Joan Bennett Kennedy dies at her Boston home at age of 89

Joan Bennett Kennedy, the first wife of late Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, has died at the age of 89.

Born Joan Bennett, she passed away peacefully in her sleep atn her Boston home early Wednesday morning, her family confirmed. 

She was was a model and classically-trained pianist when Ted’s older sister Jean Kennedy introduced the pair in 1957.

They were engaged within the year and married in her hometown of Bronxville, New York, in 1958. The pair were married for 24 years and had three children together: Kara, Ted Jr and Patrick. 

They divorced in 1983, but Kennedy was long-remembered for the struggles she endured throughout their marriage.

She suffered multiple miscarriages, including one shortly after Ted plunged a car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969 and killed his young, female passenger.

She stood by Ted’s side as he attended the victim’s funeral, pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, and as his extramarital affairs and heavy drinking made national headlines.

Joan battled her own demons, having fought alcoholism and depression for many years. She became one of the first leading ladies in America to publicly address her struggles and was an advocate for mental health and addiction services.

Joan Kennedy in a beaded white formal dress, circa 1970

Ted Kennedy stands to the right of his Joan Bennett at their New York wedding in 1958

Joan leaves the Roundabout Theater in New York City after attending a performance by the Dennis Wayne Ballet Company, circa 1977. Joan, a model and classically trained pianist, was a known patron of the arts

The former Joan Bennett was born in New York City on September 2, 1936. She was raised in a Roman Catholic family in the tiny suburb of Bronxville.

She met Jean while both women were studying at Manhattanville College.

Joan was a model and classically trained pianist when she married Ted in 1958. 

But the couple’s lives changed drastically during their 15 years of marriage.

Ted’s brother-in-law John F Kennedy was elected president in 1960 and assassinated three years later. 

Her brother-in-law Robert F Kennedy Sr served as attorney general under JFK, was elected to the Senate in 1964 and assassinated while seeking the presidency.

Her husband was elected to the Senate in 1962 and became among the country’s most respected legislators despite initial misgivings that he was capitalizing on his family connections. 

Joan was forced to stand by her husband as he battled scandals of his own making. 

Ted, Joan, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, John Kennedy Jr and Caroline Kennedy are pictured together at the 1965 JFK memorial in Runnymede, Britain

Joan is pictured leaving lunch with Luciana Avedon, Father Francis Murphy and jewelry designer Joan Guerreiro in New York in 1972

Joan and Ted attend Kennedy Center Arts Preview Gala on May 27, 1971 at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC

In 1969, Ted plunged the car he was driving plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, killing passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.

Ted, who swam to safety and waited hours before alerting police, later pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident. 

The Chappaquiddick tragedy shadowed him for the rest of his life, weighing against his own chances for the presidency.

Joan stood by her husband through the scandal, but their estrangement was nearly impossible to hide by the time of his unsuccessful effort to defeat President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 Democratic primaries. 

The couple had formally separated in 1978, but did not divorce until after Ted’s failed presidential campaign. One bumper sticker from Carter’s campaign read ‘Vote for Jimmy Carter, Free Joan Kennedy.’

Joan and Ted publicly announced their plans to divorce in 1981. The dissolution of their marriage was finalized nearly two years later. 

She never remarried, but Ted – who served as a senator until his death in 2009 – did have a second wife. 

He was married to Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the current Ambassador to the Republic of Austria, from 1990 until he passed away from a brain tumor at the age of 77.

Ted and wife Joan circa 1980 in New York City

The Kennedy family pays tribute at Robert F Kennedy’s grave on what would have been his 47th birthday, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on November 20, 1971

Joan, Maurice Templesman and Jackie circa 1986 in New York City

Joan turned to alcohol as she tried to cope with the tragedies and scandals that plagued her very public life.

In an 1978 interview with People Magazine, she admitted that she sometimes ‘drank to block out unhappiness, to drown my sorrows.’

