Residents paid their respects to the Kennedys Friday rallying around a family who is all too familiar with tragedy.
In the wake of Saoirse Kennedy-Hill’s untimely death, the Cape Cod community stood strong behind the famous family knowing how they have been touched with heartbreak again and again.
“I have grown up watching this and you know, my heart goes out to the families,” one man said of the tragedy.
“It is all too sad,” resident Jim Wiese said. “I mean it is a family followed by misfortune, in a way, you know?”
The John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum is open to the public offering a place for mourners to gather and remember.
“We are deeply saddened by the death of Saoirse Kenndy-Hill. The Kennedy family is very special to all of us. We know how much Cape Cod means to them. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Kennedy family,” President of the JFK Hyannis Museum said in a statement.
Local officials say buisness owners in the area are sad for the Kennedy family.
“I think everyone is aware of it for sure and I imagine they are putting the Kennedys in their hearts and in their thoughts,” Amiee Guthinger of the Greater Hyannis Chamber of Commerce said.
On the town green, volunteers are setting up tables and chairs in preparation for the annual Unity Day festival.
Retired NFL player Willie Ford says this event is a reminder that people in the area are surrounded by community.
“It is a sad situation,” Ford said. “But, this is what this is all about. It’s an opportunity and it just so happened that it happened around this time. But it’s another opportunity for us to bring everybody together.”
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