Ethel Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy shared a close bond that lasted through years of family joy and painful loss. Their bond grew even stronger when both women lost their husbands to death. Before Jackie’s death, Ethel and her daughter Kerry Kennedy spent a final evening with her. Kerry now recalls the emotional visit and describes it as a moment filled with love and understanding.
Kerry Kennedy recalls her mother’s “beautiful and tender” final moment with Jackie
In an interview with PEOPLE, Kerry reflected on the friendship between her mother and Jackie, the wife of former President John F. Kennedy. The women first got to know each other through the Kennedy family during the 1950s. Kerry recalled that her parents and her uncle Jack shared a house in Georgetown. Jackie and Jack were dating at the time, and the couple often went on double dates and watched movies together.
Ethel married Robert F. Kennedy in 1950, while Jackie married John F. Kennedy in 1953. Kerry said the two women built a strong friendship as they began their lives with the large Kennedy family. They also shared a love of reading and went through two or three books each week. According to Kerry, both women had a great sense of humor and enjoyed writing songs and changing the lyrics of familiar hits for family birthday parties.
Jackie received a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1993 and died on May 19, 1994, at age 64. Before her death, Ethel and Kerry visited her and shared one final evening with her. Kerry described the meeting as “very beautiful and tender.” She said the moment brought sadness and the pain of saying goodbye, but also a sense of peace.
The women knew each other’s pain because they had both lost loved ones in their own personal tragedy. “It was peaceful and loving at a profound level, and full of beauty,” she told PEOPLE. Her book, Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy, explores her mother’s life and the grief she endured.
Ethel also lost her sons David and Michael, granddaughter Saoirse Kennedy Hill, granddaughter Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, and great-grandson Gideon McKean over the years.
