Rose Kennedy

For other people named Rose Kennedy, see Rose Kennedy (disambiguation).
Rose Kennedy
Countess of the Holy See

Rose Kennedy in 1967
Born Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald
(1890-07-22)July 22, 1890
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died January 22, 1995(1995-01-22) (aged 104)
Hyannis, Massachusetts, U.S.
Cause of death Complications from pneumonia
Resting place Holyhood Cemetery
Education Girls' Latin School
Dorchester High School
Alma mater New England Conservatory
Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart
Known for Kennedy family matriarch
Political party Democratic
Religion Roman Catholic[1]
Spouse(s) Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (m. 1914; d. 1969)
Children Joseph Jr., John, Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert, Jean and Ted
Parent(s) John F. Fitzgerald and Mary Josephine Hannon
Relatives See: Kennedy family
Signature

Countess Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy (July 22, 1890 – January 22, 1995) was an American philanthropist and socialite. She was deeply embedded in the "lace curtain" Irish Catholic community in Boston, where her father was mayor. She was the wife of businessman and investor Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., who was United States Ambassador to the Court of St James's. Their nine children included President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and longtime Senator Ted Kennedy. She was the sixth American woman to be granted the title of Countess by the Vatican.[2]

Early life

Rose was born at 4 Garden Court[3] in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. She was the eldest of six children born to Boston Mayor John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald (1863–1950) and Mary Josephine "Josie" Hannon (1865–1964).[4] Her siblings were Mary, Thomas, John Jr., Eunice, and Frederick.

As a young child, she lived in an Italianate/Mansard-style home in the Ashmont Hill section of Dorchester, Massachusetts and attended the local Girl's Latin School. The home later burned down, but a plaque at Welles Avenue and Harley Street proclaims "Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Square". The plaque was dedicated by her son, Senator Ted Kennedy, on her 102nd birthday in 1992.

Kennedy studied at the convent school Kasteel Bloemendal in Vaals, The Netherlands, and graduated from Dorchester High School in 1906. She also attended the New England Conservatory in Boston where she studied piano. After being refused permission by her father to attend Wellesley College, Fitzgerald enrolled at the Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart (as it was then known) in Manhattan, an institution that did not grant degrees at the time. In 1908, Fitzgerald and her father embarked on a tour of Europe. She and Honey Fitz had a private audience with Pope St. Pius X at the Vatican.

Marriage and family life

Kennedy with Joe Jr.

On October 7, 1914, she married Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy at age 24 after a courtship of more than seven years. He was the elder son of businessman/politician P. J. Kennedy (political rival of Honey Fitz) and Mary Augusta Hickey. She gave birth to the couple's first child, Joseph Jr., nine months later. They initially lived in a home in Brookline, Massachusetts that is now the John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site, and later a 15-room vacation home at Hyannis Port on Cape Cod, which became the Kennedy family’s lasting base. They had nine children.

Kennedy (standing, rear) with her husband Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and grandchildren, 1963. John-John can be seen in the foreground.

Joseph provided well for their family, but was unfaithful. His affairs included one with Gloria Swanson. While eight months pregnant with the couple's fourth child Kathleen, Rose temporarily went back to her parents, but returned to Joseph. In turning a blind eye to her husband's affairs, Rose depended heavily on medication. Ronald Kessler found records for prescription tranquilizers Seconal, Placidyl, Librium, and Dalmane to relieve Rose's nervousness and stress, and Lomotil, Bentyl, Librax, and Tagamet for her stomach.[5]

Rose Kennedy was a strict Catholic throughout her life. Even after her 100th birthday, she rarely missed Sunday Mass and maintained an "extremely prudish" exterior. Her strict beliefs often placed her at odds with her children.[6] Jacqueline Kennedy described her mother-in-law in her correspondence to Father Joseph Leonard, an Irish priest: "I don't think Jack's mother is too bright – and she would rather say a rosary than read a book."[7]

Rose Kennedy stated that she felt completely fulfilled as a full-time homemaker. In her 1974 autobiography, Times to Remember, she wrote, "I looked on child rearing not only as a work of love and a duty, but as a profession that was fully as interesting and challenging as any honorable profession in the world and one that demanded the best I could bring to it..... What greater aspiration and challenge are there for a mother than the hope of raising a great son or daughter?"[6]

