The Kennedy family is going through a new ordeal. Kyle Kennedy, granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, nicknamed “Bobby,” died September 21 at her home in Westwood, Massachusetts. She was 42 years old. According to the American magazine “People”, the causes of his death have not been made public.
Mother of two boys aged 10 and 12, Kyle Kennedy had devoted a large part of her career to teaching. She was particularly committed to equal opportunities in primary schools, before supporting teachers in their professional practice.
In 2020, a serious spinal cord injury turned his life upside down, leading to lasting paralysis. She then got involved in defending people with disabilities.
“Kyle was a marvel. As mother of her beautiful boys, as daughter, sister, friend. And as an educator too,” said her aunt Rory Kennedy. She describes a “funny, combative and deeply loved” woman, whose absence will leave a huge void.
A clan marked by tragedies
The death of Kyle Kennedy revives the memory of the many tragedies that have marked the history of this American political dynasty. The most famous remain the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, shot dead in Dallas in 1963, and of his brother Robert F. Kennedy, killed five years later in Los Angeles while running for president of the United States.
But the family also experienced a succession of accidents and premature disappearances. In 1948, Kathleen Kennedy, sister of John and Robert, lost her life at the age of 28 in a plane crash in France. Several decades later, in 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette and her sister died when their small plane crashed off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
Robert Kennedy’s descendants were also hit hard. Two of his sons died young: David, victim of an overdose in 1984, at age 28, and Michael, killed in a skiing accident in 1997, at age 39.
Three new bereavements since 2019
More recently, in 2019, Saoirse Kennedy Hill, Robert’s granddaughter, died at age 22 of an accidental overdose. The following year, Maeve Kennedy McKean and her 8-year-old son died in a canoeing accident in the Chesapeake Bay.
In 2025, the family was further struck by the disappearance of Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of John F. Kennedy, who died at age 35 from leukemia.
