Eunice Kennedy Shriver with her husband Sargent and son-in-law Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003. Eunice was sister of slain US president John F. Kennedy and founder of the Special Olympics. She was 88. AFP/File/Robyn Beck
Click for Slideshow: Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies
"Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe and they in turn are her living legacy," her family said in a statement.
U.S. President Barack Obama praised Shriver's Special Olympics work and called her "an extraordinary woman who, as much as anyone, taught our nation -- and our world -- that no physical or mental barrier can restrain the power of the human spirit."
In March, Obama apologized for comparing his bowling skills to those of Special Olympics participants during an appearance on "The Tonight Show" television program.
Shriver was married to Sargent Shriver, whose long public service included starting the Peace Corps under her brother, President John F. Kennedy. Sargent, 93, a former vice presidential candidate, suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
She was born July 10, 1921, the middle child of the nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and his wife, Rose.
As a child, she wanted to compete athletically against her brothers, including John, elected president in 1960 and assassinated in 1963; Robert, a New York senator whose presidential bid ended with his assassination in 1968; and Edward, who has served as a senator from Massachusetts for more than 45 years.
'LOYAL AND LOVING'
Edward Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, said in a statement that even as a child his sister had a "boundless passion to make a difference."
"Though the Special Olympics will be her enduring monument, in our family she'll be remembered as a loyal and loving sister, a treasured wife to Sarge, and a wonderful mother and grandmother," he said.
Shriver was always a part of her Democratic brothers' political campaigns but her advocacy work crossed party lines.
Republican President Ronald Reagan praised her "enormous conviction and unrelenting effort ... on behalf of America's least powerful people" in 1984 when he awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Well into her 80s, Shriver still was seen in the halls of the U.S. Capitol seeking support for her cause.
She started the Special Olympics Games in 1968 to foster fitness and self-esteem for the mentally handicapped. Her concern was attributed to her relationship with older sister Rosemary, who was said to have been mildly retarded and spent much of her life in long-time care after a lobotomy.
"I had enormous affection for Rosie," Shriver said in a radio interview in 2007. "If I never met Rosemary, never known anything about handicapped children, how would I have ever found out? Because nobody accepted them anyplace."
The genesis for the Special Olympics was the summer camps that Shriver put on herself for mentally handicapped children at her family's Maryland estate. Forty years after the first U.S. Special Olympics, the games have grown to include 190 nations.
Beyond an athletic competition, the Special Olympics became a public service organization that advocated research, rights and better care for its constituents. Shriver's son Timothy became the organization's chairman.
Her other children are Maria, a former TV journalist who married California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; Bobby, a lawyer and philanthropist; Mark, a former Maryland state legislator now in charity work; and Anthony, who also founded a group to help the mentally handicapped.
Shriver was a debutante who was presented at the Court of St. James while her father Joseph Kennedy was U.S. ambassador to Britain. Early in her professional life, she worked for the State Department and then with female prisoners in West Virginia.
Shriver campaigned with her husband when he was the vice presidential candidate with George McGovern in 1972 and when he made a failed bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 1976. [rc]
Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by John O'Callaghan
Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited.
August 11, 2009
USA: Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies at age 88
.
BOSTON, Massachusetts / Reuters / August 11, 2009
By Matthew Bigg
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who emerged from a powerful male-dominated political family to found the Special Olympics and become a leading advocate of the mentally disabled, died Tuesday at the age of 88.
Shriver died at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, the Massachusetts town on Cape Cod synonymous with the Kennedy dynasty.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver with her husband Sargent and son-in-law Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003. Eunice was sister of slain US president John F. Kennedy and founder of the Special Olympics. She was 88. AFP/File/Robyn Beck
Click for Slideshow: Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies
"Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe and they in turn are her living legacy," her family said in a statement.
U.S. President Barack Obama praised Shriver's Special Olympics work and called her "an extraordinary woman who, as much as anyone, taught our nation -- and our world -- that no physical or mental barrier can restrain the power of the human spirit."
In March, Obama apologized for comparing his bowling skills to those of Special Olympics participants during an appearance on "The Tonight Show" television program.
Shriver was married to Sargent Shriver, whose long public service included starting the Peace Corps under her brother, President John F. Kennedy. Sargent, 93, a former vice presidential candidate, suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
She was born July 10, 1921, the middle child of the nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and his wife, Rose.
As a child, she wanted to compete athletically against her brothers, including John, elected president in 1960 and assassinated in 1963; Robert, a New York senator whose presidential bid ended with his assassination in 1968; and Edward, who has served as a senator from Massachusetts for more than 45 years.
'LOYAL AND LOVING'
Edward Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, said in a statement that even as a child his sister had a "boundless passion to make a difference."
"Though the Special Olympics will be her enduring monument, in our family she'll be remembered as a loyal and loving sister, a treasured wife to Sarge, and a wonderful mother and grandmother," he said.
