CENTERVILLE, Mass. (WHDH) — The Kennedy family and friends gathered Monday for a private funeral service for Ethel Kennedy.
A crowd could be seen gathering before a funeral mass was held at Our Lady of Victory Church in Centerville.
Kennedy, the wife of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, who raised their 11 children after he was assassinated and remained dedicated to social causes and the family’s legacy for decades thereafter, died on Thursday. She was 96.
“It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother,” Joe Kennedy III posted on X. “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-great-grandchildren, along with numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom love her dearly,” the family statement said.
President Joe Biden called Ethel Kennedy “an American icon — a matriarch of optimism and moral courage, an emblem of resilience and service.”
“For over 50 years, Ethel traveled, marched, boycotted, and stood up for human rights around the world with her signature iron will and grace,” Biden said.
The Kennedy matriarch, mother to Kathleen, Joseph II, Robert Jr., David, Courtney, Michael, Kerry, Christopher, Max, Douglas and Rory, was one of the last remaining members of a family generation that included President John F. Kennedy. Her family said she had recently enjoyed seeing many of her relatives before falling ill.
Her son, former Congressman Joe Kennedy II, remembered his mother as a fighter for justice. He said his mother told her children to intervene when they saw a wrong, to make it right.
“That’s what she taught, that’s what her legacy is, and she did it with a smile on her face and made everybody laugh and have fun, and that was what her secret was — just to make sure that when you’re fighting for the poor, you do it with a smile, and make everybody feel that this is the right thing to do. And that’s what made me love her so much,” he said outside the church Monday.
The former congressman’s son, Joe Kennedy III, also a former congressman, helped carry his grandmother’s casket. Former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. remembered his mother at the service, according to a parishioner.
Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving child of President John F. Kennedy, was at the service. The late Senator Ted Kennedy’s sons Edward Jr. and Patrick were also there, in addition to Ethel’s daughter Rory Kennedy.
Monsignor Ken Velo from Chicago flew in to celebrate a Mass of Resurrection for Ethel, who was a devout Catholic, known to take communion daily.
“I’ve been a priest for 51 years. I have to tell you, I’ve done many funerals. This was an extraordinary one — not because of the family, but because of the woman and who she was,” Velo said.
Joe Kennedy II said he is confident his mother and father are together once again.
“It makes me so happy. I mean, if she doesn’t make it to heaven, none of us have got a chance. So she’s going to go to heaven and he went to heaven, and I know that. They’re together right now,” he said.
Ethel Kennedy’s casket will soon be flown to Arlington National Cemetery for burial. Flags remained at half-staff at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannisport Monday.
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