The life and death of Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy

Ethel Kennedy, the widow of the assassinated Robert F. Kennedy, brother of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, has died at the age of 96.

It was her grandson Joe Kennedy III who confirmed the news via a message on X (Twitter). "It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother, Ethel Kennedy."

In his message, Joe Kennedy III notes that his grandmother "passed away this morning from complications related to a stroke she suffered last week."

For further details, she notes that Ethel Kennedy "Was a devout Catholic and a daily communicant. We are comforted in knowing she is reunited with the love of her life, our father, Robert F. Kennedy."

Ethel Skakel met her future husband in 1945, at just 17 years old, at Manhattanville College. Jean Kennedy, Robert's sister and Ethel's classmate, introduced them on a ski trip.

Robert F. Kennedy was in a relationship with Patricia, Ethel's sister. However, once they broke up, he began dating Ethel who was 11 years his junior.

After four years of dating, the couple married in 1950. Ethel and Robert proved to be a couple who complemented each other wonderfully.

Six years after their wedding, Ethel was pregnant with her fifth child. The couple purchased Hickory Hill, a 13-bedroom mansion in McLean, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC. There, John F. Kennedy was a Senator and would later become President of the United States.

The Kennedy parties at Hickory Hill are chapters of the history of 20th-century American high society. They were a meeting point for famous faces from all walks of life, from Hollywood stars to powerful businessmen, athletes, and writers.

But then came June 5, 1968, and Robert F. Kennedy, having won the Democratic primaries, was assassinated in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Ethel was with him, pregnant with her eleventh child, and she was by his side until the next day when he died.

It was not the only family tragedy she had to endure, as her parents had died in a plane crash in 1955. She lost a brother in the same way in 1966. Later, in 1984, she lost her son David to an overdose. Another son, Michael, died in a skiing accident in 1997. She faced the deaths of her two sons without her husband by her side.

Despite a life surrounded by death and misfortune, Ethel Kennedy maintained the legacy she and her husband began. They were advocates of fighting poverty, protecting the environment, and seeking social justice.

In 2014, Barack Obama, whom she supported in his 2008 candidacy, awarded Ethel Kennedy the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He described her as an "emblem of faith."

Follow Showbizz Daily to see the best photo galleries every day