From the Associated Press: Joan B. Kennedy, the former wife of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy who endured a troubled marriage marked by family tragedies, her husband’s infidelities and her own decades-long struggles with alcoholism and mental health, died on Wednesday. She was 89.
The former Joan Bennett, one of the last remaining members of a family generation that included President John F. Kennedy, was a model and classically-trained pianist when she married Ted Kennedy in 1958.
Their lives would change unimaginably over the next decade and a half. Brother-in-law John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960 and assassinated three years later. Brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy served as attorney general under JFK, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1964 and assassinated while seeking the presidency.
Her husband was elected to the U.S. Senate and became among the country’s most respected legislators despite initial misgivings that he was capitalizing on his family connections. But Ted Kennedy also lived through scandals of his own making. In 1969, the car he was driving plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, killing his young female passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne.
The report notes that Joan Kennedy had three children with Ted Kennedy, but also suffered multiple miscarriages, including one after the car crash scandal.
By the end of Ted Kennedy’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in the 1980 Democrat primary against Jimmy Carter, the couple had already separated, and later divorced.
Their estrangement was widely known, as one campaign bumper sticker read, “Vote for Jimmy Carter, Free Joan Kennedy.”
Maria Shriver paid tribute, writing:
My aunt, Joan Kennedy, mom to my cousins, Teddy and Patrick Kennedy, passed away this morning. Not only was she a mom, but she was a grandmother too. She was an accomplished pianist, an arts advocate, and a beautiful soul. She valiantly shared her struggle with addiction so that others could share theirs. She courageously shared what it was like to lose a child, get divorced from a famous man, and carry on. Her life was challenging, but she persevered.
As a young girl, I marveled at her grace, her beauty, her elegance. As a woman, I respected her grit, her resilience, her perseverance. May her journey be peaceful, and may her children and grandchildren know they did a great job caring for her, respecting her privacy, and loving her. Sending love to all of them. ♥️
My aunt, Joan Kennedy, mom to my cousins, Teddy and Patrick Kennedy, passed away this morning. Not only was she a mom, but she was a grandmother too. She was an accomplished pianist, an arts advocate, and a beautiful soul. She valiantly shared her struggle with addiction so that… pic.twitter.com/mQigdGStSb
— Maria Shriver (@mariashriver) October 8, 2025
Joan Kennedy, First Wife of Ted Kennedy and the Last Survivor of Camelot, Dies at 89 https://t.co/02JYHgrGr0
— People (@people) October 8, 2025
Breaking News: Joan Kennedy, whose longtime marriage to Senator Ted Kennedy made her part of an American political dynasty, died at 89. https://t.co/FHDlFRu0uS
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 8, 2025
Goodbye Norma Jean (Virginia Bennett aka Joanie Kennedy) though I never knew you at all…And it seems to me you lived your life like a candle in the wind…RIPhttps://t.co/T6YbkfaAFW
— Jack (@JackOceanMan8) October 8, 2025
READ MORE from the Associated Press.
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