She told the outlet how she was an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous and despite working the program, found that ‘staying sober is difficult.’

‘But I’m sober today, and that’s all that matters. I’m working on my recovery a day at a time,’ she said in the interview. 

Joan struggled maintaining her sobriety for decades and was arrested four times for drunk driving.

She was also hospitalized in March 2005 after being found sprawled out on a Boston sidewalk with a broken shoulder and concussion.

She was ordered to enter an alcohol treatment program later that year and appointed a guardian to manage her personal affairs. She was also assigned two trustees to manage her estate.

Her three children led the calls for guardianship, with a judge ruling Joan was ‘incapable of taking care of herself by reason of mental illness.’

Senator Ted and his wife Joan leave West Palm Beach airport for the drive to his father’s home and vacation in November 1964

Joan is welcomed by President and First Lady Nixon to the second of three receptions for members of Congress at the White House in 1969

Joan and Ted, right, are seen backstage with Boston Pops Orchestra conductor Arthur Fiedler in Boston on May 11, 1969

Patrick Joseph Kennedy II graduates from Phillips Andover College in 1991. He is surrounded by his mother Joan, his father Ted and his brother Edward Moore Kennedy Jr

Motherhood presented its own set of struggles for Joan, with two of her children having battled cancer.

Kara, a filmmaker and television producer, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002. She died from a heart attack in 2011 aged 51.

Ted Jr, 64, was diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of 12 and had a partial leg amputation. Despite this, he went on to become a lawyer and served in the Connecticut state Senate for four years. 

In a tribute honoring his late mother, Ted Jr said: ‘[We will] always admire…the way that she faced up to her challenges with grace, courage, humility, and honesty.’

‘She taught me how to be more truthful with myself and how careful listening is a more powerful communication skill than public speaking,’ he added.

Joan’s youngest, Patrick, served as a Rhode Island congressman for 16 years and, like his mother, was an avid advocate for mental health.

Patrick and his wife Amy praised his mother’s dedication as a ‘loving mother’ and champion for mental health and addiction causes.

‘Mrs Kennedy was a classically trained pianist, an advocate for mental health and addiction recovery, and a quiet pioneer in publicly addressing challenges with alcoholism and depression at a time when few others would,’ the couple said.

Joan (second from left), dressed in cap and gown, poses with her family after receiving her Master’s degree in Education from Lesley College in 1981

Joan at a 1992 taping of the Sally Jesse Raphael Show at Unitel Studios in New York City

Congressman Patrick Kennedy and his mother Joan arrive for a rally with Democratic campaign workers in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on November 7, 2006

Patrick added that she was a ‘powerful example to millions of people with mental health conditions’. 

He also recognized the ‘instrumental’ role Joan played in helping her husband launch his political career.

Joan was known for opening her husband’s campaign rallies with a piano serenade. 

In a 1992 Associated Press interview, she recalled playing piano for brother-in-law Bobby when he ran for president in 1968. 

‘He took me with him and encouraged me,’ she told the outlet. ‘He had a theme, This Land Is Your Land – the Woody Guthrie song. I’d play that on the piano and everybody would come in, feeling really great about everything.’

Joan relocated from Washington to Boston after she and Ted divorced.

She pursued a master’s degree in music education at Lesley University and later became a music teacher.

She also toured with orchestras around the world. Her family said she would combine her masterful playing with a message about the transformational potential of the arts and the need for equitable arts education. 

Joan is seen during a formal ceremony to dedicate the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston on March 30, 2015

She was an active member in the city’s arts scene and worked with several local organizations, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops.

Boston Pops conductor Laurete John Williams said Kennedy will be ‘greatly missed’ at the orchestra, but notes her dedication to the program leaves a ‘lasting impact’.

‘Joan was an accomplished pianist and possessed an impressive knowledge of the classical music repertoire,’ he said in a statement to WFTX.

‘She will be greatly missed and will always be regarded as a member of our Boston Symphony Family.’ 

SOURCE PAGE