Shriver was always a part of her Democratic brothers' political campaigns but her advocacy work crossed party lines.
Republican President Ronald Reagan praised her "enormous conviction and unrelenting effort ... on behalf of America's least powerful people" in 1984 when he awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Well into her 80s, Shriver still was seen in the halls of the U.S. Capitol seeking support for her cause.
She started the Special Olympics Games in 1968 to foster fitness and self-esteem for the mentally handicapped. Her concern was attributed to her relationship with older sister Rosemary, who was said to have been mildly retarded and spent much of her life in long-time care after a lobotomy.
"I had enormous affection for Rosie," Shriver said in a radio interview in 2007. "If I never met Rosemary, never known anything about handicapped children, how would I have ever found out? Because nobody accepted them anyplace."
The genesis for the Special Olympics was the summer camps that Shriver put on herself for mentally handicapped children at her family's Maryland estate. Forty years after the first U.S. Special Olympics, the games have grown to include 190 nations.
Beyond an athletic competition, the Special Olympics became a public service organization that advocated research, rights and better care for its constituents. Shriver's son Timothy became the organization's chairman.
Her other children are Maria, a former TV journalist who married California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; Bobby, a lawyer and philanthropist; Mark, a former Maryland state legislator now in charity work; and Anthony, who also founded a group to help the mentally handicapped.
Shriver was a debutante who was presented at the Court of St. James while her father Joseph Kennedy was U.S. ambassador to Britain. Early in her professional life, she worked for the State Department and then with female prisoners in West Virginia.
Shriver campaigned with her husband when he was the vice presidential candidate with George McGovern in 1972 and when he made a failed bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 1976. [rc]
Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by John O'Callaghan
Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver with her husband Sargent and son-in-law Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003. Eunice was sister of slain US president John F. Kennedy and founder of the Special Olympics. She was 88. AFP/File/Robyn Beck
Click for Slideshow: Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies
"Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe and they in turn are her living legacy," her family said in a statement.
U.S. President Barack Obama praised Shriver's Special Olympics work and called her "an extraordinary woman who, as much as anyone, taught our nation -- and our world -- that no physical or mental barrier can restrain the power of the human spirit."
In March, Obama apologized for comparing his bowling skills to those of Special Olympics participants during an appearance on "The Tonight Show" television program.
Shriver was married to Sargent Shriver, whose long public service included starting the Peace Corps under her brother, President John F. Kennedy. Sargent, 93, a former vice presidential candidate, suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
She was born July 10, 1921, the middle child of the nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and his wife, Rose.
As a child, she wanted to compete athletically against her brothers, including John, elected president in 1960 and assassinated in 1963; Robert, a New York senator whose presidential bid ended with his assassination in 1968; and Edward, who has served as a senator from Massachusetts for more than 45 years.
'LOYAL AND LOVING'
Edward Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, said in a statement that even as a child his sister had a "boundless passion to make a difference."
"Though the Special Olympics will be her enduring monument, in our family she'll be remembered as a loyal and loving sister, a treasured wife to Sarge, and a wonderful mother and grandmother," he said.
Shriver was always a part of her Democratic brothers' political campaigns but her advocacy work crossed party lines.
Republican President Ronald Reagan praised her "enormous conviction and unrelenting effort ... on behalf of America's least powerful people" in 1984 when he awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Well into her 80s, Shriver still was seen in the halls of the U.S. Capitol seeking support for her cause.
She started the Special Olympics Games in 1968 to foster fitness and self-esteem for the mentally handicapped. Her concern was attributed to her relationship with older sister Rosemary, who was said to have been mildly retarded and spent much of her life in long-time care after a lobotomy.
"I had enormous affection for Rosie," Shriver said in a radio interview in 2007. "If I never met Rosemary, never known anything about handicapped children, how would I have ever found out? Because nobody accepted them anyplace."
The genesis for the Special Olympics was the summer camps that Shriver put on herself for mentally handicapped children at her family's Maryland estate. Forty years after the first U.S. Special Olympics, the games have grown to include 190 nations.
Beyond an athletic competition, the Special Olympics became a public service organization that advocated research, rights and better care for its constituents. Shriver's son Timothy became the organization's chairman.
Her other children are Maria, a former TV journalist who married California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; Bobby, a lawyer and philanthropist; Mark, a former Maryland state legislator now in charity work; and Anthony, who also founded a group to help the mentally handicapped.
Shriver was a debutante who was presented at the Court of St. James while her father Joseph Kennedy was U.S. ambassador to Britain. Early in her professional life, she worked for the State Department and then with female prisoners in West Virginia.
Shriver campaigned with her husband when he was the vice presidential candidate with George McGovern in 1972 and when he made a failed bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 1976. [rc]
Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by John O'Callaghan
Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited.
