Goodbye to Ethel Kennedy.

Ethel Kennedy, widow of RFK, dead at 96 after suffering stroke https://t.co/30Q0nkr8HJ pic.twitter.com/5s5wAZyQnG

— New York Post (@nypost) October 10, 2024

From RFK Jr.'s "American Values: Lessons I Learned from My Family" (commission earned):

After my father fell for my mother, they embarked on what Arthur Schlesinger described as “one of the great love stories of all time.” My dad loved Ethel Skakel’s fiery spirit, and was intensely proud of her reckless competitiveness and athleticism, her self-confidence, her humor, and her peculiar blend of deep religious faith and mischievous irreverence. Her fearless, fun-loving, outgoing personality perfectly complemented my father, providing encouragement to a man who was inherently quiet, vulnerable, and shy. Her devotion to him became a platform for his growth as a public leader. Where Jack was detached and deliberative, my father burned with passion. She fueled those flames. 

My parents were so affectionate with each other that they often appeared pasted together, arms draped over each other’s shoulders, kissing and calling each other “sweetheart,” “darling,” and “honey.” I had an early allergy to corniness, and these antics would have put me in anaphylactic shock had they not been so casual and adorable. They held hands when they ice-skated or walked on the beach. On river trips they lay against each other beside the campfire. He proudly introduced her at his speeches, and she always took the front row and hung on every word, even after hearing the same stump speech a hundred times. Her disciplined attention to his talks always impressed me. I thought, “She must have learned that in Catholic school, where they rapped your knuckles for wavering attention.” She sat behind him in the motorcades, and he would look around whenever he lost track of her. He told reporters that his greatest achievement was “marrying Ethel.”