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    • Ethel Kennedy’s children gather in Hyannisport. This also applies to the curious
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    Ethel Kennedy’s children gather in Hyannisport. This also applies to the curious

    Vaseline Posted on

    HYANNISPORT – On a particularly beautiful afternoon in October, a police officer sat in a cruiser on Marchant Avenue with blue lights flashing. An American flag was lowered to half-mast on the private road past the Kennedy compound.

    It was fitting because the last in a line of Kennedys had died hours earlier. Ethel Kennedy, 96, wife of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, died Thursday, a week after suffering a stroke. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 while trying to become president.

    The private road signs, the presence of the police and a security guard could not stop the few cars that tried to catch a glimpse of the site. Ethel Kennedy, her family and the extended Kennedy family have held the nation’s attention for decades. Some people were curious. Some had heard the news of Ethel Kennedy’s death and wanted to pay their respects.

    ‘The Kennedy mystique’

    Susan Montemayor was one of them.

    “I watched the documentary about Ethel,” Montemayor said. ‘She was a very interesting woman. It’s the Kennedy mystique.”

    She and her husband, Leo, had come to the Cape from Chicago for a fall trip. Her father had been a Democratic precinct captain in Chicago at the time. She met President John F. Kennedy at an airport when she was two. She wanted to take a photo.

    Near the property, the pink roses on the rose bushes of a well-kept house were still colorful, but their scent was faint. Grasses rustled in a light wind. A few hundred yards away, another American flag flew at half-mast. The blue of Hyannis Harbor lay in the distance. A blue and white boat bobbed in the water.

    The water has always been a relief for the Kennedy family.

    A sailing trip on Thursday

    This day was no different. Two of Ethel’s children, Max Kennedy and Rory Kennedy, entered Hyannis Harbor on a sailboat in the afternoon.

    A few cars turned onto Dale Avenue but were told to continue along Marchant Avenue. An Amazon delivery person was let through. This also included a woman who delivered groceries.

    A woman walked by. She had not heard the news of Ethel Kennedy’s death. “It’s part of life,” she said.

    Jaime Hughes and another woman stood near a split rail fence overlooking Marchant Avenue. The West Barnstable resident said she had read a few books about Ethel Kennedy.

    “I think she did a lot of great things,” Hughes said.

    Denise Coffey writes about business, tourism and issues affecting the Cape’s residents and visitors. Contact her at [email protected] .

    Thank you to our subscribers who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription.These are our subscriptions.

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