Ethel Kennedy, 96-year-old widow of RFK, hospitalized after stroke

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Ethel Kennedy, the 96-year-old matriarch of the Kennedy dynasty, suffered a stroke and is recovering in the hospital, her family says.

The widow of former US Attorney General Robert F Kennedy had a stroke on Thursday morning in her sleep, before being brought to the hospital where she is receiving treatment, former Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy III said in a Tuesday statement posted on X.

“She is comfortable, she is getting the best care possible, and she is surrounded by family. She is, as you may know, a strong woman who has led a remarkably fulfilling life,” he wrote. “We are here looking after her. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. We ask that yourespect our family’s privacy at this time.”

She is mother to 11 children, including former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr. She also has several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She spent the summer with her children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Joe Kennedy III said.

“She was able to get out on the water, visit the pier, and enjoy many lunches and dinners with family. It has been a gift to all of us and to her as well,” he added.

In 2014, then-President Barack Obama awarded her with a Presidential Medal of Freedom, citing her commitment to fighting for social justice, human rights, and environmental protection, including her work at Robert F Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, a nonprofit she founded in 1968 in the months following her husband’s assassination.

She gave birth to her youngest child after her husband was killed. She raised 11 children on her own and never remarried.