Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Bill Clinton said goodbye to the late Ethel Kennedy at a memorial service.
Numerous members of the extended Kennedy family said goodbye to Ethel Kennedy (1928-2024) on October 16 during a memorial service at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, DC. Numerous friends of the human rights activist and widow of Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968) as well as political celebrities were also present.
The guests included incumbent US President Joe Biden (81), former Presidents Barack Obama (63) and Bill Clinton (78), former Secretary of State John Kerry (80), former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (84) and the human rights activist Martin Luther King III (66). There were performances by world stars Sting (73) and Stevie Wonder (74), among others.
More pain “than most of us could bear”
“Her life was marked by more tragedy and heartache than most of us could bear,” Obama said in his speech. “And I think she would have been forgiven if she had withdrawn from public life at some point or allowed bitterness after everything she and her family had been through. But Ethel didn’t do that, because that’s not who she was.”
While her husband Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968, was rather “shy and serious”, Ethel Kennedy was quick-tempered and “a big dose in a small package”. Clinton also confirmed this. “I thought your mother was the greatest,” he explained to the children of the deceased. “She was an incredible fireball of sustained energy. She was wonderful to be around.”
Biden recalled how Ethel Kennedy was there for him early in his political career after his wife Neilia Hunter and daughter Naomi died in a traffic accident in 1972. Together with Ted Kennedy (1932-2009), she accompanied him through a time when he wanted to withdraw from politics. “But Teddy and Ethel didn’t want to hear it. The fact is, Ethel helped my family find a path forward, one of principle and purpose, just as she did for the entire country.” She always remained a friend. “There was, from my perspective – and I suspect from most of yours as well – nothing she couldn’t do. Nothing.”
Ethel Kennedy had a “passion for justice”
The matriarch’s family made it public about a week ago that Ethel Kennedy had died on the morning of October 10th as a result of complications following a stroke. “In addition to her lifelong commitment to social justice and human rights, our mother leaves behind nine children, 34 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren as well as numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom loved her very much,” said her daughter Kerry Kennedy (65), among others.
Biden, Obama and Clinton had already commented on Kennedy’s death in corresponding statements. They all called the deceased “a dear friend.” , that the activist had “passion for justice, an indomitable spirit and a great sense of humor.”
Source: Stern
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