Children

Name Date of Birth Date of Death Brief Biography Marriage and children Cause of death
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy Jr.July 25, 1915August 12, 1944United States Navy aviatorNever married or had children, but was once engaged to Athalia Ponsell Naval airplane explosion on August 12, 1944 over the English Channel
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy May 29, 1917November 22, 1963 United States Representative (1947–53)
United States Senator (1953–60)
President of the United States (1961–63) 		Sept. 12, 1953 to Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, had four children (including a miscarriage/stillbirth) Assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas
Rose Marie "Rosemary" Kennedy September 13, 1918January 7, 2005 Born with cognitive disabilities; underwent a lobotomy in 1941 which left her incapacitated; institutionalized from 1949 until her death 2005 Never married or had children Natural causes
Kathleen Agnes "Kick" KennedyFebruary 20, 1920May 13, 1948Marchioness of Hartington Married on May 6, 1944 to William "Billy" Cavendish, (widowed Sept 1944); never had children Airplane crash over Saint-Bauzile, Ardèche, France
Eunice Mary KennedyJuly 10, 1921August 11, 2009International advocate for the developmentally disabled; founded the Special Olympics Married on May 23, 1953 to Sargent Shriver, had five children Stroke
Patricia Helen "Pat" KennedyMay 6, 1924September 17, 2006Journalist and film production assistant Married on April 24, 1954 to English actor Peter Lawford, had four children; divorced in 1966Complications from pneumonia
Robert Francis "Bobby" KennedyNovember 20, 1925June 6, 1968United States Attorney General (1961–64)
United States Senator (1965–68) 		Married on June 17, 1950 to Ethel Skakel, had eleven children Assassinated in June 1968 in Los Angeles by Sirhan Sirhan
Jean Ann KennedyFebruary 20, 1928United States Ambassador to Ireland (1993–98)Married on May 19, 1956 to Stephen Edward Smith, had two sons and adopted two daughters
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy February 22, 1932August 25, 2009United States Senator (1962–2009)Married on November 29, 1958 to Joan Bennett, had three children; divorced on December 6, 1982. Remarried in 1992 to Victoria Reggie; had no children. Brain cancer

Later years

Rose Kennedy with her son, President John F. Kennedy in 1962

After her son John became President in 1961, Rose "became a sort of quiet celebrity," appearing on the International Best Dressed List.[6] Most of her social activities consisted of involvement in charities and women’s groups. Rose also took brisk ocean swims outside her Cape Cod house in fifty-degree weather.

After suffering a stroke in 1984, she used a wheelchair for the remaining eleven years of her life. She maintained her residence at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts and was cared for by private nurses and staff.

Death

On January 22, 1995, Kennedy died at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port from complications from pneumonia at the age of 104, having outlived her husband by a quarter of a century. She was survived by five children, 26 grandchildren, and 42 great-grandchildren. Rose Kennedy was interred with her husband at Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Legacy

In 1951, Pope Pius XII granted Kennedy the title of countess in recognition of her "exemplary motherhood and many charitable works." [8] In 1992, when she turned 102, the intersection of Welles Avenue and Harley Street in Boston was proclaimed "Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Square". The plaque was dedicated by her son, Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Also, the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, Massachusetts – the park that was created when the city's Central Artery was sunk below ground level in the "Big Dig" – was named after her on July 26, 2004. Well known for her philanthropic efforts and for leading the Grandparents' Parade at age 90 at the Special Olympics, Kennedy's life and work are documented in the Oscar-nominated short documentary Rose Kennedy: A Life to Remember.[9]

Books By Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy

References

  1. ↑ "Rose Kennedy . The Kennedys . WGBH American Experience - PBS". American Experience. horizontal tab character in |title= at position 16 (help)
  2. ↑ http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/The-Kennedy-Family/Rose-Fitzgerald-Kennedy.aspx
  3. ↑ "North End Walk: N5: Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Birthplace: 4 Garden Court". Boston Women's Heritage Trail. 2001-02-22. Archived from the original on February 22, 2001. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  4. ↑ Goodwin, Doris Kearns (2001). The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga. Simon and Schuster. pp.88–89.
  5. ↑ Kessler, Ronald. The Sins of the Father: Joseph P. Kennedy and the Dynasty He Founded. Warner Books, 1996. ISBN 0-446-60384-8. pp. 318, 372–373.
  6. 1 2 3 Hodgson, Godfrey (January 24, 1995). "Obituary: Rose Kennedy". The Independent. Archived from the original on July 1, 2014.
  7. ↑ Letters from Jackie, The Irish Times, May 13, 2014
  8. ↑ "Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy". jfklibrary.org.
  9. ↑ "NY Times: Rose Kennedy: A Life to Remember". NY Times. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  10. ↑ "Times To Remember 1974 edition". Amazon.com. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Times to Remember 1995 edition". Amazon.com. Retrieved August 22, 2014.

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