Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and matriarch of a political dynasty, was remembered on Wednesday by three presidents, star musicians and many, many relatives during a memorial service in Washington.
President Biden eulogized Mrs. Kennedy, who died last Thursday at 96, as “a hero in her own right, full of character, full of integrity and empathy, genuine empathy.” Growing emotional, Mr. Biden credited her for encouraging him to stay in the Senate after a car accident killed his first wife and infant daughter in 1972.
“Ethel Kennedy would hear none of it,” Mr. Biden said in the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. “Fact is, like she did for the country, Ethel helped my family find a way forward.”
It was the second service this week for Mrs. Kennedy, who died from complications of a stroke. Her stature in American politics was recognized by big names in the Democratic Party: Mr. Biden and two former presidents, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, gave speeches. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi honored Mrs. Kennedy “from an official standpoint and from a girlfriend standpoint.” Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of the civil rights leader, compared Mrs. Kennedy to his mother, saying she built “beautiful bridges of greater understanding.”
Several of Mrs. Kennedy’s 34 grandchildren told stories of her tenacity in tackle football and her love of sailing. Sting and Stevie Wonder performed, with the latter replacing the chorus of the hit song “Isn’t She Lovely” with “Ethel is lovely.”
Mrs. Kennedy, born in Chicago in 1928, married Mr. Kennedy in 1950, and they had 11 children. She was known for her passion in politics and was often said to be “more Kennedy than the Kennedys.” After her husband’s assassination in 1968, Mrs. Kennedy dedicated her life to her family and advocacy while hosting politicians at her estate in Virginia, known as Hickory Hill.
