Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy, dies at 96

Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated the gender of President Joe Biden's child who was killed in a car crash in 1972. It was his daughter. 

WASHINGTON – Ethel Kennedy, a human rights advocate, widow of the late Democratic icon Robert F. Kennedy and matriarch of America's most famous political family, died Thursday morning after complications from a stroke she suffered earlier in the week. She was 96.

Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Ethel Kennedy, announced the death of her mother in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.

"It is with heavy hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our mother, Ethel Kennedy," Kerry Kennedy said. "Along with a lifetime's work in social justice and human rights, our mother leaves behind nine children, 34 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren."

Ethel Skakel became a Kennedy in 1950 when she married Robert F. Kennedy, who would go on to become U.S. attorney general in the administration of his brother, former President John F. Kennedy, and later a U.S. senator from New York.

Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy had 11 children.

Ethel Kennedy endured the tragedy of the assassination of her brother-in-law, John F. Kennedy in 1963, and five years later, the assassination of her husband, Robert F. Kennedy, who was killed June 6, 1968, by a gunman in Los Angeles after giving a speech as he campaigned for the Democratic nomination for president.

Asked in a 2014 NBC interview what had inspired her, Kennedy said: "First, Bobby and his life, and, of course, Jack."

Yet their deaths weren't the only tragedies in her life. Ethel Kennedy's parents were killed in a plane crash in 1955, and she lost a brother in a 1966 plane crash.

Ethel's son David died of a drug overdose in 1984, her son Michael was killed in a skiing accident in 1997, and granddaughter Saoirse died at 22 years old of an accidental drug overdose in 2019 at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

"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 Joseph," the Kennedy family's statement reads.

President Joe Biden, in a statement, called Kennedy "an American icon" and said she was "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," Biden said.

Divisions within the Kennedy family have been in the political spotlight this year after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of Ethel Kennedy's children, ran as an independent candidate for president before dropping out in August and supporting Republican nominee Donald Trump. Kennedy's bid was publicly opposed by much of his family, including Kerry Kennedy.

Ethel Kennedy sought to carry on her husband's works with the founding of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights center in Washington D.C. Her work also surrounded many charitable causes, including raising money for Lou Gehrig’s disease research, fighting poverty and supporting social justice and environmentalism.

Ethel Kennedy helped lead efforts to clean up Washington's Anacostia River and restore New York's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Today, a bridge crossing the Anacostia River is known as the Ethel Kennedy Bridge.

Biden said Kennedy "showed our whole nation a way forward, turning pain into purpose and continuing his march toward civil rights and social justice, an end to poverty at home, and securing peace abroad – all while raising their 11 children."

After losing his daughter and wife in a car crash in 1972, Biden said Kennedy was there for him and his sons. "She helped us find strength and perseverance. She taught us how to channel grief into the service of a greater good," Biden said.

In 2014, President Barack Obama awarded Ethel Kennedy the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

"Ethel has been a force for change in her quiet, unflashy, unstoppable way," Obama said at a 2014 White House ceremony honoring her with the medal. "As her family will tell you – and they basically occupy this half of the room – you don’t mess with Ethel.

"She is an emblem of enduring faith and enduring hope, even in the face of unimaginable loss and unimaginable grief," Obama added. "And she has touched the lives of countless people around the world with her generosity and her grace."

Contributing: Reuters.

(This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Ethel Kennedy's granddaughter Saoirse.)

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy, dies at 96