Washington — Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy and the mom of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was remembered in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, with a eulogy delivered by President Biden. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Invoice Clinton additionally spoke on the service, which was held on the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.

The human rights advocate, mom and grandmother died in her sleep earlier this month after a stroke. She was 96.  

Mr. Biden stated Kennedy performed an “important function in my life,” providing glimpses of their private relationship. When his first spouse and daughter have been killed in a automotive crash in 1972, “she was there,” the president stated. And when Mr. Biden was elected president in 2020, he acquired a letter from her that stated it gave her nice “consolation” to know the nation was in his arms. And he or she all the time despatched a Valentine’s Day card.

“I am not bidin’ my time ready for you, valentine,” one such card from her stated, Mr. Biden recalled.

The president stated Kennedy was filled with integrity, empathy, pleasure and light-weight. And he or she and Ted Kennedy inspired him when he was fed up with Congress and needed to depart the Senate, he stated. 

“She acquired me by a time I did not need to stick round,” the president stated. 

Mr. Biden stated Kennedy picked up her late husband’s causes and stamped her personal imprint on them. 

“We’re a greater nation and a greater world due to Ethel Kennedy,” he stated. 

Obama referred to as Kennedy a “large dose in a small package deal,” and a “spitfire from a younger age.” She was obsessed with every part, Obama stated, from juvenile justice reform to civil rights. 

“As critical as Ethel was about righting wrongs, she by no means appeared to take herself too significantly,” Obama stated. 

Clinton referred to as her an “superb fireball with steady vitality.” 

“I believed your mom was the cat’s meow,” Clinton instructed her assembled household.

Kennedy had not solely political stars at her memorial service, however musical ones as properly. Stevie Surprise and Kenny Chesney carried out in her honor. 

The matriarch of the storied Kennedy household is survived by 9 youngsters, 34 grandchildren and lots of great-grandchildren. Her grandson, Joe Kennedy III, stated she was a “sturdy girl who has led a remarkably fulfilling life.” 

Members of the Kennedy household gathered Monday for her funeral in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Mr. Biden has praised Kennedy for her resilience and dedication. 

“Ethel Kennedy was an American icon — a matriarch of optimism and ethical braveness, an emblem of resilience and repair,” Mr. Biden stated in an announcement after her dying. “Dedicated to household and nation, she had a backbone of metal and a coronary heart of gold that impressed thousands and thousands of Individuals, together with me and Jill. We have been blessed to name her a pricey buddy.”

Ethel Kennedy, who had 11 youngsters, raised them after her husband was assassinated in 1968 throughout his presidential marketing campaign. Her son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was operating for president in 2024 as an unbiased, however he suspended his marketing campaign in August and endorsed former President Donald Trump.

Born on April 11, 1928, Kennedy suffered various tragedies in her lengthy life. In 1955, each of her mother and father died when their personal aircraft crashed. Her son, David Kennedy, died of a drug overdose at 28. One other son, Michael Kennedy, was killed in a snowboarding accident at 39. And each her husband and her brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy, have been assassinated. 

She based the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights basis in October 1968, shortly after her husband’s assassination.