BOSTON — In a somewhat wistful post on ‘X’, former Congressman Joe Kennedy III revealed Tuesday night that his grandmother, Ethel Kennedy, suffered a stroke last Thursday and has been hospitalized ever since.
Ethel Kennedy is 96-years-old and the last survivor of the “Camelot” generation of the family.
Joe Kennedy III wrote: “She has had a great summer and transition into fall.”
In addition to spending lots of time with family, the post notes that Ethel Kennedy got out on the water and shared many lunches and dinners with loved ones. Joe Kennedy said it was a blessing for them and for her.
The post says Ethel Kennedy is undergoing treatment and it asks for prayers and privacy.
Ethel Skakel became a Kennedy when she married Robert F. Kennedy in 1950. They were together for 18 years until he was assassinated while running for President in 1968, during a celebration of his California primary win. Their marriage produced eleven children. Ethel Kennedy never remarried.
Political Analyst and author Tom Whalen said Ethel was critical to her husband’s success in the days leading up to his death.
“She kind of took the hard edge off Robert Kennedy, who, in his heyday, was known as Ruthless Bobby,” said Whalen, who also serves as an associate professor of Social Sciences at Boston University. “She really mirrors some of the great events of the latter half of the 20th century.”
After RFK’s death, Ethel Kennedy went on to live an extraordinary life — which is not to say it was always a pleasant life. Two of her sons, David and Michael, died at young ages (28 and 39). She lost two grandchildren. Saoirse Kennedy Hill died of a drug overdose in 1991. Maeve Kennedy McKean died in a boating accident on Chesapeake Bay in 2020, along with her 8-year-old son.
“I think most of us would lose it entirely,” Whalen said. “But I think because of her Catholic faith — it allowed her to weather many personal storms.”
But there were happy times, as well.
Two of her children, Joe Kennedy II and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend ran for public office and won, U.S. Congress and Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, respectively. Joe Kennedy III served as a Congressman from Massachusetts for three terms.
Kennedy III’s post to ‘X’ notes his grandmother is a strong woman.
But she’s also 96. So it’s not out of the question that Ethel Kennedy’s strength may run out.
Whalen said when that happens it will mark more than the death of a remarkable woman.
“It is going to be a wake not just for Ethel Kennedy, but a wake for an era and a particular political brand,” he said.
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