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Joan Kennedy — who was married to Senator Ted Kennedy for 22 years — has handed away.
The demise comes amid a tumultuous yr for the Kennedy household, have been divided alongside ideological strains for the reason that appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the Division of Well being and Human Companies.
Joan Kennedy was 89 years previous.
Joan Kennedy’s son shares information of her demise
Information of Joan’s passing comes courtesy of her son, Patrick Kennedy, and his spouse, Amy:
“Mrs. Kennedy was a classically skilled pianist, an advocate for psychological well being and habit restoration, and a quiet pioneer in publicly addressing challenges with alcoholism and melancholy at a time when few others would,” the couple wrote, including:
“Her braveness and candor helped break stigma and impressed others to hunt assist and therapeutic. Her affect on the humanities, psychological well being advocacy, her beloved Boston group, and the nation will likely be remembered by many.”
No reason for demise has been made public.
Joan Kennedy’s tumultuous life within the highlight
As soon as one of many nation’s most well-known political spouses, Kennedy struggled with alcoholism and psychological well being points, and he or she impressed thousands and thousands by going public with these challenges.
Whereas she stood by Ted Kennedy all through the notorious Chappaquiddick scandal that almost derailed his profession, indicators of the couple’s estrangement have been not possible to cover by the point he challenged Jimmy Carter for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1980.
A preferred bumper sticker on the time learn, “Vote for Jimmy Carter, Free Joan Kennedy.”
Three years later, the couple would lastly divorce underneath the pressure of Ted’s quite a few public scandals and extramarital affairs
Born Virginia Joan Bennett on September 2, 1936, Kennedy labored as a mannequin in tv adverts earlier than being launched to Ted Kennedy by his sister Jean in 1957.
After struggling a fall in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, Joan grew to become one of many first high-profile American ladies to publicly acknowledge her habit.
Kennedy gave interviews to Folks and McCall’s magazines discussing her struggles with alcoholism and reported that she’d gotten sober with the assistance of Alcoholics Nameless.
Reinventing herself after the general public dissolution of her marriage, Joan earned a Grasp’s diploma in Schooling from Lesley Faculty College in 1982 and later revealed a guide entitled The Pleasure of Classical Music.
She is survived by two of her kids, her eldest, Kara Kennedy, having handed away in 2011.
Our ideas exit to the Kennedy household throughout this enormously troublesome time.
