The Kennedy dynasty has been touched repeatedly by tragedy — most recently the death of Robert F. Kennedy’s granddaughter Saoirse Kennedy Hill at age 22.
Some notable other instances:
———
JOSEPH P. KENNEDY JR.: Died in a plane crash during World War II. He was 29.
ROSEMARY KENNEDY: Had been institutionalized since 1941 because of retardation and the effects of a failed lobotomy. She died in 2005.
KATHLEEN KENNEDY: Married William John Robert Cavendish, the Marquess of Hartington. He was killed in World War II. She later died in a plane crash in 1948 at age 28.
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY: Assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. He was 46.
Son PATRICK was born prematurely in 1963 and died two days later, three months before his father’s assassination.
Son JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. was killed with his wife and sister-in-law when their small plane crashed off Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, in 1999. He was 38.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY: Assassinated in Los Angeles in June 1968. He was 42.
Son DAVID died in 1984 of a drug overdose in a hotel after being ousted from the family vacation home at Palm Beach. He was 28.
Son JOSEPH (Joe) was involved in a 1973 car accident that left a female passenger paralyzed for life.
Son MICHAEL was killed in a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado. He was 39.
EDWARD M. KENNEDY: Drove a car off a bridge on Massachusetts’ Chappaquiddick Island in 1969 after a party, killing aide Mary Jo Kopechne. She was 28.
Son EDWARD Jr.’s right leg had to be amputated in 1973 because of cancer.
Son PATRICK, a former congressman, sought treatment for cocaine addiction as a teenager in 1986.
MARY RICHARDSON KENNEDY, estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., died by suicide in May 2012. She was 52.
