“She had such a hard life, but she always lived it with dignity,” said Lynne Poyant, board member and former executive director of the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum, located near the Kennedy family’s Cape Cod compound where Ethel lived. “To lose a husband, then children, and then others, that’s an incredible pain that I don’t know you’ll ever get over.”

Born in Chicago and raised prosperously in Greenwich, Conn., Kennedy also lost her parents in a private plane crash in 1955.

Despite the recurring pain, Kennedy looked ahead, sought constructive outlets for her energy, and defended the progressive causes that had motivated her husband, according to observers who had known her.

Brian Wright O’Connor, who worked with former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, described the ex-congressman’s mother as a “wonderful, wonderful woman. When I think of her, three words come to mind: charismatic, compassionate and cacophonous.

“She demanded a lot from herself, her family and the world,” added O’Connor, a family friend. ‘She was witty and smart. She was astute and demanding. And she let you know that.”

Larry Tye, an author who interviewed Kennedy extensively for his book “Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon,” described her as an indispensable political adviser to her husband.

“Because she was so cheerful, it was easy to underestimate her intellectual abilities,” Tye said. “But every major decision Bobby had to make, whether it was staying in politics” after his brother President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, “or deciding whether to run for president in ’68, she knew what was going on.” was necessary. was best for him, and she shared a sense of what he could do for the country.

“I think in many ways her legacy is the same as Bobby’s,” Tye said. “She represented – and (family patriarch) Joe Kennedy saw this – the best that the Kennedys were trying to do in politics.”

“We can only dream of what Bobby Kennedy could have been if he had lived,” Tye added. “But we don’t have to imagine him expressing those values, because she did it.”

U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, called Kennedy “a woman of true grace and courage, a devoted matriarch and a supportive friend. Ethel Kennedy’s generosity transcended politics, and her dedication to her family and her husband’s legacy was a driving force.”

Markey cited her founding of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation in 1968, just months after Robert’s assassination, as emblematic of her commitment to her husband’s agenda. Ethel’s daughter Kerry Kennedy is now president of the organization.

“She ensured that her husband’s life’s work would continue. She transformed her personal tragedy into a lasting legacy of public service and global leadership,” said Markey. “Her mission will forever be felt beyond the shores of her beautiful home in Hyannis to the far reaches of the world where her fight for human rights lives on.”

As a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Kennedy marched with labor activists, joined picket lines and demonstrated outside embassies.

The human rights organization Robert F. Kennedy said after Ethel’s death that “few would have blamed her for giving up” after her husband’s death. “Yet she steadfastly raised eleven children, instilling in each of them a strong sense of faith, empathy, exuberance and, above all, courage.

“In her words: ‘If someone wants to achieve something, he has to show a little courage. You are only on this earth once. You’ve got to give it everything you’ve got.’

“She certainly did.”

Wendy Northcross, executive director of the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum, said Ethel Kennedy remained the undisputed “queen of the family,” if you will. She was the real fixture at family gatherings. She was the center.”

The family remained active in politics. Joseph P. Kennedy II served in Congress from 1987 to 1999, and her grandson Joseph Kennedy III also represented Massachusetts, from 2013 to 2021. Her daughter Kathleen Kennedy served as lieutenant governor of Maryland for eight years.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., her son, ran for president this year as an independent before withdrawing and endorsing Republican former President Donald Trump, a move that drew condemnation from the family.

Richard Neitz, former president of the JFK Hyannis Museum, remembered Ethel Kennedy as an unpretentious woman who insisted that museum visitors, including strangers, call her “Ethel” instead of “Mrs. Kennedy” when she attended events there.

“When I think of her legacy, the first thing I think of is the free spirit she was,” Neitz said.

Kennedy would drive to the museum in an Audi convertible, Neitz said. Just this summer she was spotted aboard a family schooner in the waters around the site.

“She was funny, fearless and very smart,” Neitz said, adding that he last saw her at the museum about two years ago. Neitz said he showed her a photo taken at the 1960 Democratic National Convention, apparently of the moment when nominee John F. Kennedy told Robert about his choice of Texas Sen. Lyndon Johnson as his running mate.

Robert Kennedy had a controversial relationship with Johnson, who became president after the elder Kennedy’s assassination. Neitz said that when he told Ethel Kennedy the backstory of the photo, she responded, “Well, I don’t think so. Bobby doesn’t look angry enough.’

Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at [email protected].