JUST IN: Kennedy Family Announces the Death of Ethel Kennedy, Widow of Robert F. Kennedy

AP Photo/Henry Burroughs, File

Members of the Kennedy family announced that Ethel Kennedy , the widow of Robert F. Kennedy , had died on Thursday morning. She was 96 years old.

In posts on Twitter/X , her daughter Kerry Kennedy and grandson Joe Kennedy III provided the following message on behalf of the Kennedy family:

It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our mother, Ethel Kennedy. 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- grandchildren, along with numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom love her dearly.

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 Josie.

Please keep our mother in your hearts and prayers.

After her husband was assassinated in 1968, Ethel Kennedy spent the rest of her own life working for the causes he left behind and raising their eleven children. Mrs. Kennedy was pregnant with the couple’s youngest child at the time of Mr. Kennedy’s death; their son David Kennedy died of an overdose in 1984, Michael Kennedy died in 1997 after a skiing accident.

The New York Times ‘ obituary of Mrs. Kennedy described her as a “den mother, ringmaster, chief practical joker and seasoned political pro at Hickory Hill.”