — Ethel Kennedy, the 96-year-old widow of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and a human rights activist, has died, her grandson Joe Kennedy III said in a statement on X Thursday.

News of Kennedy's death comes exactly a week after Joe Kennedy III announced she had been hospitalized after suffering a stroke in her sleep.

"It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother, Ethel Kennedy," her grandson said Thursday. "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."

Kennedy III continued: "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. Please keep her in your hearts and prayers."

One day before Kennedy's death, Kennedy III said that his grandmother had "a great summer and transition into fall," and that "Every day she enjoyed time with her children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren."

"She was able to get out on the water, visit the pier, and enjoy many lunches and dinners with family," he added.

In the days following her stroke, Kennedy was in the hospital "getting the best care possible" while surrounded by family, according to her grandson.

Ethel Kennedy was born on April 11, 1928, in Chicago, Illinois, according to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. She met Robert F. Kennedy when she was 17 years old.

"At the time, Bobby was dating Ethel's sister, Patricia Skakel," the museum said. "Eventually that relationship ended and Robert and Ethel started seeing each other."

Hyannisport is known for being a second home to John F. Kennedy during his presidency, when then-attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, Ethel, and the rest of the family gathered to spend their summers, according to The Cape Cod Times.

Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles during his 1968 presidential campaign. He was 42 years old.

Sirhan Sirhan — the assassin who was 24 years old when he was convicted and had spent more than 50 years behind bars — was found suitable for release by a state board in 2021, after 15 prior denials of parole, according to The New York Times.

In a brief statement released on Twitter by her daughter, lawyer and activist Kerry Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy said at the time that Sirhan "should not be paroled."

In 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom decided that Sirham should not be released, and in March 2023, a California panel denied him parole again, The New York Times reported.

As an activist, Ethel Kennedy focused much of her time and energy in the 1970s on the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Project, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum said.

She later founded the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights and also co-chairs the Coalition of Gun Control.