Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, has died at 96

null - Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, has died at 96, according to the family.

Kennedy had been hospitalized after suffering a stroke in her sleep on Oct. 3, her family said.

"It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother," Joe Kennedy III posted on X. "She died this morning from complications related to a stroke suffered 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-great grandchildren along with numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom love her dearly."

Kennedy, whose children were Kathleen, Joseph II, Robert Jr., David, Courtney, Michael, Kerry, Christopher, Max, Douglas and Rory, was one of the last remaining members of a generation that included President John F. Kennedy. Her family told the AP she had recently enjoyed seeing many of her relatives, before falling ill.

Biden and Obama remember Ethel Kennedy

President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama released statements Thursday to remember Kennedy.

In a statement from the White House, Biden said in part:  

"Ethel Kennedy was an American icon—a matriarch of optimism and moral courage, an emblem of resilience and service. Devoted to family and country, she had a spine of steel and a heart of gold that inspired millions of Americans, including me and Jill. We were blessed to call her a dear friend."

"Growing up in an Irish-Catholic family, I often looked to the Kennedy family for proof of America’s promise. Ethel’s husband, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, was one of my heroes, inspiring an entire generation to make real that promise for all Americans. Together, they were guided by values that were the same as those my grandparents and parents taught me around the kitchen table: Everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. We each have an obligation to one another, to give hate no safe harbor, and to leave no one behind."

"Jill and I send our love to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; to her nieces and nephews and the entire Kennedy family; and to the millions of people around the world touched over the decades by her remarkable life of strength and service."

Obama shared his thoughts on Ethel Kennedy in a post on X saying "Ethel Kennedy was a dear friend with a passion for justice, an irrepressible spirit, and a great sense of humor. She touched the lives of countless people around the world with her generosity and grace, and was an emblem of enduring faith and hope, even in the face of unimaginable grief. Michelle and I are thinking of the Kennedy family and all those who loved this extraordinary woman."

Who was Ethel Kennedy?

Kennedy was a millionaire’s daughter and married the future senator and attorney general in 1950, and endured more death by the age of 40, for the whole world to see, than most would in a lifetime.

She was by Robert F. Kennedy’s side when he was fatally shot in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, just after winning the Democratic presidential primary in California. Her brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated in Dallas less than five years earlier, the Associated Press reported. 

Ethel Kennedy founded the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights soon after her husband’s death and advocated for causes including gun control and human rights. 

The AP noted that she rarely discussed her husband’s assassination. When her filmmaker daughter, Rory, brought it up in the 2012 HBO documentary, "Ethel," she couldn't share her grief.

She was born Ethel Skakel on April 11, 1928, in Chicago, the sixth of seven children of coal magnate George Skakel and Ann Brannack Skakel, a devout Roman Catholic. She grew up in a 31-room English country manor house in Greenwich, Connecticut, and attended Greenwich Academy before graduating from the Convent of the Sacred Heart in the Bronx in 1945.

In 2008, Ethel Kennedy joined brother-in-law Ted Kennedy and niece Caroline Kennedy in endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president, likening him to her late husband.  And during that same year, she visited Indianapolis on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 

Ethel Kennedy joined President Obama and former President Bill Clinton — each held one of her hands — as they climbed stairs to lay a wreath at President Kennedy’s gravesite during a November 2013 observance of the 50th anniversary of JFK’s death, the AP noted.