Kara Kennedy Dies: Ted Kennedy's Oldest Child Dead At 51
Kara Kennedy, was born in 1960 to Edward and Joan Kennedy, like his father was in the election campaign of his brother John F. Kennedy in the presidential primaries.
The senator later wrote of his eldest son in 2009 his autobiography, "True Compass" had "never seen a more beautiful baby and has not been happier in my life."
Later, she appeared with her father during his unsuccessful 1980 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, and she and her brother, Edward Kennedy Jr. helped lead 1988, the senator's reelection campaign.
His diagnosis of lung cancer was in 2002, and the prognosis was bleak. But the family refused to accept that he wrote the senator. She had surgery in 2003 that doctors said was successful, and Edward Kennedy accompanied his daughter to chemotherapy treatments.
"Kara answered my calls for faith in itself," he wrote. "Today, almost seven years later, as I write this, Kara is a healthy, active and vibrant mother of two years which is flourishing."
Their children, Grace and Max, now teenagers.
Kara Kennedy brothers have addressed the health problems of their own: Edward Kennedy Jr. lost a leg to bone cancer as a child, and Patrick Kennedy had surgery in 1988 to remove a noncancerous tumor that was pressing against your spine.
"His great strength in his successful battle with lung cancer was a quiet inspiration to us all and always to his family and other patients with hope," said Edward M. Institute Kennedy in a press release.
Five months before his death, Kara Kennedy wrote of his father and the institute that bears his name in an article published in The Boston Globe. She described the Christmas of 1984 when his father insisted on spending the night helping relief workers to feed the hungry in the desert of Ethiopia. And how every summer, Ted Kennedy family charged in a trailer for road trips for hiking through the battlefields and historic buildings.
"What my father was not the magnitude of an achievement, but we did our part to make a better world," he wrote. "That we learned that we were part of something bigger than ourselves."
In August 2009 Kara Kennedy accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, on behalf of his father during a ceremony at the White House. She smiled when President Barack Obama put his arm around her in a comfortable and filled with tears when he read a statement on the achievements of his father. When his father died that same month, read a psalm at the funeral Mass in Boston, but spoke of bringing peace and justice and helping the poor.
Kara Kennedy, a graduate of Tufts University, also worked as a film director and television. She helped produce several videos of Very Special Arts, an organization founded by her aunt, Jean Kennedy Smith. He also served as board member for the Institute Edward M. Kennedy, national director and trustee emeritus of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, and member of national advisory board of the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Terry Lierman, co-founder of Kara Kennedy NOFAS knew for more than two decades, said she was always positive, even when sick, and always available when needed organizing.
"She was always there, but she was there for the cause and not for their own visibility," Lierman said Saturday. "I always found it very refreshing."
The senator later wrote of his eldest son in 2009 his autobiography, "True Compass" had "never seen a more beautiful baby and has not been happier in my life."
Later, she appeared with her father during his unsuccessful 1980 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, and she and her brother, Edward Kennedy Jr. helped lead 1988, the senator's reelection campaign.
His diagnosis of lung cancer was in 2002, and the prognosis was bleak. But the family refused to accept that he wrote the senator. She had surgery in 2003 that doctors said was successful, and Edward Kennedy accompanied his daughter to chemotherapy treatments.
"Kara answered my calls for faith in itself," he wrote. "Today, almost seven years later, as I write this, Kara is a healthy, active and vibrant mother of two years which is flourishing."
Their children, Grace and Max, now teenagers.
Kara Kennedy brothers have addressed the health problems of their own: Edward Kennedy Jr. lost a leg to bone cancer as a child, and Patrick Kennedy had surgery in 1988 to remove a noncancerous tumor that was pressing against your spine.
"His great strength in his successful battle with lung cancer was a quiet inspiration to us all and always to his family and other patients with hope," said Edward M. Institute Kennedy in a press release.
Five months before his death, Kara Kennedy wrote of his father and the institute that bears his name in an article published in The Boston Globe. She described the Christmas of 1984 when his father insisted on spending the night helping relief workers to feed the hungry in the desert of Ethiopia. And how every summer, Ted Kennedy family charged in a trailer for road trips for hiking through the battlefields and historic buildings.
"What my father was not the magnitude of an achievement, but we did our part to make a better world," he wrote. "That we learned that we were part of something bigger than ourselves."
In August 2009 Kara Kennedy accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, on behalf of his father during a ceremony at the White House. She smiled when President Barack Obama put his arm around her in a comfortable and filled with tears when he read a statement on the achievements of his father. When his father died that same month, read a psalm at the funeral Mass in Boston, but spoke of bringing peace and justice and helping the poor.
Kara Kennedy, a graduate of Tufts University, also worked as a film director and television. She helped produce several videos of Very Special Arts, an organization founded by her aunt, Jean Kennedy Smith. He also served as board member for the Institute Edward M. Kennedy, national director and trustee emeritus of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, and member of national advisory board of the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Terry Lierman, co-founder of Kara Kennedy NOFAS knew for more than two decades, said she was always positive, even when sick, and always available when needed organizing.
"She was always there, but she was there for the cause and not for their own visibility," Lierman said Saturday. "I always found it very refreshing."
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