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Joan Kennedy — who was married to Senator Ted Kennedy for 22 years — has passed away.
The death comes amid a tumultuous year for the Kennedy family, have been divided along ideological lines since the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Joan Kennedy was 89 years old.
Joan Kennedy’s son shares news of her death
News of Joan’s passing comes courtesy of her son, Patrick Kennedy, and his wife, Amy:
“Mrs. Kennedy was a classically trained pianist, an advocate for mental health and addiction recovery, and a quiet pioneer in publicly addressing challenges with alcoholism and depression at a time when few others would,” the couple wrote, adding:
“Her courage and candor helped break stigma and inspired others to seek help and healing. Her impact on the arts, mental health advocacy, her beloved Boston community, and the nation will be remembered by many.”
No cause of death has been made public.
Joan Kennedy’s tumultuous life in the spotlight
Once one of the nation’s most famous political spouses, Kennedy struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues, and she inspired millions by going public with these challenges.
While she stood by Ted Kennedy throughout the infamous Chappaquiddick scandal that nearly derailed his career, signs of the couple’s estrangement were impossible to hide by the time he challenged Jimmy Carter for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1980.
A popular bumper sticker at the time read, “Vote for Jimmy Carter, Free Joan Kennedy.”
Three years later, the couple would finally divorce under the strain of Ted’s numerous public scandals and extramarital affairs
Born Virginia Joan Bennett on September 2, 1936, Kennedy worked as a model in television ads before being introduced to Ted Kennedy by his sister Jean in 1957.
After suffering a fall in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, Joan became one of the first high-profile American women to publicly acknowledge her addiction.
Kennedy gave interviews to People and McCall’s magazines discussing her struggles with alcoholism and reported that she’d gotten sober with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Reinventing herself after the public dissolution of her marriage, Joan earned a Master’s degree in Education from Lesley College University in 1982 and later published a book entitled The Joy of Classical Music.
She is survived by two of her children, her eldest, Kara Kennedy, having passed away in 2011.
Our thoughts go out to the Kennedy family during this enormously difficult time.
