Rose Kennedy

American noted family and wife of entrepreneur Joseph P. Kennedy on 10/07/1914, Boston, MA. She gave birth to nine children, two of whom became U.S. Senators and one, the U.S. President. Rose was a strong woman, tiny in structure, always trim and socially ambitious. She spoke three languages and was well trained in social etiquette, a devout Catholic who drew upon her faith when faced with multiple tragedies. Her legend lives on at the very center of this century's American history. Few can match her record of survival through tragedy, innuendo, glory and agony. Biographers nonetheless portray her as an emotionally cold woman, more concerned with her social position than with mothering, undemonstrative and distant to the kids. To some, she remains the archetypal loving mother and long-suffering saint; to others, she is seen as steely determination and vast, unquenchable ambition. John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, her dad, was a customs clerk. By the time she was five, he was the only Dem. Congressman from Massachusetts; by the time she was 15, he was mayor of Boston. She was raised on politics. Rose was married to Joe Kennedy from 1914 to November 1969, when he died. Her husband was American Ambassador to Great Britain from 1938-1939, she enjoyed entertaining Kings and Queens and three of her daughters were presented at court. Her eldest son, Joe Jr., was killed while flying a secret Navy mission in 1944 and her daughter Kathleen died in a plane crash in France. On 11/22/1963, her son, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated, and on 6/05/1968, her son, Senator Robert Kennedy, met the same fate. At the age of 104, after being confined to a wheelchair following a stroke in April 1984, she enjoyed watching videos of her family. She died at home in the family compound on Cape Cod, Hyannis Port, MA, January 22, 1995, 5:30 PM EST. She was survived by five of her nine kids, 28 grandchildren and 22 great grandkids. Link to Wikipedia biography