Avatar feed
Responses: 6
LTC Stephen F.
11
11
0
Edited 5 y ago
Thank you, my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that April 11 is the anniversary of the birth of American human-rights campaigner Ethel Skakel Kennedy and widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
Happy 91st birthday Ethel Skakel Kennedy.

Robert and Ethel Kennedy
"When she first appeared on the public stage, Ethel Skakel Kennedy had a Hollywood-starlet glamour and a sunnier, more exuberant spirit than her cooler and elegant sister-in-law, Jacqueline, the First Lady she once seemed destined to follow into the White House. She was irreverent, fearless, funny, and famously fecund.
Ethel first met Bobby during a ski trip to Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec during the winter of 1945. At the time, he was dating Ethel's sister, Patricia. That relationship ended and Ethel started seeing him. She campaigned for his elder brother in his 1946 campaign for United States Congress, and wrote her college thesis on his book Why England Slept.
Bobby and Ethel became engaged in February 1950, and were married on June 17, 1950, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenwich. Ethel's wedding dress and bridal party gowns were created by noted New York City fashion designer Mamie Conti. As newlyweds, Ethel and Bobby moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, where they lived while Bobby finished his last year at the University of Virginia Law School. Their first child, Kathleen, was born on July 4, 1951. After Bobby graduated with his law degree, the family settled in the Washington, D.C. area and Bobby went to work for the Department of Justice. That path did not last long, as Bobby was asked by his family to manage John F. Kennedy's successful 1952 Senate campaign in Massachusetts.
She also might almost be called the forgotten Kennedy, because she has ducked the spotlight for decades—no easy feat in the most closely watched and written-about family in American
history."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkji5hisg3M

Background from jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/ethel-skakel-kennedy
"ETHEL SKAKEL KENNEDY
Ethel Kennedy
Ethel Skakel Kennedy was born on April 11, 1928, in Chicago, Illinois to coal magnate George Skakel, a Protestant, and his devoutly Catholic wife, Ann Brannack Skakel.

Ethel’s father, George Sr., started work as an eight dollars a week railroad clerk. He, along with some co-workers, built a small coal and coke business into a diversified privately owned enterprise, the Great Lakes Coal & Coke Co., which eventually became Great Lakes Carbon Corporation. As a result, the Skakels became extremely wealthy.

In 1934, when Ethel was five years old, the family moved east, finally settling in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1936 where her father purchased a three-story, thirty-one room English country manor house on Lake Avenue where she was raised with her six siblings.

Ethel attended the all-girls Greenwich Academy in Greenwich, and Convent of the Sacred Heart in the Bronx. In September 1945, Ethel began her education at Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart. It was here that she was introduced to Jean Kennedy, with whom she became fast friends and eventually roommates.

In 1945, 17-year-old Ethel was introduced to Jean's brother, Robert F. Kennedy (Bobby) during a skiing trip to Mount Tremblant Resort in Quebec, Canada. At the time, Bobby was dating Ethel's sister, Patricia Skakel. Eventually that relationship ended and Robert and Ethel started seeing each other.

Ethel campaigned for John F. Kennedy in his 1946 campaign for US Congress, and wrote her college thesis on his book Why England Slept. Bobby and Ethel became engaged in February 1950 and were married on June 17, 1950 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenwich. Their first child, Kathleen, was born on July 4, 1951.

After Robert graduated with his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School, the family settled in the Washington, DC area and Robert went to work for the Department of Justice.

In 1955, Ethel suffered a personal tragedy when both her parents were killed when their private airplane crashed.

In 1956, the Robert F. Kennedys purchased Hickory Hill from Robert’s brother John and his wife Jacqueline. The 13 bedroom, 13 bath home was situated on six acres in McLean, Virginia.

In 1957, Ethel's interest in politics was heightened after her husband became chief counsel to the Senate Select Committee. Two years later, she joined forces with other members of the Kennedy clan to campaign for Robert's brother, John, during his run for the US presidency. In 1960, John F. Kennedy won the election, at which time he appointed Robert to the post of attorney general.

Following the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy, Ethel supported her husband while he campaigned for and won a seat in the US Senate representing the state of New York. Like his brother, Robert also decided to enter the presidential race, but was assassinated in June 1968, immediately after he won the California Democratic primary. Six months after her husband’s death, Ethel gave birth to their 11th child, Rory.

During the late 1970s, with a renewed commitment to public service, Ethel focused much of her time and energy on various social causes, most notably the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Project. In 1984, she lost her son David who died from an accidental drug overdose, and in 1997, her son Michael died in a skiing accident.

Ethel is the founder of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Centre which attempts to continue the works of Robert F. Kennedy through Human Rights Awards and Journalism Awards. She also co-chairs the Coalition of Gun Control, and is involved with other human rights organizations.

Robert and Ethel Kennedy are the parents of eleven children: Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend (July 4, 1951); Joseph Patrick Kennedy II (September 24, 1952); Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (January 17, 1954); David Anthony Kennedy (June 15, 1955 - April 25, 1984); Courtney Kennedy Hill (September 9, 1956); Michael LeMoyne Kennedy (February 27, 1958 - December 31, 1997); Mary Kerry Kennedy (September 8, 1959); Christopher George Kennedy (July 4, 1963); Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy (January 11, 1965); Douglas Harriman Kennedy (March 24, 1967); and Rory Kennedy Bailey (December 12, 1968)."

FYI LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SFC William Farrell SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SSgt Brian Brakke 1stSgt Eugene Harless SSG William Jones SSG Diane R.
(11)
Comment
(0)
Avatar small
Lt Col Charlie Brown
9
9
0
Another one of the Kennedy clan who championed for Human Rights
(9)
Comment
(0)
Avatar small
LTC Greg Henning
7
7
0
Maj Marty Hogan What a legacy! Took up the cause for justice.
(7)
Comment
(0)
Avatar small

Join nearly 2 million former and current members of the US military, just like you.

close