Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.

This article is about the politician, Joseph Kennedy, Sr.; For the baseball player, see Joe Kennedy.

Joseph and Rose Kennedy's children today

As of January, 2005, four of Joseph and Rose Kennedy's nine children are still living. They have grown particularly close as the years have passed.

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Rosemary Kennedy, the third child born in the immediate Kennedy family, underwent a lobotomy in 1941 at age 23 after Joe Kennedy was informed that the behavioral issues and mood swings related to his daughter's mild mental complications could be addressed by such an operation. However, the lobotomy resulted in profound mental retardation. Rosemary Kennedy lived an isolated life at a Wisconsin institution beginning in 1949. Due to the severity of her mental condition, Rosemary became largely detached from the Kennedy clan. However, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics and an advocate for the disabled on Rosemary's behalf, began involving her in family life later on. On January 7, 2005, Rosemary Kennedy died at the age of 86, at the institution where she had spent the last fifty-five years. Hers was the first, and, to date, only, natural death among the children of Joe and Rose Kennedy. In a true testament to the cohesiveness of the Kennedy siblings, at her side upon her death were her surviving sisters and Senator Ted Kennedy.

Related Topics:
Rosemary Kennedy - Lobotomy - 1941 - Mental retardation - Wisconsin - 1949 - Eunice Kennedy Shriver - Special Olympics - January 7 - 2005 - Ted Kennedy

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